Vonage Holdings Corp., a pioneer in Internet-based home phone service, is launching applications for theiPhoneandBlackBerrythat undercut the international calling rates of major wireless carriers.
The free programs let users place calls that are routed over Vonage’s network, at least for the international leg.
The calls are placed as local wireless calls, using up minutes on the cell phone plan, although the iPhone will use Wi-Fi instead if that’s available. (That works as well on the iPhone’s sibling, the iPod Touch, which goes online only with Wi-Fi.) Vonage then carries the calls to their overseas destination.
The fact that the Vonage app for the iPhone can use the cellular voice channel is unusual. Several other voice-over-Internet Protocol, or VoIP, apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch can already place calls over Wi-Fi. But Google Inc.’s Voice application, which is designed to use the cellular network, has not been approved.
Googlesays itsVoice program was rejected by Applefor duplicating the built-in functions of the phone, and the Web search company implies that Apple is protecting the revenue stream of iPhone carriers like AT&T Inc. by not approving the application. Like Vonage’s application, Google Voice provides low international calling rates.
Apple says the Google Voice app hasn’t been rejected, but is still being reviewed for inclusion in the App Store. TheFederal Communications Commissionis probing the disagreement.
Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said the company considers Vonage’s application to be in the same category as other VoIP apps that have already been approved for the iPhone. She would not elaborate on whether Apple considers there to be significant differences between Vonage’s program and Google Voice.
As an example of its prices, Vonage will carry a call to Colombia for 5 cents per minute. AT&T charges $2.19 per minute, or 17 cents per minute if the caller has signed up for a $3.99-per-month international calling plan.
Vonage’s stock was in danger of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange for being less than $1, but the shares shot up in late August after the company announced that it would bundle free calls to 60 countries in its new basic home plan. On Monday morning, the shares rose 17 cents, or 13 percent, to $1.49.
