T-Mobile brings free voice calls to Facebook

In spite of a pending sale to AT&T, T-Mobile is forging ahead by launching a new VoIP service that lets Facebook users place free calls.

T-Mobile is hoping to expand its customer base exponentially with a new application that lets Facebook users place free calls to each other. The app, dubbed Bobsled, once installed, will allow anyone with a Facebook account place a call to a friend on Facebook chat. Bobsled also lets users post a private or public voice message to a person’s wall for later retrieval.

“Bobsled by T-Mobile takes our communications services innovation to a whole new dimension, bringing simple and cost-effective connections to more than half a billion people overnight, said Brad Duea, senior vice president of T-Mobile. “Our new Bobsled brand will evolve in the coming months to provide even more ways for people to connect, no matter what platform, device or mobile provider they are using.”

According to T-Mobile, a recent survey indicated that 88 percent of Facebook users want the social networking site to offer a voice calling feature.

The company says it has plans to bring Bobsled to Android devices, the iPhone and unspecified tablets. The company has also indicated it may also offer video calls, land-line calls and text messaging through Bobsled at a later date. It’s not clear if the outcome of a pending merger with AT&T will affect any of the company’s future plans for Bobsled.

The app is now available to any of Facebook’s 500 million users — not just those in the U.S. Also, phone-shy Facebook users be warned: even if you don’t download the app, T-Mobile says it’s still possible to receive Bobsled calls through Facebook.