Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/05/virgin_launches_home_phone_convergence_service/
Virgin liberates landlines with converged call service
Wi-Fi revitalises endangered home phone
Posted in Mobile, 5th November 2012 15:53 GMT
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Virgin Media today unveiled SmartCall, an app which lets customers use unlimited minutes from their landline talk plans on smartphones through a Wi-Fi connection.
SmartCall automatically detects when such a service is possible and whether it would be included in a Virgin landline customer's talk plan. Subscribers with international call packages can also make use of it.
As the app runs over Wi-Fi it can be utilised worldwide, allowing access to inclusive minutes users would have otherwise left at home - provided you're calling from a wireless hotspot, of course.
The service, which the company claims is a UK first, gives a fresh burst of life to the landline telephone [1], which Ofcom says has been abandoned by more than 200,000 homes in the last year alone.
Virgin Media's SmartCall [2] will be rolled out in the coming weeks on Android and iOS.
To complement the new service, Virgin unveiled fresh call plans, including an unlimited UK mobiles option for £15 a month. ®