Out for UPC phone app
The «UPC Phone App» allowed users to make landline calls from their smartphones. However, it generated little interest among customers.
With the UPC Phone app, fixed network calls can be made and received - on the move and at home. This means, for example, that roaming costs can be saved by using the inclusive minutes of the fixed-network subscription via the app even when abroad.
As Switzerland on Sunday has noted, UPC is discontinuing the app as of August 31, 2017, and will only offer it for download until May 2, 2017. Affected customers will be given a special right of termination. The reason for the discontinuation is declining user numbers, as a UPC spokesperson tells the newspaper.
Swisscom's Whats app alternative iO is also said to meet with little interest among users. According to Schweiz am Sonntag, "insiders" speak of "extremely low usage". However, Swisscom does not want to disclose usage figures or comment on how the app will continue.
Telecommunications providers seem to be generating little enthusiasm with their own apps. The reason is obvious: The customer need for communication on the smartphone is already sufficiently covered. For example, iMessage, Whatsapp, Skype and the like have long enabled free and location-independent telephony via WLAN. The Swiss app Threema with its end-to-end encryption has established itself in many places as a secure messenger alternative to the data-collecting market leader Whatsapp, which belongs to Facebook. (hae)
