There was a lot of buzz surrounding the announcement that JAJAH VoIP will work with the iPhone. A lot of questions were raised by this, mostly wondering how beneficial this would actually be to iPhone users. Today I'll go over some of that.
First, JAJAH works by entering in two phone numbers, yours, and the one you are wanting to call. JAJAH then connects the two, and charges you significantly less than your mobile phone provider would.
If you are making calls within their Free Global Calling network, you are not charged at all. There are two different networks; The first set of countries that this applies to are: the US, Canada, China, Hong Kong and Singapore. The second includes Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and most other European nations.
This still raises the question of how JAJAH will actually help you save money. One way is on international calls; if you are calling someone in another country that is in your Free Global Calling network you will only be charged for a regular local call.
Here's where it gets really fun. Wouldn't it be really great if all of your incoming calls were free? If they were, and you used JAJAH, essentially all of your calls would be free. But Cingular/ATT doesn't offer such a plan. Or do they?
After looking through the latest Cingular/ATT news releases, they are offering a promotional plan for subscribers in the South Florida area. It is called the “Metro Plan†and includes free incoming calls. Granted, this is a limited offer, and only available in the South Florida area. But it is likely that Cingular/ATT is just testing the waters in a small area. If it is well received, it is possible that they will roll this out as one of their regular nationwide plans.
This combination could potentially land you unlimited calls to anywhere in the US, and several other countries. That would certainly be enough to make anyone want to buy an iPhone.
Thanks to everyone that left comments and information on the original article. We appreciate your feedback!
It's kind of official: Apple iPhone & JAJAH VoIP [via My iPhone]
Have been using the service for a while. That press release was VERY smart of them, they have never had so much publicity as this!
Perhaps I’m on a grandfather clause, but Cingular NEVER charges me for incoming calls.. I have no idea about what AT&T offers.. My billing still says Cingular on it.
Knock on wood – Matt :)
Been using a similar service for over a year now called Mino (www.minowireless.com), think they have been out longer than JAJAH, and seems that Mino’s rates are cheaper. You can even download a java version to your phone so you don’t even have to open up your browser….works flawlessly on my BBpearl (my stand in for the iphone).