Linkwell International Co. Ltd.'s mobile services provider, 28TEL, has launched a service in the United States for international calls at local rates to compete with Skype in the VoIP space.

This new service allows registered users to place international "Free Calls" via their mobile phones to more than 20 other countries without having to install extra software and without accessing the Internet. 28TEL launched this new service in the U.S. just in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

"28TEL brings advantages of VoIP to let mobile users communicate globally," said Cola Cho, CEO of Linkwell International, Hong Kong, China. "The key factor is that 28TEL frees up the users from PC-to-phone and brings them into mobile-to-mobile without hassle.

"VoIP is always transparent for users," he said.

Competitor Skype has worked with hardware and software partners to bring its functionality to mobile products, meeting the demand of its 246 million registered users (see story).

The caller using 28TEL's Free Call service will be charged lower, local rates, as opposed to international rates or roaming charges. Compared with the standard mobile international calling rate, 28TEL claims to be at least 70 percent cheaper.

28TEL's service is a subscription-based model. There is no advertising component at this time. Consumers can try out 28TEL's service for free.

Through the mobile phone's call forwarding setup, 28TEL's mobile "roaming free" service exempts subscribers from international roaming fees and lets them receive all calls directly with local mobile phones.

There is no time limit for the 28TEL calls. The service can work on any handset.

As long as the caller can dial through a local number, the connection to an overseas phone can be immediately enabled.

28TEL features multilingual voice prompts and user interfaces, including English, Chinese and Japanese.
The service targets tourists and expatriates in China, and now the U.S. domestic market.

28TEL's Free Call service is available in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Brazil and now the U.S. It will be soon extended to major countries in Europe and South America.

First-time users can dial 213-366-6099 for English, 213-366-6000 for Chinese or 213-366-6090 for Japanese and enter the number of the person they wish to call. 28TEL will send them a text message with the local number for that person.

Alternatively, consumers can log onto http://www.28tel.com and type in their friend's number. 28TEL will then give them the local phone number for that person to enable overseas conversations. There is also a text message option.

Through this Free Call service, a caller may dial a pre-mapped local 28TEL number to reach an overseas friend. The caller then tells the friend to hang up and call back with the displayed number. The caller holds the line and waits for the friend's callback within a limited time.

28TEL also offers various promotions including 100 minutes of complimentary talk time.

"28TEL offers options to extend VoIP communications on the go," Mr. Cho said. "The last mile between mobile phones and VoIP no longer depends on software or the Internet."