PokeTalk is a new service which offers free international telephone calls from landlines and mobile phones. Put down that cynical face for a moment and I’ll run through the surprisingly benign rules. First, only 50 calls a month per account. Second, a maximum of 10 minutes per call. Finally, the list of countries is limited, as is the list of those nations which support mobile phone access.

Nevertheless it’s a pretty interesting service. To use it, you just sign up for an account and every time you want to make a call you log on to the website and enter in the destination and originating phone numbers. PokeTalk calls both numbers and then connects you for free for 10 minutes using VoIP. Landline to landline, landline to mobile and vice versa in qualifying countries. So far they serve over 50 countries.

The company is aiming to make its money from the advertising on the website, which is brave (or foolish maybe?) and possibly some premium services down the line, for example extended call time at a price. We’ve covered free telephone calls before, mostly with adverts tacked onto the call itself, so this is hardly revolutionary. But maybe, just maybe, they’ll get enough traction before the funding runs out and confound all the cynics who say this stuff never works.