We’ve asked Viber why it’s taken it so long for it to launch this, and also whether third-party services like these are partners for Viber Local Number, or conversely whether Viber will allow them to continue to operate in competition with its own offering. One that I found offering a local number feature for Viber, Freezvon, has an even wider range of countries listed for local numbers than the three that Viber currently offers. There also have been companies that have stepped into the feature gap between the existence of the capability and Viber yet to launch anything of its own.

Skype, for one, has offered the option of getting a local number in a specific region, both to make and receive calls, for years. Viber Local Number will sound fairly familiar to people who have used other messaging apps and VoIP services. You access the option to get the number by way of the “more” tab on the app.

Otherwise, it’s being priced at $4.99/month, and according to a FAQ on its site, you pay either by way of Apple’s in-app payments service, Google Play or (if you’re on Android) via a credit card direct with Viber itself. Viber said that the first 10,000 people to sign up will be able to pay $1.99 per month indefinitely for the service. and Canada, with more countries getting added soon. Viber Local Number, as the service is called, is available to anyone globally, but for now the numbers you can register are in the U.S., U.K. Viber, the messaging app owned by Rakuten that a year ago said it had 1 billion registered users, has added another feature in its longer-term efforts to add more stickiness to its service, while also bringing in a little more revenue to the business: users now have the option of subscribing to have “local numbers” that can receive phone calls and SMS messages as if those calls and messages are being sent to mobile numbers in specific regions.

Viber calling out from england