Switzerland’s largest cable operator UPC Cablecom wants to make its fixed-line telephone customers available on the go on their smartphone under their fixed-line number which they can also use to make phone calls at fixed-line telephony rates.
Roaming or call forwarding costs can thereby be avoided.
The free-of-charge UPC Phone app will become available to all 1.4 million customers on January 1, 2015. 466,100 of them currently use fixed-line telephony from UPC Cablecom.
Customers wanting to use the IP-based offering have to download the app (iOS/Android) on their smartphone and register at customer portal MyUPC. They can then place phone calls using Wi-Fi or 3G/4G mobile networks.
Phone calls made using the app are charged at the same rates as fixed-line calls, thus, customers with flat-rate tariffs can make free calls with their mobile phones – even abroad.
When the UPC Phone app is used through a free Wi-Fi hotspot, no additional costs apply. The data traffic generated on mobile networks is billed according to the customer’s mobile phone contract.
Sister company UPC Nederland introduced a similar app in April 2014. Read our story and analysis of the solution here.
