DSG to exit VoIP service market, transfers Freetalk users to Vonage
September 5th, 2006 - Posted in VoIPThe U.K.’s largest electrical retailer DSG International Plc. has exited the internet telephony market less than a year after it launched the Freetalk service, according to media reports.
Formerly called Dixons and owner of The PC World and Curry’s, DSG has informed Freetalk users that their accounts have been transferred to Vonage, the U.S. telecoms company that provides VoIP service.
The report quoted DSG chief executive John Clare as saying the VoIP market is rather slow in the U.K. than expected.
DSG had said at the time of the launch of the service that it will revolutionize the telecommunications market in the country. In fact, it had spurred a price war at that time with BT cutting down rates of its VoIP service as market analysts said Freetalk could challenge BT’s dominance in the U.K. telephony market.
In fact, Dixons had launched another successful product in the 1990s, Freeserve, an internet service. And Freetalk has been touted as a successor to this service.
DSG announced Monday it is launching a new technical support service, TechGuys, to offer technical support in anything related to electrical, electronics or computing. It said it will make an initial investment of 50 million pounds in the service, which is expected to provide jobs to 2,000 people.
Source: www.earthtimes.org