Phone charges from the USA

[9cisco999]

Due to my circumstance I needed to address the land line service to the house.

 

 

 

 

I have A T & T cell service on two lines but the service is spotty here due to tower location in this flat area.

 

 

 

 

I confirmed the world wide calling feature which provides for reduced rates and I asked about the charges for calling certain countries.

 

 

 

I asked about Thailand: $ 0.23/minute

 

Philippines $0.17

 

 

Australia $0.09

 

England $0.09

 

 

 

Europe to the Russian border $0.09

 

 

These rates are with a monthly calling plan which costs 5.00 USD

 

 

 

I then asked about the charge to Laos.

 

 

With the plan it's $2.43 a minute

 

 

 

"""""WITHOUT A CALLING PLAN IT'S $10.09 A MINUTE""""""

 

 

 

I start to wonder if Laos is supported by taxes on calls to the country.

 

 

The A T & T representative said he'd worked for the company for several years and had never come across such a high rate until I asked the question

 

 

 

I still chat minimally on occasion with a non English speaking lady I met last January in Patts.

 

 

I do use Skype for Laos which is $0.20/minute. I never got a VOIP phone. Magic jack which I bought didn't work with my Mac.

[lovedog100]

You can buy calling cards that have better rates. There are many different cards, you need to check the rate for each one. Once they are activated, there is a small amount of time before they expire. Also, while the minute rate is great, they have a call charge. I've had a 30 minute card used up with three calls of a minute or two. It's best to get the ones that last 20 or 30 minutes and use it all at once.

 

I don't know about magic jack and a mac, but the first one I bought didn't work, the second one I have been using for two years. It might be worth a check to see if you just got a bad one.

[lespaul5000]

Due to my circumstance I needed to address the land line service to the house.

 

 

 

 

I have A T & T cell service on two lines but the service is spotty here due to tower location in this flat area.

 

 

 

 

I confirmed the world wide calling feature which provides for reduced rates and I asked about the charges for calling certain countries.

 

 

 

I asked about Thailand: $ 0.23/minute

 

Philippines $0.17

 

 

Australia $0.09

 

England $0.09

 

 

 

Europe to the Russian border $0.09

 

 

These rates are with a monthly calling plan which costs 5.00 USD

 

 

 

I then asked about the charge to Laos.

 

 

With the plan it's $2.43 a minute

 

 

 

"""""WITHOUT A CALLING PLAN IT'S $10.09 A MINUTE""""""

 

 

 

I start to wonder if Laos is supported by taxes on calls to the country.

 

 

The A T & T representative said he'd worked for the company for several years and had never come across such a high rate until I asked the question

 

 

 

I still chat minimally on occasion with a non English speaking lady I met last January in Patts.

 

 

I do use Skype for Laos which is $0.20/minute. I never got a VOIP phone. Magic jack which I bought didn't work with my Mac.

 

that looks like highway robbery to me!

[joekicker]

You can buy calling cards that have better rates.

 

Or subscribe to services like Rebtel or Thaitel which give rates of around 2 cents to Thailand, with other countries in line with that. The Philippines is always expensive - but relatively.

 

US phone companies apparently don't want to make overseas calls, their prices are not close to competitive.

 

.

[9cisco999]

Or subscribe to services like Rebtel or Thaitel which give rates of around 2 cents to Thailand, with other countries in line with that. The Philippines is always expensive - but relatively.

 

US phone companies apparently don't want to make overseas calls, their prices are not close to competitive.

 

.

 

 

 

Joe, are you saying I could place a call from the USA to LOS or Laos and use either Rebtel or Thaitel as a service provider?

 

 

 

Lovedog, I used some calling cards a few years back to call the PI. I learned they're unregulated and it seemed whatever minutes the company decided to charge for a brief call was entirely up the the said company.

[js007]

You can call land lines on Yahoo messenger, also. I haven't checked the rates to Laos, but the few times I called the USA from my computer in Thailand, I think they somehow charged me the USA rats of 1 cent per minute. Of course, computer to computer calls are free. I found Yahoo Messenger to be more stable than Skype.

 

Edit: I just checked. Calls to Laos are 10 cents a minute.

Edited January 29, 2011 by js007

[joekicker]

Joe, are you saying I could place a call from the USA to LOS or Laos and use either Rebtel or Thaitel as a service provider?

 

Mmmm, not exactly. You still use your AT&T or whatever regular home or mobile phone.

 

You subscribe to them. They give you numbers to call on your phone, which connect to Teelak in Thailand, say. You pay up front (like $5) and the call comes out of that. At 2 cents a minutes (less, in fact) that's a lot of yakking.

 

The advantage over phone cards is that there's no extra fees - no service charges, hang-up charges, activation charges, etc.

 

If you call once in a while, use a card. If you call often, use a service like Rebtel/Thaitel. NOTE There are MANY services, but I have personally had terrific, fault-free service from both these for several years.

 

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[The Mook]

skype is free

[packhike]

Not that this helps now but I still have ATT asia calling plan (they no longer offer it) cost $8 per month

with 100 minutes "free" (basically pre paying for the 100 minutes) and then $.08 per minute after that

I like ATT cause always have a good connection with their land lines now their cell phone service on the other hand...

[DP Gumbypgh]

Google voice is also good, not quite as cheap as Rebtel but close enough and it uses your regular telephone line or mobile no if you want.

[joekicker]

skype is free

 

Not on a home phone it's not.

 

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