im due to start work in northern america and will be taking my mobile with me.it will be unlocked and is a quad band phone.i am still under contract with o2 til april 07 but will be taking the contract down to bear minimum to save money.

what would be the best option for me to phone back home.

i have two vodaphone payg sim cards and awaiting four genie o2 cards to be delivered,will these be of any use.

thanks in advance for any advice or tips

Cheapest option is to use VoIP... You can get a DID from www.ipkall.com and set that up to re-route to numbers in the UK if you don't want to get VoIP devices...

was thinking off getting two tesco voip phones,one for me and one for her in doors.
im after the best option with a mobile really.

the only research ive come across is payg virgin canada,they seem to be resonable but just posted in case anyone here has any other alternatives.

thanks

02away wrote on Oct 13^th, 2006 at 11:39am:

was thinking off getting two tesco voip phones,one for me and one for her in doors. im after the best option with a mobile really. the only research ive come across is payg virgin canada,they seem to be resonable but just posted in case anyone here has any other alternatives.

Are they the USB devices that link into firefly or whatever it's called these days?

It's cheaper to grab a headset mic grab a free client like xten offers and hook up with www.voxalot.com, voxalot is a sister project of www.sipbroker.com which offers DIDs around the world, you dial in and then dial the extension on voxalot.

See this article in the NY Times  http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/09pogues-posts-4/ about free calls from Futurephone. You have to dial a local number in Iowa (712-858-8883); press 1 for English and then dial 01144 and your (UK) number. It works - I can vouch for it! - and quality is good. Apparently, Futurephone have promised that calls will be free until 2010. In the US, calls to N American numbers via Skype are free so you call the Iowa number via Skype and it's all free!

Mobile calls are generally much cheaper in the US than in Europe. Also, if you get a US SIM card, incoming calls to your mobile are the same price for the caller as calling a landline (but you 'pay' for the air-time as the called party. There are deals, though, where evening and weekend incoming calls are 'free'). GSM networks are not as common here, though, so it will depend on where you are located.

I'd be very careful using your UK provider and roaming - I think you will find that prohibitively expensive! No EU regulations here.....

mikeinnc wrote on Oct 13^th, 2006 at 4:43pm:

Mobile calls are generally much cheaper in the US than in Europe. Also, if you get a US SIM card, incoming calls to your mobile are the same price for the caller as calling a landline (but you 'pay' for the air-time as the called party. There are deals, though, where evening and weekend incoming calls are 'free'). GSM networks are not as common here, though, so it will depend on where you are located.

The mobile calls in the US have a couple of catches, like per minute billing, so if the call lasts 2 seconds you still get billed for a minute.

I had no problems with GSM networks in the US, what was ATA&T and cingular has one of the largest mobile networks in the US and is GSM, T-Mobile is the other big one and T-Mobile and the new AT&T have roaming agreements etc. T-Mobile has a WAP (port 25,80,110,143,465,993,995 open only) unlimited plan for $4.99/mo (+tax) which was neat to abuse with google maps :)

mikeinnc wrote on Oct 13^th, 2006 at 4:43pm:

See this article in the NY Times  http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/09pogues-posts-4/ about free calls from Futurephone. You have to dial a local number in Iowa (712-858-8883); press 1 for English and then dial 01144 and your (UK) number. It works - I can vouch for it! - and quality is good. Apparently, Futurephone have promised that calls will be free until 2010. In the US, calls to N American numbers via Skype are free so you call the Iowa number via Skype and it's all free!

I also saw this a couple of days ago, and it looks potentially very useful. Haven't tried it yet, but probably will do so next week. I'm still not sure why this model seems to work, although this post in Alex Saunders' log may shed some light:

http://saunderslog.com/category/techbiz/

<<Ever wonder why it is that FuturePhone, Radio Handi, FreeConferenceCall, and PartyLine Connect all have access numbers in the 712 area code?   These services all provide “free” services to you.  There’s “no catch”. You just have to make a long distance call to get them.

