Rostelecom plans to create its own Internet telephony service, according to the state procurement website. As part of the implementation of the project "Implementation of the Communicator Service", the company announced a tender for the supply of equipment, performance of work, provision of services and a software license.

The maximum contract amount will be 72.8 million rubles, the service is planned to be launched in the first half of 2015, a representative of Rostelecom reported.

Rostelecom's contractor will have to create a product that will give local telephone subscribers "additional ability to make outgoing and receive incoming calls using a software application (a PC with a software application installed on it, mobile devices based on iOS, Android with applications installed on them), as well as use additional services (exchange of short messages, storage of a contact book, etc.). Similar functionality is available in the Skype service, which belongs to Microsoft, TASS reports.

"All our subscribers will be able to receive a real phone number to communicate with subscribers of telephone networks. Thus, smartphone users will receive another phone number on their smartphone, and tablet users will be able to call from tablet computers, even if they do not have a GSM module. In addition, we will be able to give some of our users the opportunity to link their home number to the application, and for them, their home phone will become a mobile phone," a company representative explained to Vedomosti.

According to him, "the service will be legitimate from the point of view of our legislation."

"Large companies rarely write products from scratch, they often buy ready-made projects. A new product will be competitive only if the developers have the necessary experience. If the company does not have such developers, they need to be looked for, but in this case it is easier to buy a ready-made team. But Rostelecom has no experience in creating products for mass demand, especially in such a dynamic environment as the Internet. Therefore, its product is unlikely to be competitive - assuming that such a product will be created. It is easier for a giant like Rostelecom to buy ready-made projects," says Sergey Kravtsov, CEO of 4talk (a cloud messaging service).

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