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MWC: Truphone finally admits the value of the SIM card

Users of Truphone normally switch to WiFi hotspots when they want to make cheap calls. It's cheap, but only if you have a free-access WiFi hotspot handy. So, for the rest of us the company has finally relented and will be giving us cheap SIM cards. With cheap roaming, too. Eventually!

The full Truphone Local Anywhere deal won't be revealed till after June this year, when the product launches.

But, in a scheme highly reminiscent of Awayphone's offer, it links local call access in various international countries by using the Internet for VoIP links from centre to centre, cutting out long-distance and roaming fees.

The reason for announcing it at Mobile World Congress? - it would seem that the next six months will be spent building up partner deals. In the official announcement, the company said:

In addition to launching this year in several key territories, Truphone announced that it is seeking to rapidly expand its international network and customer base via a global franchise model. Operators and retailers who partner with the Truphone Local Anywhere program can appeal to highly targeted groups of international customers and increase their network traffic.

"Other partners will also be able to connect to the service with minimal infrastructure requirements,"

the announcement added.

The key feature, for most travellers, will be the cost saving. But having a "local phone number" is likely to attract a lot more interest. For example, businesses dealing with (and trying to sell to) countries where there is an unofficial protectionist policy, will find their activities will seem reassuringly domestic if they can hand out business cards with a local number.

For more information or to become part of the development process, contact truphonepartners@truphone.com