Onetel - the Centrica-owned telco currently up for sale - has become the latest outfit to cut the ribbon on a VoIP service.

And it has lost no time in having a pop at rival operators, while claiming its Just Dial service is head and shoulders above the competition.

"Unlike Dixons' new Freetalk offering, customers will be pleased to hear that they do not need to pay £79.99 up front in order to benefit from cheap calls," said Onetel deputy MD Ray Leclercq.

"Furthermore our low prices are permanent unlike our rivals such as BT who are only committing to cheap deals until the end of the year."

The cost of OneTel's service - which can be used by anyone with a broadband connection - varies depending on which package they choose and whether punters buy or rent their VoIP adaptor.

Separately, PlusNet has today confirmed the launch of its PlusTalk VoIP service. Available to its own users, the broadband voice service starts from £2.99 a month. ®