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Free phone goes mobile

Mobile phone users can now get free internet calls, says linton chiswick
.

It's evolution, perhaps revolution, in the mobile phone handset market. On Friday (November 9), Apple's innovative iPhone makes its long-awaited UK debut. Last Friday, after prolonged rumour, the 3 network released its Skype phone.

3's relationship with Skype is in sharp contrast to the traditional tension between mobile networks and the ebay-owned internet telephony company. The networks make their money by selling expensive calls. Skype makes money by selling cheap-as-chips, often free, calls

 

routed via the internet. Now that most mobile phones can connect, one way or another, to the internet, the opportunity to combine the two is compelling: great for the consumer, potentially disastrous for the networks. In fact, networks have been known to deliberately 'break' this facility,

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where it's existed on other handsets.

The new 3 Skype phone (free with contracts, £49.99 pay-as-you-go) comes with Skype entirely integrated. Push a button to route free calls or instant messages to any other Skype user (either via their 3

 

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