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Already one of the leading playeres in the burgeoning US market, Vonage's UK outing offers unlimited local and national calls, whether they are to other Vonage users or fixed lines, for a penny less than £10 a month. Mobile costs are fixed at 15p, 10p, and 5p a minute at daytime, evening and weekends respectively.

On signing up, the customer receives a kit to allow them to plug a standard phone into the Vonage adaptor which then plugs into the Ethernet port on a broadband router. Customers can choose their own telephone number which is tied to their account, so it stays with them even if they move house.

'Vonage brings a new way of calling to the market and challenges traditional telephony by offering innovative services at a cost effective price,' said Kerry Ritz, Managing Director of Vonage UK. 'We are confident we will replicate our US success here in the UK and fully expect to be the nation's number

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one provider of voice services over broadband to consumers and small businesses.'

Vonage is hoping to sign up a sizable chunk of the 6.5m broadband users in the UK, but will undoubtedly have its work cut out. Sure, one of the selling points may be you don't need a computer. But you do need a broadband connection, and how many people sign up to broadband without a computer.

Second, the cost-savings to consumers of Internet telephony are not lost on rivals. BT is looking into it, Wanadoo is already trialling such a service through its Livebox router, which again doesn't require your computer to be on and allows you to plug a phone straight into the box. It's much easier for an ISP or other comms service provider to use Net telephony to enhance existing offerings such as cable TV, Internet and so on.

Additionally, the likes of AOL's AIM and MSN's messenger services have voice communication already built-in - although it's not as straightforward as just plugging in your standard phone into a box.

Then the hugely popular Skype really falls somewhere between the two because it has numerous hardware licencees, including the likes of Siemens and Motorola, beavering away with the technology to add the service to devices.

Even so, Vonage has proved popular in the US, touting more than half a million users and claiming more than 15,000 new connections a week.

For more information visit the Vonage website or Staples.