Japanese chat app LINE has just launched it’s newest feature, a flat rate phone calling service that will cost as low as 2 cents per minute depending on the region. For now, LINE Call is only available through the Android version of its app and supports eight markets around the world. The company is expected to expand its offering should the service prove successful.
Currently, the plan in is place in LINE’s home country of Japan, and several other east Asian market where it is popular like the Philippines and Thailand. LINE also has a big presence in Latin America, meaning Mexico, Spain, and Colombia will get to try the service first, and LINE’s partnership with football clubs in Spain open its service up there too.
Surprisingly, the first eight markets also extends to include the United States, where the popular app has yet to really take off. China rounds out the final few where LINE faces stiff competition from China’s own WeChat.
The flat rate you pay per phone call depends on the region and whether or not you’re calling a wireless number or a landline. In the United States, calling both a land and mobile number will be only 2 cents per minute, but in the Philippines, you’ll have to cough up 12 cents a minute for a mobile line and 16 cents a minute for a land line.
In Japan, the calls cost3 cents a minute to a mobile line and 14 cents to a land line. I use the app’s chat functions so much that I have completely removed phone calls from my everyday routine. Maybe I’ll give the call service a shot, but I can’t use LINE’s amazing collection of fun stickers in a phone call, can I?
I’m in love with LINE and when last we checked, 300 million others are too. Are cheap phone calls enough to get you to download it yet?
