Hoiio launches cheap international calling service

Lately, there hasn't been much action on the free long distance calling market. It seems companies have now realised the important of positive revenue and growth. Today we discuss about a new VOIP provider called Hoiio.

Hoiio contacted us before the CommunicAsia 2008 in Singapore. Unfortunately we couldn't attend it. However we analysed their service and had a few question/answers sessions to understand what Hoiio promised to provide as a cheap international calling service.

Hoiio is a singapore based VOIP provider and have some interesting concepts to start with. Hoiio wants to run their VOIP service via Access Numbers. Currently most VOIP provider doesnt have access numbers in Singapore or most part of Asia. Of course, the international calling card companies offer access numbers.

At the first look, we thought Hoiio is a interesting but not so competitive when it comes to calling rates. We asked a few questions to Hoiio during our email interview.

1) Why countries such as India are above 20 cents per min?

Hoiio: Currently, we are focusing our service in the following market: Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hongkong, Taiwan and Indonesia. To be frank, the reason that our rate for India is still above the average is because we haven't analysed it as much as other countries I mentioned previously. On the other hand, for SMS, which is very popular among our Indian users, we have a flat rate (for most of the destinations) which is quite competitive. So, for users who find that our rate is above the average, they still use our SMS service.


2) Your access number can only be used from a singapore landline/Mobile? Can someone with singapore virtual number use your service? Those numbers typically start with 3X series. (We asked this question since I personally have 2 singapore virtual numbers which are forwarded to various destinations. Many people buy virtual numbers in different countries.)

Hoiio: At the moment, Hoiio Direct (access number) can only be accessed in Singapore. In coming months, we are thinking of having Hoiio Direct in several countries in Asia. Yes, it can be called by 3xxxx numbers from Singapore


3) Just a observation, your rates are on the higher side compared to other VOIP/Calling card services. Any specific reason?

Hoiio: At the moment, we are focusing on the countries I mentioned above.

Hoiio access number service is what we thought is intesting concept. We would really like to see Hoiio expand this to other asian countries including India and Pakistan. With millions of users in India and Pakistan, there will be ample opportunities for VOIP providers such as Hoiio.

To summarise, Hoiio offers their cheap international calls service via the following routes:

1) Hoiio Mobile: mobile application that supports Symbian, Windows Mobile phones, and phones that can run Java
2) Hoiio Web: Hoiio solution that can be accessed by users from www or wap
3) Hoiio Direct: Hoiio access number like the way Jajah direct works. Currently, it is only available in Singapore.

To try out their service,

They have some interesting calling rates for Indonesia at 10 cents per min. Indonesia as you may know is one of the costliest destination to call. Phillipines and Indonesia are 2 high rate destinations in Asia. With more asian VOIP providers coming in the market, we hope this change the asian VOIP scene and lower the rates to 2-3 cents per min for all asian destination. This should happen by 2010. Lets hope :-)