Line banners Premium Call service

MANILA, Philippines - In an age of texting and video calls, there is still a pressing need for inexpensive, quality voice calls. That’s the premise behind Premium Call, a service recently unveiled locally by leading mobile messenger service Line. Greg Kim, Line Philippines head, made the announcement even as he reported that the mobile platform has now breached 490 million users worldwide.

After its June 2011 launch, Line reached a milestone of 100 million users in just 19 months. By comparison, it took Twitter 49 months and Facebook 54 months to register the same number of users. Today, Line offers a myriad of international and local services including messages, video calls, and group chats while “integrating social elements” in its features such as stickers, “Home & Timeline,” and other apps including games and the Line Camera. Its cute and cuddly characters led by a bear (Brown) and a rabbit (Cony) have also captured the interest a growing legion of users who use its wide array of stickers – both free and for sale.

From a “budding messaging application” Line is now a “full-fledged mobile ecosystem,” that also leverages partnerships with local establishments such as Jollibee, Bench, and Family Mart.

In a release, Line said that Premium Call “allows users to make low-cost calls domestically and internationally to both landlines and mobile devices from inside the (downloadable) Line app.” When ranged against other similar services, Line Premium Call offers the lowest pricing even while guaranteeing call quality and “better network conditions.”

Line has been fastidious about the quality of its Internet calls to landlines and mobiles. Its technical team conducts research and experiments under conditions that meet “rigorous international standards,” including ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector) recommendations. Compared to 2012, voice-call usage on Line increased by 5.6 times even as the call voice quality was upped by 120 percent. Calls to land

In relation to the new service, Line Philippines gives away coupons with 300 Line Premium Call credits to diners of 23 Munchpunch-affiliated restaurants (a total of 100 branches) from August 14 to September 13. Credit coupons will also be given out to online shoppers at Lazada during the same period.

Popular actors Jessy Mendiola and Matteo Guidicelli, Line brand ambassadors, were at the launch event to help drum up awareness on the new Line service.

For more information, like www.facebook.com/Line.Philippines, follow www.youtube.com/lineappglobal, or visit http://en.lineblog.naver.jp.