Talkfree Aims Service at Third World

Venturing into low-bit-rate VoIP for developing countries, Talkfree Telecom Inc. has announced a wholesale service aimed at third-world markets where access to the Internet is largely over dial-up phone lines with bit rates below 64kbps.

Talkfree is assembling resellers in developing territories and already has signed agreements in Cambodia, Vietnam, Egypt and Haiti. Competitors that already serve this market include Go2Call, likely the market leader, with Dialpad and Net2Phone also offering services.

Resellers will be able to put their own brands on their Web sites and on the Talkfree softphone.

In addition to low international rates, Talkfree provides real-time account management and PIN generation services, stock, inventory control. For resellers, the service includes a private-label Web site, with e-commerce included that can be up and running in 48 hours. Real-time credit scoring also is offered to help eliminate fraud.

The Talkfree dialer prompts customers to purchase or recharge an account that will then activate a PIN. Accounts are prepaid starting at increments of $10. Callers then input the PIN and begin making calls. TalkFree Telecom customers can call each other for free.

The Talkfree service is based on the G.729 codec, which can provide VoIP at bit rates as low as 19.2kbps.