NOKIA is to give millions of consumers using its mobile phones the ability to make free calls using the internet, it announced today.

The firm is to include internet call software Skype in new phones, allowing customers to bypass traditional mobile phone networks and make free calls.

Skype, already popular with computer users, routes voice calls over the internet rather than phone network.

Users can call other Skype users free, and connect to normal phones for a small fee.

Although other networks such as Three have been offering handsets with Skype for some time, Nokia is by far the biggest handset manufacturer to back internet telephony, with around 40 per cent of the global handset market.

Experts today said the move could bring big changes.

"People are used to Skype on a computer, but this is a step towards free mobile phone calls for everyone," said Katherine Hannaford of gadget magazine T3. "However, I wonder what the phone networks will make of this, as it seems it will cut into their revenue," she added.

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