AT&T releases VOIP app

voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) app for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android smartphones to enable its customers to make cheap international phone calls, Apple Insider reports.

Gadget Box indicates the app, called AT&T Call International, can be downloaded for free through the Apple App Store and the corresponding AT&T Web site.

The app requires the user to sign up for a Call International account - which will connect to the user's credit card. It's claimed there are no monthly reoccurring charges, no service agreements, and no prepaid balances involved.

According to PCMag, the app was developed by 8x8, which started as a manufacturer of home personal video conferencing devices, but branched out when that market failed to take off.

This app allows international calls over AT&T's 3G network for lower prices than the regular services that the carrier provides, ITProPortal states.

However, users have already had the option of free or cheap calls via Skype or other similar services for two years now.

Users who chat with friends in China, France, Germany and the UK with AT&T's new VOIP have to pay only 4c per minute. Talking with friends in Mexico costs double, and to India the price is 9c. Calls to mobile numbers in Europe, China and India cost between 21c and 27c.