While the Google Voice application for the iPhone continues to be hung up in Apple’s review process, a similar application from another company has passed with flying colors.
On Monday, Vonage, the Internet telephony company, is releasing a mobile application for BlackBerrys, iPhones and iPod Touches.
The application, which is free, will allow users to place low-cost international calls over Wi-Fi and cellular voice networks. Once it is installed, users load up their calling accounts using a credit card. Rates vary by country. Vonage said it will eventually release a flat-rate plan with a recurring subscription fee for frequent callers.
“Given the penetration of smartphones and the global increase of phones that can access broadband networks, the time is now for a company like Vonage to take advantage of the market,” said Marc Lefar, Vonage’s chief executive.
Vonage’s announcement comes on the heels of queries by federal regulators about Apple’s decision to keep the Google Voice application from appearing in its App Store. Google Voice, which is available for BlackBerrys and phones powered by Google’s Android software, lets users make free domestic calls and inexpensive international calls, and send free text messages.
Some applications that offer cheap or free Internet calls from the iPhone, like Skype, will only work over Wi-Fi networks. Apple has said that it had agreed to consult with AT&T before approving applications that allow so-called voice-over-Internet-protocol calls over AT&T’s data network, bypassing its voice network.
Google’s voice application does not work over Wi-Fi. Instead, the application dials a special Google number using the standard voice network, and then Google routes the call to its destination.
The Vonage application for the iPhone makes calls over Wi-Fi when in range of a hotspot, but it can also route calls over the voice network, said Michael Tempora, senior vice president of products at Vonage. In the latter case, it works similarly to the Google application. The Vonage app for BlackBerrys works only over the voice network; the iPod Touch version works over Wi-Fi.
Mr. Tempora said he didn’t see any reason why Vonage’s application for the iPhone would not have been given a green light. “We built the application in complete accordance with Apple’s rules,” he said.
“We’re not trying to drive voice traffic over the data network at this point,” Mr. Tempora said. “Though we do look forward to the wireless networks in the U.S. opening up so we can launch voice and messaging apps over 3G and 4G networks.”
Apple has told regulators that it had concerns about Google’s application, including the way it duplicates some functions of the iPhone, and the way it handles information about a user’s contacts.
Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple, did not respond to e-mailed questions about the Vonage application over the weekend. She did reiterate that Apple had not rejected the Google Voice application and would “continue to discuss it with Google.”
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