With UK watchdog Consumer Focus issuing a warning to football fans travelling to the 2010 World Cup regarding potentially huge bills for mobile phone usage, HulloMail is encouraging soccer fans to download its free voicemail app in advance, in order to access voicemails and send voice messages home, at no cost.

HulloMail users can give friends and family their personal HulloMail UK number, allowing them to leave voice messages without calling them directly. Travelling fans can then listen to messages using the HulloMail mobile app whilst roaming in a free wi-fi hotspot and can quickly and easily reply using a ‘Hullo’, which is a short voice message.  If friends and family are also HulloMail users they can send Hullos directly to each other’s devices. HulloMail is available as an app for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry handsets.

Consumer Focus found that the cost of making calls from S. Africa was as high as £1.70 per minute, while the cost of receiving calls was up to £1.50 per minute.

“It would be a real own goal to return from the World Cup to find a hefty mobile phone bill waiting for you,” says HulloMail CEO, Andy Munarriz. “It makes sense for fans to access our free HulloMail smart voicemail app. They can give contacts their unique HulloMail number so voice messages can be left for them, saving expensive roaming costs. Messages can then be retrieved simply via the app, online, or by email; it’s up to the fan which they prefer.  Fans can also send a Hullo, short voice message, to their mates watching back home for free, using a free wi-fi hotspot.”

Until recently free wi-fi has been hard to find in S. Africa, but many shopping centres and leisure complexes in the host cities are providing free wi-fi for the duration of the tournament.