Tesco launches "first internet phone in your pocket" from Mobiboo

Tesco, the pioneering supermarket who are keen to get into a lot more technical things than food and clothing, will today begin stocking a new kind of mobile phone from Mobiboo Mobile.

If you can get your head around the name, then read on, because they say they’re the UK’s first WiFi mobile VoIP (Internet phone calls) operator, and that they’ll save even average phone users hundreds of pounds per year.

Designed to take the place of both your mobile and your landline home phone, Mobiboo say that users can save 30% on their mobile charges and 50% on landline.

They’re offering two tovo handsets – the t450g PocketFone and the t1000 HomeFone Plus.

It relies on you having WiFi at home, work or at a WiFi hot spot, and allows you to call any phone around the world at low rates. As is the norm for these kind of deals, they also offer free calls to other tovo/Mobiboo customers for free – so you just need to find them. If you don’t have wi-fi access at any point, the handsets can function using your usual mobile network.

There are no roaming charges when abroad, and all incoming calls are free for the receiver.

“This is a major breakthrough for smart consumers who are tired of paying huge phone bills, and who want to find a cheaper and more flexible communications solution. And it’s the beginning of the end of outrageously high roaming charges” says Martin Heath, CEO of Mobiboo Mobile.

“Most people are familiar with the Internet phone,” adds Heath, “but they are cumbersome to use, need to have the PC turned on, and can only be used in one location. Mobiboo’s tovo service offers all the convenience and mobility of a mobile, but with the quality of a landline and the low price of VoIP. It’s literally like having your Internet phone in your pocket.”

There are a choice of pay-as-you-go and monthly packages which can be switched around at will using an online account. A basic PAYG UK package has no monthly charge, local calls are charged at 2p per minute, international tier 1 calls at 5p per minute.

tovo customers can also choose to have a geographic landline number as well as a mobile number connected to them. The handsets will receive calls to either number wherever you are, at home or abroad. When using tovo at home or in the office, you don’t need to turn on your laptop or PC as it will connect to your WiFi network.

It sounds well worth investigating, but with the big boys like Orange also muscling in to this space, it could become quite a confusing selection of tariffs.

The service and handsets debut in selected Tesco’s stores.

Tovo