O2 Tu Go Lets Customers Use Monthly Allowances For VoIP Calls

Telefonica UK has launched O2 Tu Go, a VOIP application that lets O2 customers use their monthly allowances to make calls and texts over a Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G connection.

The cost of making a call or text on Tu Go is the same as it would be if a customer was using their O2 mobile phone. The app is now available for Android, iOS and Windows 7 and will compete with VoIP services such as Skype, which require users to purchase additional credit to use many of its features.

Tu Go is currently limited to pay monthly accounts, although O2 says that it is working to bring the service to prepaid and business customers in the near future.

O2 Tu Go arrives

Users can be logged onto the service on as many as five different devices at once, with communications stored in the cloud. Tu Go is being billed as a way of freeing monthly allowances from just one device and is seen as a way of combating the threat of third party VoIP applications, something which analysts say makes it different from similar services.

“Significantly, the integration with native communications services means that users are not restricted to communicating just with other adopters,” said Jeremy Green. “It delivers tangible differentiation for Telefonica and is a lesson for its peers in integration with carrier telephony services.”

Telefonica has shown great interest in VoIP applications and last year released Tu Me, an application based on technology acquired by the acquisition of JaJah in 2009, on iPhone and Android last year.

The company confirmed to TechWeekEurope last year that O2 Tu Go would be available on FireFox OS, the open source mobile platform being pushed by Telefonica, but ruled out the possibility of a BlackBerry release.

What do you know about Tu Go’s bitter rival Skype? Find out with our quiz!