By downloading Netphone -- e-Mbizo's equivalent to Skype -- free of charge from the e-Mbizo Web site, users can call anywhere in the world for less than the normal telco rate.

Currently the company terminates calls mainly to Nigeria, DRC, Angola, U.K., U.S. and locally. A list of all the prices can be found on the Web site, http://www.embizo.co.za.

According to Thabo Malebadi, group CEO of e-Mbizo, the pricing rates are possible because the company spent over three years in R&D with various highly experienced networks. 'The aim was to reduce the overall cost of telecommunication and TCO for IP telephony, where extensive investments were made on the infrastructure as well as the software developments. We brought together the acquired knowledge bases and localized technology with the expertise in the company, through this we are able to establish a fully-fledged wholesale platform available to the masses.'