Facebook is set to offer more voice and data services once it completes its planned purchase of mobile messaging service WhatsApp. WhatsApp is now selling prepaid SIM cards in Europe. Voice calls on WhatsApp were first announced at Mobile World Congress, but at that time there were no known implementations of the service.
WhatsApp will offer SIM cards through E-Plus, Germany’s third largest carrier. For about $14/month, customers will get unlimited messaging on WhatsApp, plus some mobile voice, data and texting. E-Plus, which is fully-owned by KPN of The Netherlands, offers mobile service under a number of brands including BASE, simyo, blau.de, yourfone, AY YILDIZ and Ortel Mobile.
Facebook itself already offers voice calls over both WiFi and cellular through its Messenger App, but Messenger is far less popular worldwide than WhatsApp. To make things even more confusing, Facebook itself offers messaging within its own app, but the social media giant recently announced plans to sunset the messaging feature within Facebook itself, hoping to drive more downloads of Messenger.
Other apps that are used primarily for messaging are starting to offer voice as well. BlackBerry Messenger is has added voice calling to its iOS and Android apps, but calls can only be made between two users of the BBM app. And TextNow offers voice calling through a partnership with Sprint.
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