Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

koru

The new iPhone/Android app from Vonage Mobile (https://www.vonagemobile.com) potentially offers the same roaming advantages as Skype, but cheaper.

Instead of opening the normal phone app or the Skype app, you just open the Vonage app instead and make your call just as you would normally do. Like Skype, calls are free to any smart phone which has the same app. Calls to Europe, India, China, New Zealand landlines are about 1.4 pence per min (2.2 or 2.4 US cents). That's either the same as Skype or cheaper in some cases. The app tells you the rate before you dial.

Of course, any data costs would be on top of the Vonage charge, so using this app would make most sense if you are using free Wi-Fi or, if you are using 3G, the data is within your free allowance.

You have to buy credit in advance, but you can do this through iTunes.

Vonage claim that call quality is better than normal mobile calls.

Vonage is a big, well respected company. I have been using Vonage as my landline for 3 years now, and it has been very reliable.

buglawton

Does Vonage have an unlimited world deal like Skype's, e.g. unlimited to almost any country's landline and some countries' mobiles? Skype's price is $13.99/month, can Voyage do better?

[ edit - just checked, Vonage's county list is 60 instead of 40, but it is $26 + tax/month. Our Skype bill is £22.77/Quarter inc VAT as the longer you pay in advance, the bigger the discount ]

koru

buglawton wrote: »

Does Vonage have an unlimited world deal like Skype's, e.g. unlimited to almost any country's landline and some countries' mobiles? Skype's price is $13.99/month, can Voyage do better?

[ edit - just checked, Vonage's county list is 60 instead of 40, but it is $26 + tax/month. Our Skype bill is £22.77/Quarter inc VAT as the longer you pay in advance, the bigger the discount ]

As far as I know, the Vonage app does not include any sort of monthly package deal.

I think you are looking at the US charges for people who are using VoIP over their home broadband. The UK equivalent is £18.99 (http://www.vonage.co.uk/call-plans/v-plan-4i/). But this is for a service where you plug your home phone into an ATA which you plug in turn into your router, at home.

I notice that they do have another app called Vonage Extensions, under which US customers for the home broadband VoIP can use their monthly allowance on their smart phone as well as their home phone. But this is not available in the UK, at least not yet.

So, Skype seems to be a better deal if you want to do a lot of calling from your mobile.

honeybee1985

hi guys, im going travelling round usa in about a month, ill be travelling for about 5 weeks. i have a iphone 4 on o2. i was wondering what the cheapest way to use my phone there will be. i would like to use the internet quite abit, well mainly facebook as this will be my main way of keeping in touch with people. any help appreciated..

grumbler

A local sim...

honeybee1985

grumbler wrote: »

A local sim...

like just buy one when i get there, rather than those prepaid type sims you can get online???

grumbler

Yes. And make sure your iPhone is unlocked.

I wonder why you are asking this with "???". Did you read the article being discussed in this thread?

Martin wrote:

1. Buy a local Sim card (the cheaper route)
   This is a specific Sim card for the country you are going to, which gives you a new number while in use. Generally, this works out cheaper, however, if you travel regularly it means picking one for each journey and giving out a new number each time (see Cheap Local Sims).
   In some places, especially the US, it may make more sense to grab a super-basic PAYG handset which comes pre-loaded with minutes. Some of these handsets are very cheap and, of course, you needn't unlock them.
2. Get an international roaming Sim card (the easier route)

fahimk123

which is the best connection or software to call to middle east countries plus the asian countries as well....

koru

Calling from where? If you mean calling from the UK on a mobile, then refer to the article that deals with this:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/free-international-mobile-call?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=clicks&utm_campaign=resourcebar

The International Call Checker should answer you. If you have a smartphone, also check rates for VOIP apps, such as Vonage Mobile and Mobile VOIP.

f309046

As suggested by the site I orderded my SIM it arrived quickly and worked fine on a recent holiday to Norway, however not convinced that the rates quoted are always applied.
I have asked Story Telecom for a breakdown of call charges made, and they have said I can have one to cover the last 3 months for £10, is this fair ?
I think this is a great idea, and although it did not work on one of my phones, it worked fine on my Nokia.
Without a breakdown of call costs how do we know that any of the providers are applying the rate as quoted ?