WhatsApp to introduce voice calls

Messaging app bought by Facebook for $19bn last week makes further advance on mobile operators' territory

WhatsApp, the free texting app acquired by Facebook for $19bn last week, will open a new front in its war on the cost of mobile communications by introducing free voice calls within months.

Jan Koum, WhatsApp’s co-founder, made the announcement at Mobile World Congress, an annual gathering of industry executives in Barcelona.

The Ukranian-born entrepreneur, who became a billionaire nearly seven times over last Wednesday, also revealed WhatsApp has continued its astonishing growth since Facebook swooped. In less than a week it has added a further 15 million active users per month to take the total beyond 465m, he said.

Mr Koum said: "We’re going to introduce voice on WhatsApp in the second quarter of this year.

“We want to make sure people always have the ability to stay in touch and call their friends and family, and their loved ones, and do it easily and affordably.

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“We think we have the best voice product out there. We use the least amount of bandwidth, and we optimise the hell out of it.

“The same values of the leading messaging platform in the world will be the same on voice. We’re going to focus on simplicity and we will make sure the same gold standard will be applied.”

The new service will be introduced for iPhone and Android users first, he said, with Windows Phone and BlackBerry to follow later.

WhatsApp’s expansion into voice represents an increased threat to mobile operators. As with its free text messaging service, calls will be routed via smartphone internet connections and so has the potential to erode traditional revenue streams for networks.

WhatsApp’s strong brand consumer brand also means it will more directly challenge Skype, the popular free calls app owned by Microsoft, and Google Voice.

Mr Koum’s latest push to cut the cost of communicating was announced as Vittorio Colao, the chief executive of Vodafone, called for regulators to be wary. He said Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp was a sign of new powerful forces in the mobile industry and that barriers to consolidation among operators should be lowered in response.

He said: “These deals are clear indicators the world is completely changing and the regulations don’t work any more.”

Mr Colao was due to meet Mark Zuckerberg at a dinner on Monday night, following the Facebook chief executive’s keynote speech.

Mr Zuckerberg was scheduled to speak to the mobile industry about Internet.org, a Facebook-sponsored initiative to broaden internet access in developing countries.

In an apparent olive branch to mobile operators, Mr Koum said WhatsApp, which charges uses a $1 per year subscription fee, would aim to make commercial deals with operators and announced a partnership with E-Plus in Germany.

He said: We’re also really excited about partnerships with carriers.

“We will take the WhatsApp brand and we will parter with E-Plus to introduce a WhatsApp mobile brand in Germany. This is an example of working with carriers in established markets to bring value to the end user.”