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U.K. Survey Reveals How Consumers are Using Mobile VoIP to Reach Friends Abroad

By Barkha Bathwal September 22, 2008
A recent, national mobile phone-related survey conducted by Vyke Communications revealed that money spent on mobile phones exceeds what is spent on food.
 
Vyke Communications, a mobile VoIP provider, released qualitative and quantitative research from a recently conducted national mobile phone usage survey by querying “ethnic” subscribers hailing from the greater Asia area.
 
According to the research, ethnic communities tend to place a high value on friendships with people living abroad. In the U.K., one quarter of people who call abroad said their monthly voice and texting bills top £60.
 
Other highlights from the survey include:
  • Male users are more likely to call their friends abroad than are women.
  • Users in the 16-24 age range spend more on making mobile phone calls than they do no food.
  • Women talk more, spending more on their mobile phone bills than men do.
  • Moving abroad doesn't mean cutting off ties. Experts in London value their friendships more with 53 percent regularly calling their friends, whereas in Wales only 20 percent call their friends back home.
 
Vyke Communications, a mobile Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider has headquarters in the U.K. with subsidiaries and offices in Norway, the U.S., Iceland and Malaysia. One of the first mass market mobile VoIP services, launched in April 2006, Vyke Mobile VoIP features mobile-oriented sign-up steps, automatic configuration services and pricing. The Vyke suite of communication products features advanced services providing users with low cost, mobile operator/fixed line provider independent ways of making voice calls and sending text messaging from the mobile phone, PC and internet. More than 2.13 million active paid customer accounts have been created within the Vyke product suite.
 
“Mobile network operators are threatened by mobile VoIP,” said  Aaron Powers, head of business development at Vyke Communications, in a statement. “They have responded by removing VoIP capabilities from mobile handsets that they sell and by introducing very restrictive contract terms prohibiting you from using their networks to access services such as VoIP.”
 
Powers continue: “By doing this it is further confirmation that the operators intend to continue overcharging consumers for as long as they can.He adds, "We recently launched FreeTxT, which enables Vyke customers to send and receive free text messages to fellow Vyke users and considerably cheaper SMS than other VoIP suppliers, to non Vyke users. If you would like to try Vyke, sign up and get a free dollar to call or sms to test the different products for real.”
 
Sourav Ganguly, Captain of the Indian Premier Leagues Kolcata Knight Riders, commented: “Travelling globally, playing cricket keeping in touch with my family back in Calcutta costs a small fortune, now using Vyke on my phone, calling home has significantly reduced my phone bills. Having Vyke means I can ring anyone, anytime, anywhere without worrying about how much its' going to cost me. It's so convenient, I'm totally Vyke'd up.”
 
 

INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO West 2008 — the biggest and most comprehensive IP communications event of the year — concluded Thursday in Los Angeles, California. Thousands of attendees flocked to the event for three valuable days of exhibits, conferences and networking opportunities. Mark your calendar now for ITEXPO East 2009, February 2-4, 2009, in sunny Miami, Florida.
 
Read archived editions of Show Daily eNewsletters from ITEXPO West 2008 here. See you in February!


Barkha Bathwal is a contributing editor for IoTevolutionworld. To read more of Barkha's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Mae Kowalke
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IoTevolutionworld Contributing Editor

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