'As long as you have Internet access phone calls are free.' Many people living in the modern day have seen such phrases at least once while surfing the net, and indeed Internet phone services have made enormous progress, but many still had drawbacks such as the connection through the PC and poor reception. Now, time has come to enjoy free calls via regular phone lines, without the buzzing.
Currently there are some 10 Internet phone service providers in the local market, which utilize voice over Internet protocol, or VOIP technology. They offer various plans with competitively low rates... some with requirements like having to listen to advertisements or making purchase of certain items before dialing the numbers.
"To make calls through our service, all you have to do is to punch in the area code and the phone number, just like making regular phone calls. No need to dial special codes or listen to a long advertisement. And it's all free. We're the only company that offers free local and long distance calls in the country," says one company representative.
His company provides an all free-of-charge call service to its customers; they only have to buy a module that connects the phone line to the Internet and pay a monthly fee of W3,800, some US$3.
Internet phones using VOIP are still considered to be advanced technology worldwide, and therefore not commonly used as of yet, but according to the data by one of the world's largest research firms, IDC the volume of calls made through the Internet is expected to exceed the volume of calls made through regular phone lines by 2006.
(Arirang TV)
