E-Kong Group, a Hong Kong-listed long-distance telecommunications service provider, has launched an internet telephone operation to capture customers for a service that offers free calls to subscribers.
E-Kong is seeking to benefit from VoIP, or internet phone, technology that allows computer users with a broadband connection to make free phone calls if both parties to the call have the appropriate software. Ebay's Skype, which leads the market with more than 200 million registered users, has less than 1 per cent of the global international call market, market analysts told.
Global VoIP services will grow 24 per cent next year, according to market researcher iResearch.
Zoippe, which was launched in Hong Kong late last month, will be backed by extensive promotions in the next few weeks, targeting in particular expatriates who will be travelling over the holiday period.
Zoippe is partnered with Hong Kong-based Y5Zone, a provider of wireless hotspot services that offer free WiFI internet connectivity to computer users at more than 200 sites in the city. The partnership will seek to encourage Zoippe subscribers to build a habit of making calls using their computers.
Subscribers can send instant messages, make calls to other computers, landline phones and mobile handsets, and send short messages to mobile phones using a single interface. A window showing Zoippe account phone numbers facilitates call-making.
