Tesco extends VoIP service

Supermarket giant Tesco has launched a pilot scheme that will give customers the chance to make free voice over internet protocol (VoIP) calls.

The firm has expanded its Tesco Internet Phone service, which is managed by Australian telecoms provider Freshtel. The VoIP solution now covers new handsets with Wi-Fi connectivity, which can be used to contact other Tesco customers for free.

The S60 client used to access the service can only currently be downloaded by owners of four Nokia phones, the N95, N81, E65 and E51.

Unlike most rival mobile packages, Tesco plans to give consumers the chance to transfer their existing number when they sign up for VoIP.

Colin Duffy, a council member of the ITSPA, recently claimed that phones will increasingly come integrated with both traditional telephony systems and modern VoIP hardware in the near future.

He said: "What I think will be the proper solution to mobile VoIP is a dual phone - an old-fashioned cell phone that is also a VoIP phone simultaneously, so that when it picks up a Wi-Fi signal it uses that instead of the mobile [network]."