VoIP nears prime time with Primus launch

Stuart Corner
Monday, 06 March 2006 07:59

Business IT - Technology

Primus Telecom - Australia's fourth largest carrier with around 750,000 telephony and 600,000 Internet customers - has launched a broadband-delivered VoIP service.

Primus managing director, Greg Wilson, said: "Primus is the first major telecommunications company in Australia to release a phone service using the Internet to the residential market."

The service, dubbed TalkBroadband, is fairly standard: it's delivered via an ATA adaptor rather than a softphone and prices are very similar to those offered by other VoIP providers in Australia such as engin and MyNetFone. Untimed calls to anywhere in Australia are 10 cents per call, calls to other Primus TalkBroadband numbers are free and calls to overseas start at 2.7 cents a minute. The service is not restricted to Primus broadband customers but is available to anyone with broadband Internet access.

Primus will offer three monthly TalkBroadband plans: the Starter Plan costs $9.95 a month; the Family Plan costs $19.95 a month and comes with 100 included free local and national calls and 200 free minutes of international talk time to the top 15 Primus overseas destinations; the Premium Plan costs $29.95 a month and comes with 200 free local and national calls and 400 minutes of free talk time to the top 15 Primus overseas destinations.

The top 15 countries are Canada, China, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom, USA, Argentina, Sweden, Netherlands, France, and Denmark.

Outside the bundled international calls, the lowest, 2.7 cents a minute, rate applies for calls to Canada, China, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore, UK and the United States.

The service is modelled on Primus' US parent's established VoIP service, Lingo - based on the BroadSoft BroadWorks IP telephony application - and includes features such as call waiting, call forwarding, call return, and last number redial, at no additional charge.