No future in VoIP concludes Tesco, vacating the market

Fri 26 Mar 2010 9 Comments

Tesco backs out of VoIP market

Supermarket giant Tesco, despite expanding enthusiastically into all things mobile, has announced that it is putting an end to its VoIP service, with the operation scheduled to cease on April 27th.

Back in 2006, when the company launched the service, VoIP - or cheap internet telephone calls - was set to be the next big thing, with the general consensus being that it was only the fact that many people hadn't heard of it which was preventing VoIP from becoming commonplace. Tesco set out to bring internet telephony to the mainstream, with free calls to other Tesco internet phone users, UK landlines 2p per minute and UK mobiles 10p per minute any time.

However, VoIP has not taken off in quite the way that Tesco had hoped it would, with VoIP callers still tending to be the technophiles and those who need to make a lot of long-distance calls - which is where the savings do add up. As a result, the company is now canning the service, saying it is no longer sustainable. “We found Tesco customers weren’t really using it and taking it up," a Tesco spokesperson told PC Pro. "We launched the service quite a while ago now and technology and communications have moved forward a long way.” Or, to put it another way, the smart money is in smart-phones. And mobile broadband. And not VoIP.

Tesco continues to improve its portfolio of mobile and mobile broadband products, with mobile outlets in its larger stores and a Tesco-branded mobile service running on O2's network. Meanwhile, for VoIP customers, no further top-ups are possible, and refunds will be available for outstanding credit.

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Comments

  • unhappy

    by ArtRoc at 20:56 on 26 Mar 2010 | registered | 1 postReport abuse

    Yes, but what about the folk who have spent a lot of money buying the top-of-the-range Tesco DualPhone (rebadged Siemens S450IP and cannot switch them to another VOIP provider becase they are locked to the soon-to-be-defunct Tesco service?

  • unhappy

    by Ex tesco customer at 02:43 on 27 Mar 2010Report abuse

    You need to correct the above Tesco propaganda. Tesco are NOT refunding the outstanding credit. They have dropped their customers into limbo land. I recieve two E-mails today,one to say I have requested to cancel my call plan which is a lie. The second informs me that the service will end 24th of April and from the 1st of April I am on pay as you go with no way to top up my account. They don't suggest any services and will lock my account so I can't access it even for the final bill. Its the final kick that prove Tesco need to be regulated by slapping heavy fines on them for all their dirty tricks and cons that they pull every day. Every little helps them produce large profits and treat their customers like mugs.

  • neutral

    by Kevin Box at 09:58 on 29 Mar 2010Report abuse

    Hi,
    Why not consider looking at alternative VoIP providers such as Cloud Net?

  • unhappy

    by paul at 15:43 on 31 Mar 2010Report abuse

    Any bets on how long Tesco Mobile has left? Who's going to buy one after seeing this?

    Surprised that Tesco can afford to annoy so many - guess the other supermarkets are happy now as so many people refuse to use Tesco for anything.

  • unhappy

    by Bob Smith at 19:16 on 6 Apr 2010Report abuse

    And there appears to be no porting arrangements to allow anyone to move their numbers to any other telephony supplier.

  • unhappy

    by Bob Smith at 15:05 on 14 Apr 2010Report abuse

    I have contacted several other VOIP and telephony suppliers including Cloud Net and none of them are able to port the Tesco Internet Phone numbers to their networks. Ofcom have deafened me with their silence on the issue, and Tesco have given me an unreserved apology but do not have a solution for the customers they have let down.

  • happy

    by Phil Collin at 18:00 on 16 Apr 2010Report abuse

    The commercial director at Tesco today confirmed "Tesco would be more than happy for all of it's existing Internet Phone customers to move to the VoiceHost service"
    Tesco have put VoiceHost in touch with the physical telephone number provider to negotiate moving all of the numbers to the VoiceHost service.

  • unhappy

    by Ex Tesco Customer at 09:57 on 26 Apr 2010Report abuse

    Check the date 26th April. Tesco has gone and where were the answers to all those customers. No answers No help and No use still every little helps. Tesco brand is blacked in my book and I want them and all you to know that Tesco are LIARS. Don't buy from them because they are worse than the Trotters. Spives, Flyby Nights and Tesco belong together in the hall of Ripoff Merchants of Great Britain. In the next few weeks look out for the number of internet sites that spring up with Tesco in their name and watch how not to do business in the tech world. Tesco's are upsetting people who can and will effect them business of the future so be warn!

  • unhappy

    by Ex Tesco Customer at 18:34 on 13 May 2010Report abuse

    No refund,No contact from Tesco. I told you Tesco were LIARS and can not be trusted. So once again I asked you to correct the above acticle to reflect the truth not Tesco's propaganda.

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