Challenger in UK VoIP partnership

Sweden-based Challenger Mobile is entering into a partnership with an as yet unnamed UK carrier, to offer free VoIP calls from standard cellphones.

Challenger’s VoIP service operates on 3G and GPRS networks as well as with Wi-Fi.

It will provide free mobile VoIP calls to any country in the world, as long as the call recipient’s cellphone supports the technology.

As the service is based on SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), this shouldn’t be too much of a problem since SIP is compatible with most cellphone service standards.

If SIP isn’t supported by the recipient’s phone, the call would be routed to a standard telephone network (PSTN).

Even then, the call would still be inexpensive, as most of the call travels free over the Internet.

Challenger’s mobile VoIP platform supports remote mobile handset configuration, call detail record (CDR) support, and flexible billing system integration.

The service will be launched later this month.