Freshtel gets iPhone app approved

in brief Australian internet telephony player Freshtel has won approval for its iPhone application to be sold in Apple's app store.

Freshtel customers will be able to use their iPhones to call other Freshtel users free of charge, the company said today in a statement to the ASX. Calls to mobile, landline and international numbers using the application would be charged a "substantially cheaper rate" than normal mobile calls, the company said.

The company iPhone application is an extension of its existing Mobilelink software, which also runs on Nokia's platform, and is also being developed for the Google Android and Blackberry platforms, with Freshtel saying the new versions should be ready for release in the near future.

The news comes just weeks after Freshtel announced the resignation of its chief executive Rhonda O'Donnell.