Breaking News
Telefonica is launching an app that allows
smartphone users to make calls and send messages without using up their quota
of call minutes or texts.
“Tu
Me”
Actions taken by “Tu Me” will insteand be
deducted from data allowances. It poses a challenge to existing apps including
Skype, Viber and Whatsapp. Network operators have traditionally viewed such
programs as a threat, but the owner of O2 said it would “rather keep the
customer than lose them to other products and services”.
Tu Me is free to download and will be
promoted to members of Spanish telecom Telefonica’s O2, Movistar and Vivo
networks. The company has about 300 million customers across the world.
However, subscribers to other brands will also be able to use the program
Enryption.
Both the caller and recipient must have the
app installed for it to work. Users will receive a pop-up notification when
someone is trying to get in contact, prompting them to launch the software.
“Tu
Me” allows smartphone users to make calls and send messages without using up
their quota of call minutes or texts.
Unlike Skype, users cannot make calls to
normal telephone numbers. Photographs, location information and voice messages
can also be sent with all data stored on Telefonica’s servers.
The company said messages would be
encrypted when transmitted and it promised not to anylyse or provide
third-party access to the contents unless required to do so by the courts.
“We’ve seen the growing popularity of communication
apps on smartphones but we believe we’ve gone one better with Tu Me using our
knowledge and insignts of how people use their devices,” said Telefonica
Digital’s chief commercial officer Stephen Shurrock.
Telephone numbers
The service will initially be limited to
Apple’s iPhones, with a version to follow for Google’s Android system.
Telefonica stands to benefit if its subscribers increase their data allowance,
although the service can also be used via Wi-Fi.
“This has been well thought through as a
response to Skype and other voice over internet services.” Jeremy Green,
principal analyst at the technology research firm Ovum, told. “It’s a bit of a
case of if you can’t beat them join them. The Tweak on it is that the service
is still anchored to the users’ telephone number and from a telecom firm’s
point of view that’s a good way to protect their revenues.”
A recent study by Ovum suggested that
social messaging apps had cost network operators a total of $13.9bn in lost SMS
revenues in 2011. Telefonica said that it planned to add functionality to the
app and launch further products over the coming months.
