Dixons has cut the ribbon on its new VoIP service claiming it is the "most significant development in the telephone market since the launch of the mobile phone". The launch of Freetalk - from the same people that introduced ISP Freeserve - comes as little surprise since details of the VoIP service have already been leaked.

From Thursday, punters will be able to buy Freetalk adapters from PC World, Currys and The Link stores as well as from 50 Dixons stores enabling them to plug their phone into their broadband connection and make free calls. For £79.99, customers can buy a Freetalk package giving them the adapter and a year's subscription to the service. After that Freetalk costs £6.99 a month for "unlimited UK landline calls".

Said Simon Turner of DSG International (the new name for Dixons): "This is the most significant development in the telephone market since the launch of the mobile phone and will transform the way we use phones. The days of old-style fixed-line phone calls are numbered."

Yesterday, BT rubbished Freetalk. "Dixons are not first movers on this, they're late to market and this product is not revolutionary," said a BT spokesman. ®

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