BRITISH mobile-phone users will be able to make free international calls from next month after a ground-breaking deal between 3 and Skype, the world’s biggest internet telephone company with almost 4 million customers in the UK.

The service aims to encourage mobile-phone users to connect to the internet while on the move. Other mobile companies are expected to strike similar deals with internet telephone providers, as they try to convince customers to adopt third generation (3G) wireless technology services.

The move is part of a wider service by 3, under which users will pay an as yet undisclosed monthly subscription to gain unlimited access to some of the internet’s best-known brands. Other offerings under the deal include access to users’ home PCs and televisions from their mobiles.

It marks part of a last-ditch attempt by Britain’s mobile operators to encourage users to tap into lucrative data services and turn 3G into a mass-market product. They spent £22.5 billion on acquiring the licences to operate the technology. Five years on, the promised revolution in which customers would use mobile phones to surf the internet, send e-mails and make video calls has yet to happen.

About 95 per cent of revenue from mobile phones is still drawn from voice calls and text messaging, with many users simply scrolling past the internet option on their phone’s menu. The 3 company has endured a particularly rough ride. In the first half of this year alone the group — part of Hutchison Whampoa, a Hong Kong conglomerate — recorded losses of £815 million.

Skype, which has revolutionised the fixed-line phone industry, has long been viewed as a threat by most mobile operators. They are increasingly coming round to the view that they have no option but to embrace the technology. Niklas Zennström, co-founder of Skype, said: “We are in discussions with many different types of mobile operators around the world.”

Other internet players, who regard the mobile phone as the new battleground, are also rushing to clinch deals with mobile players. This week Vodafone, the world’s biggest mobile operator, announced a link with Yahoo! to allow its customers to search on the move. Google, one of 3’s partners, has also linked up with other mobile players.

Analysts remained sceptical that services such as that offered by 3 would transform the fortunes of mobile operators and prompt the wide-scale take-up of 3G services. They point out that the 3 service is available initially on only two handsets and has a “fair usage” limit over which users could be required to pay an additional amount.

James Barford, of Enders Analysis, said: “On the positive side, it is good that the mobile phone operators are finally admitting that the internet players are better at designing these products for consumers than they are. However, similar services have not encouraged mass take-up.

“This is at best still a long-term game.”

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