Dutch operator KPN has launched an app called KPN Bellen, with which customers can make mobile calls over their home Wifi network and pay fixed-line rates. The app is available free for customers who have a KPN double- or triple-play home internet plan. It is initially for Android devices only, though the provider says it will add versions for Apple and Windows phones later. It also works with most of KPN’s Experia modems.

Tarifica’s Take

KPN’s app represents another way for an operator to confront the OTT challenge, a strategy quite different from Intertelecom’s. Rather than accepting that users in search of inexpensive voice calling will inevitably turn to Skype, the operator is offering an OTT service of its own—not free, but certainly less expensive than KPN’s normal international rates. Of course, not all the calls that go through the established OTT entities are free, but to what extent KPN Bellen will be competitive with their various rates remains to be seen.