Microsoft, MCI online phone deal
p2p news / p2pnet: Bill and the Boyz and MCI have teamed up to get into the online phone business.
Their MCI Web Calling for Windows LiveCall subscription service will be sold through Microsoft Windows Live Messenger initially at a base 2.3 cents a minute.
The limited beta will sell subscriptions in the US only to begin with, but they, “expect to jointly deliver the PC-to-phone calling capabilities to France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom in the coming weeks.”
Users will be able to “place calls to and from more than 220 countries” with $.023 per minute calls to the US, Canada, the UK and Western Europe during the beta testing period, say MS and MCI. And at sign-up, “MCI Web Calling customers will receive up to one hour of free calls.”
Final pricing will be determined when the product officially launches in 2006, say the two giants.
Yahoo has just announced a 1-cent-a-minute ‘Phone Out‘ for US calls, and 2 cents for others, and eBay’s Skype wants 2 cents per for outgoing calls.
Also read:-
Microsoft – Microsoft and MCI Join to Deliver Consumer PC-to-Phone Calling, December 12, 2005
Phone Out – Yahoo takes on Skype, December 9, 2005
