T-Mobile has abolished premium call divert charges to customers using the HulloMail voicemail service. The network droped the charges on 29 June after prolonged pressure from Hullomail itself, and from customers incensed at being penalised for opting out of T-Mobiles own voicemail service. T-Mobile had been the only operator to levy a premium of 17p or 26p depending on the customers tariff. The change means diverts will be considered as part of bundled minutes.
HulloMail, the British company whose free downloadable voicemail app for the G1 phone was one of the early star performers on Android Marketplace, was T-Mobiles most vociferous lobbyist. Given T-Mobiles UK exclusivity over the G1, HulloMail boss Andy Munarriz had been lobbying the operator for several months. His calls had also been echoed by online petitions, with customers complaining of being penalised for using an otherwise free solution which was felt to be against the spirit of an open marketplace.
These days, people expect voicemail to be as flexible as any other form of digital communications and our service allows precisely that, says Munarriz. Im therefore delighted that when T-Mobile saw the advantages of our solution and how strongly users felt about it, they agreed to change their divert charge policy for HulloMail users.
Currently, all mobile operators handle voicemail messages in much the same way, with all messages being stored on a central server, offering little flexibility in how they are then used. HulloMail says it plans to liberate UK consumers from archaic voicemail usage, allowing them to enjoy a fully integrated, free digital voice-email experience. Munarriz believes that, where users have a better choice, they should be able to use it.
It always seemed unfair that our users should be penalised for wanting the best voicemail solution, he says. T-Mobile have shown they are willing to embrace developers who are striving to make mobile usage easier and cheaper, not putting barriers in our way. Hopefully, this is now what will happen. 
