Vonage makes it to the UK

Probably old news by now, especially if you read the last post, but Vonage has opened in the UK with a copy of their US website tailored for our friends in Old Blighty. It will be interesting to observe the reactions of their competitors and, in fact, the regulators to see what happens.

Unlike some of the ISP's (Pipex for one) who offer VoIP services, Vonage is sticking with the usual flat-rate plan, although modified somewhat to accomodate the myriad of possible calls to premium rate numbers.

For the uninitiated, up until now all calls were metered in the UK except for certain flat rate plans which only recently came out. Even Pipex is charging a per minute rate on their VoIP services for calls to local and national numbers. The so-called "Premium" numbers, those starting with 0870, 070 and others, are always at a higher cost, including those to mobile phones, which can get downright pricey.

Vonage is offering an unheard-of flat rate plan for a monthly rate £9.99 (about $19 as of today) providing unlimited calls to anywhere in the UK and Ireland. In contrast, a standard rate BT line is about £11 but fully metered. They are also offering lower than usual rates for calls to mobiles, which should be attractive to lot of folks there. They also charge a small metered rate for premium numbers, and their international long distance rates are on par with some of the cheaper independents. All in all, though, it seems to be an attractive package which should get them off to a reasonable start.