Viber said that the first 10,000 people to sign up will be able to pay $1.99 per month indefinitely for the service. and Canada, with more countries getting added soon. Viber Local Number, as the service is called, is available to anyone globally, but for now the numbers you can register are in the U.S., U.K. Viber 4.1 is rolling out to iPhones right now, and when it’s available you can download it here for free.Viber, the messaging app owned by Rakuten that a year ago said it had 1 billion registered users, has added another feature in its longer-term efforts to add more stickiness to its service, while also bringing in a little more revenue to the business: users now have the option of subscribing to have “local numbers” that can receive phone calls and SMS messages as if those calls and messages are being sent to mobile numbers in specific regions. In fact, Viber Out offers such substantial savings over Skype and competitors for many users that it may cause other services to change their rates.Īnyway, in addition to adding Viber Out, today’s 4.1 update will also add new stickers and other improvements (unfortunately there’s no word on a made-for-iOS 7 design). Viber says that its goal is to deliver HD audio at rates that are ‘highly competitive,’ and as you can see, they’ve accomplished that. Further, Viber Out on Desktop has your phone’s address book so you don’t have to remember numbers or dial them manually.”Īnd here’s a breakdown of Viber Out’s fees vs. Unlike competing services, Viber Out displays your real phone number to the recipient so he or she knows who is calling. Additionally, Viber Out has a significantly lower price-per-call than other competing services due to lower per minute rates and the omission of connection fees. Viber Out credit can be bought with an in-app purchase from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, or with a credit card via Viber Desktop. “Now with the official worldwide launch, Viber Out enables all Viber users to call anyone worldwide at low rates on Android, iPhone and Desktop, coming to Windows Phone in the future. From Viber’s press release (via Android Central):

Viber calling card