VimpelCom, a major Russian mobile operator, is talking with outsourcing companies about developing an IP telephony product functionally similar to Skype. The news, provided by unnamed sources, was reported last week by CNews.ru, a Russian site covering IT and telecom issues.
MegaFon, a competitor of VimpelCom, already launched a similar product called Multifon in 2008. According to iKS Consulting, a research and consulting company specializing in telecom, software, and IT issues, Multifon counts over 300,000 users today.
However, Multifon has no messaging function and is available only to MegaFon subscribers, CNews.ru notes.
MTS, the other leading mobile operator, presently expresses no interest in developing VoIP. An MTS company representative told CNews.ru that “a variety of IP telephony solutions are available from operators or independent players such as Skype or Viber, but they are used only among a narrow group of users, and they do not significantly impact the mobile market.” Furthermore, “they are too complicated,” she said, “and they deliver insufficient quality for a mass audience.”
The MTS representative did not, however, exclude the possibility that MTS could develop such an offer in the future.
