VoIP over wifi hits supermarket shelves

It has been a long time coming, but Tesco has finally put a Voice over wifi (Vowifi) solution in a box on its shelves.

On Monday, the supermarket chain said that it has struck a deal with UK mobile VoIP provider Mobiboo Mobile, to launch the tovo mobile internet phone.

The tovo t450g PocketFone and the tovo t1000 HomeFone Plus are available on both contract and prepay tariffs from today at 19 Tesco stores in the UK.

By making calls over wifi, Mobiboo reckons consumers can save an average of 30 per cent on their mobile charges and up to 50 per cent on fixed line charges. Typical Mobiboo charges for prepay users are £0.02 per minute for local calls with international tier 1 calls costing £0.05 per minute. Monthly package customers get from free UK, mobile and international calls. Calls between Mobiboo users are free.

As well as making calls over a users home wifi network, customers can also make calls at wifi hotspots. Earlier this year, UK-based wireless network provider The Cloud announced a partnership giving Mobiboo customers the ability to use their Mobiboo phones at any of The Cloud’s UK hotspots.

The tovo t450g PocketFone also goes one better. It is a dual mode device which will accept a standard GSM SIM card as well and will switch to a cellular network when out of the range of wifi.

When telecoms.com first got wind of this announcement back in May, the fact that users would probably end up carrying both the wifi VoIP device and their regular mobile handset was seen as one of the major drawbacks of the service. But it looks like Mobiboo and Tesco have heeded the warning with the introduction of the t450g.