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It had to come. IP telephony makes calls so cheap that there already are companies such as JaJah that give them away. In the US they already offer free calls between cell phones. You only have to register and no headset or a microphone are required.

Under its funny name, JAJAH joins Skype and other new companies that laugh themselves off phone carriers. What Jajah is offering are free calls between its registered users, using regular phones.

How does it work? First you register on their web site. Then you enter from which and to which numbers you want to call. In a few seconds, your phone rings and a voice announces the connection is being made.

That is, the callback system we have been using for years from phone booths, but via a web site.

Prices vary from zero to 52 (Euro) cents per minute, depending on where you live. Zone 1 covers the US, Canada, China, Singapore and Hong Kong. Zone 2 covers most of Europe, as well as other countries such as Thailand, Argentina or Venezuela.

Which calls are free?

The only free calls are between registered users. If a registered user calls a non-registered phone number, the call has a cost. The news is that Zone 1 users can also call for free from their cell phones. True, they must install a Java program in their phones, and it only works with Nokia, Motorola and Samsung devices with the Symbian operating system.

Users in Zone 2 (including Spain) pay 15 to 28 cents per minute if they use their cell phone. Not cheap for calling another cell phone within Spain, but a bargain when calling cell phones in other European or American countries. Calls between landlines in these zones are quite cheaper at two cents per minute.

All of the above prices are exclusive of VAT, but there is no cost for setting the call up. Jajah pays for the free calls with the revenue from the paid calls, and it also limits the duration of the free calls. It also offers some interesting plug-in programs to call directly from applications such as Outlook and Firefox, to send SMS and business accounts.

The rates are slightly higher than SkypeOut’s, Skype’s system for calling to fixed and mobile phones from a computer. The major difference between Skype and Jajah is that the latter uses the computer just for entering the phone numbers. Calls are made with regular phones, thus not requiring any fiddling with headsets or microphones.

For starters, Jajah gives 50 cents of credit, that you can recharge via credit card, funds transfer or the Moneybookers and PaySafeCard systems. PayPal is not accepted for obvious reasons: PalPal is owned by eBay, and eBay also owns Skype.

Some examples

Calls within Spain

• Between Jajah users: free
• Fixed to fixed: 0,02 €
• Fixed to mobile (or the other way round): 0,15 €
• Mobile to mobile: 0,28 €

Calls from Spain to the US

• Between Jajah users: free
• Spanish fixed to US fixed: 0,02 €
• Spanish fixed to US mobile (or the other way round): 0,15 €
• Spanish mobile to US mobile: 0,28 €

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