So how do these services get paid, and why are the access numbers all in Iowa?

The short answer is tax subsidies. The 712 model, as I refer to it, is really a variation on the 900 number model, but financed by taxpayers. Take a low cost call, terminate on a high cost carrier, and pocket the difference.

The first of these subsidies is the Universal Service Fund.  Tiny Iowa, with just under 3 million residents last year, was the recipient of $86.5 million from the USF.  The USF pays for maintenance and improvements to those local telephone plants, in addition to subsidizing user fees for local residents.  The cost basis to provide service in those communities is dramatically lowered.

The second subsidy is the tarrif itself.  Most Iowa telephone companies (and there are a lot!) participate in the NECA Access Fee Pool.  The NECA publishes a tarrif, which each company participating agrees to use, and then they split the revenues.  The termination charges for those tarrifs are a significant source of revenue for the local phone companies.  And, because they’re rural, the charges are often steeply higher than to terminate in an urban setting.  In the “NFL” cities, you might expect to pay 6 to 8 tenths of a cent per minute for termination.  The NECA tarrif is closer to 3 whole cents.  Arbitrage the subsidized rural rate against your costs and, presto, you’ve got a winner!

Let’s take FuturePhone as an example.  Yesterday they announced free long distance calling to some 50 odd countries world wide.  All you have to do is call 712 858 8883 (a number provided by the tiny Superior Telephone Coop in Estherville, Iowa), and then enter the international call you want to make using the standard 011 prefix.  Easy peasy!

So how do they make money?  Since we don’t know know what FuturePhone’s actual termination costs are, let’s make an estimate. We do know that Jajah provides services to the same 50 odd countries for a retail rate of 2.5 cents per minute.  So, let’s assume a 50% cost, and say that FuturePhone’s cost to terminate the call is 1.25 cents. That leaves 1.75 cents per minute to split with the folks at Superior Telephone Coop.  Give them half, which leaves you 0.875 cents per minute, and you’ve got a pretty attractive proposition!  It’s certainly a lot more profitable than SipPhone, charging 1 cent per minute, and probably about as profitable as Skype at 2 cents per minute.  It’ll definitely keep bread on the table.

Sounds great doesn’t it?  Everybody wins!  The good citizens of Iowa win (they’ve now got a fibre network joining up 150 of their independently owned telco’s), FuturePhone has a seemingly profitable business model, and you win by getting to make cheap overseas calls.

Or do you?

Well, you’re not really getting that call for free, are you…  You’re still paying long distance charges, which are at minimum going to be the 1 or 2 cents per minute that Gizmo or Skype are charging.  And, should you choose to make the call from a landline, you may be paying up to 10 cents per minute, depending on where you’re calling from, and what LD plan you have with your carrier. Or, you’re burning air time on your cellular phone.  No matter how you cut it, it’s costing you.

Makes you wonder what FuturePhone’s real value is, doesn’t it?  After all, if calls are free using Skype, or Jajah, and you don’t have to make a long distance call to do it, then why bother with FuturePhone?

The 712 model is a creative way to run a business, no doubt.  FreeConference is a very successful example of a business using it.  Today’s lesson, kids, is that even with a model as creative as the 712 model, you still have to provide real value to the customer.  FuturePhone’s cheap long distance call may not be enough. >>

I have inclusive  calls to USA in my  uk landline calls plan. I used it from uk  to reach a number of intl destinations (landlines)  i could not reach foc  before . ;)

02away wrote on Oct 13^th, 2006 at 11:39am:

was thinking off getting two tesco voip phones,one for me and one for her in doors. im after the best option with a mobile really. the only research ive come across is payg virgin canada,they seem to be resonable but just posted in case anyone here has any other alternatives. thanks

I'm not sure that Virgin Canada is GSM - probably a CDMA mvno on Sprint?, aha, Bell Mobility [Virgin USA on Sprint] - so your phone will not be compatible

You need either Rogers or Fido, which are actually the same network anyway. Details and network links on http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/canada.html - USA links nearby too