Internet service provider (ISP) M-Web says the launch of its Callsaver service, allowing subscribers to call UK and US numbers at 99c per minute, is the first step in its ambitions to deliver cost-effective consumer voice services.
Russell Dreisenstock, M-Web Home GM, says the ISP sees Callsaver as merely another service it offers its premium-rate Internet subscribers and the launch does not mean it has a strategy to move into the telecommunications arena.
The recent partial liberalisation of the telecommunications sector has encouraged some ISPs to begin offering telecommunications-type services and some have stated they have ambitions to become utilities themselves as soon as it is possible.
"No, we don`t want to be a utility. Rather we want to stick to our strategy of supplying value to our subscribers` Internet experience and this includes voice services," Dreisenstock says.
M-Web first beta-tested its Callsaver service in December and quietly launched it in the middle of January. Since then, more than 36 000 minutes in calls have been made. The system is similar to the callback service already offered by many other companies.
According to M-Web, calls are initiated using the company`s Internet portal and are then concluded by an overseas operator. All that is needed to use Callsaver is a computer, an Internet connection and access to the M-Web Message Centre, which is available to M-Web members and MSelect users.
To use the facility, members initiate their calls on www.mweb.co.za by clicking on Callsaver and then typing in "from" and "to" telephone numbers. The user then receives a call at their own telephone number (a Telkom landline or cellphone), and when they pick up, they will be connected automatically to the person they wanted to call.
The option to schedule a call, either one or two minutes later, allows dial-up users to use the same telephone line to book the call on the Internet, disconnect and then receive the call on that number.
Dreisenstock says the service is also available to Tiscali members following the purchase of that ISP.
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