T-Mobile gets VoIPed up

Invests in JAJAH along with Intel

29 May 2007 15:23 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

German phone company Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of T-Mobile, has bought into VoIP phone services with a stake in JAJAH.

JAJAH, a relatively small internet phone company (small as in they have 2 million registered users compared to Skype's closer to 200 million) has received a $20 million funding package from T-Mobile and the chip-making company Intel.

JAJAH is different to other traditional VoIP solutions as it uses regular phones and does not require software or special equipment. A user simply initiates the call from www.jajah.com and JAJAH connects the call to either landline or mobile phones, for a fraction of the traditional cost.

This news is particularly of interest as T-Mobile is the first major mobile phone operator to back VoIP. Roman Scharf, JAJAH co-founder says: "The long-term implications can't be understated".

This three-way partnership should mean that T-Mobile handsets could be VoIP enabled from manufacture, which can only be a good thing for consumers willing to cash-in with greatly reduced VoIP call charges complimenting their existing phone packages.