Wanted: Cheap Phone Calls

yankinlk

Read an article in Irish Independent's Money section July 1 saying there are several companies out there providing cheap phone calls to overseas from home phone AS WELL AS MOBILE... I hadnt heard of this before, so wondering if anyone has tried these services:

Dome's new access number 1520 999911 for anyone using a prepaid mobile phone to call oversea at a rate of between 20c 27c a minute (half the cost of user's peak mobile calls within Ireland)

Dome 0818 272272 and 1520 999911

Budget 0818 242526

Telestunt

Are these any good? I moved and didn't bother to get a landline (hate paying eircom) and since there is no dsl in my area Id like to keep using the mobile as much as possible.

yankinlk

article is here

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=299&si=1207593&issue_id=11073

DOME Telecom this week introduced a phone service that lets anyone, even non-customers, phone overseas for the price of a national call, including many calls placed from mobile phones.

The discounted mobile calls are the new element in the Dome service, which otherwise mimics one introduced successfully by Budget Telecom, at the start of the year.

Anyone using a prepaid mobile phone service can now call overseas at a rate of between 20c and 27c a minute using Dome's new access number: 1520 999911. That's less the half the cost of users' peak mobile calls within Ireland.

Dome's other service, like Budget's, is an 0818 number through which callers directly dial overseas at national call rates. Callers are billed not by Dome or Budget, but by their existing carrier, presumably Eircom.

If the caller's home phone company is Eircom, the rates are 4.9c a minute after 6pm and 8.17c a minute before. Neither Budget nor Dome add any surcharges to those rates to connect users to about 60 overseas countries.

In some cases, calls to mobile phones in those countries are the same price.

Speaking at the Dome launch, Dara O'Mahony, managing director, said: "We are letting the public know how much they are being ripped off by the exorbitant international call rates charged by Eircom."

Budget said its service, reported on by Your Money in April, attracted 20,000 customers in its first three months of operation without any advertising.

The beauty of these services is their simplicity. The caller does not have to change their existing carrier arrangements or think about the varying rates to overseas countries.

If the country can be reached using the 0818 number, the flat national rates apply. The system can be tested once-off without any signing-up required.

The service is also useful on office phones that block international calls. They can now be made so long as the phone accepts national numbers.

"Only about a half dozen of Ireland's 30 phone carriers could offer a service like this because they'd need their own phone switch to do it," said Brian Farrell, new business development manager with Budget.

The Dome access number is 0818 272272, and the Budget access number 0818 242526.

The exhaustive, substantially overlapping lists of qualifying countries can be found on their respective websites, www.dometelecom.com and www.budgettelecom.com.

A third provider www.telestunt.ie offers calls to a relatively limited number of countries at national rates, i.e. on 0818 and 1890 numbers. Most of its calls are routed through premium rate numbers, i.e. the 15 series, where calls start at 33c a minute.

Premium rate calls to overseas are a bad deal relative to other available options.

Users of the Dome and Budget services should be aware that some exotic calls could run as high as €2.74 a minute, if they cannot be completed via the 0818 number and a premium rate number is offered as an alternative. Premium rates are lowest for 1520 numbers, highest for 1580 numbers.

Telestunt, which has not a listed phone number, could not be contacted.

Both Dome and Budget are based in Dublin. Dome has it roots in the phonecard business, notably the Century brand.

It now also provides home phone service to 10,000 Irish people, a spokeswoman said. Budget caters mostly to corporate customers.

BigEejit

I use century home (dome telecom) and find them nice to deal with and they are considerably cheaper than Vartec to my most used international numbers ..... but thats just me ... I think most people would not see much between them .... as for ringing from a mobile, I got broadband so I will use the freefone number...

spongebob

Originally posted by yankinlk
Dome 0818 272272 and 1520 999911

Budget 0818 242526

Telestunt

Are these any good? I moved and didn't bother to get a landline (hate paying eircom) and since there is no dsl in my area Id like to keep using the mobile as much as possible.

Telestunt are by far the cheapest (to all destinations at all times more or less) from a landline but cannot be rung from a mobile. Most landlines on the planet can be rung through 1890943123 (1.26c at the weekend and eves) . Try it out ...even from a phonebox. Irish mobiles through their 0818 number which is 4.92c eves and weekends.

M

oneweb

Vartec do cheap calls. Just dial 13636 before the number you wanna dial. First time you'll need to reg but then it's direct. Billed monthly.

brownswiss

someone recommended justvoip to me as a cheap way of making calls.....they must not check their call credit after using the service..

I tried calling a mobile from my mobile using this service and even though i did not get through to the mobile number I was charged 58cents for using the service.

drunkmonkey

You can use gocall.ie if your on 3 that's pretty cheap.

Davy

Not a BA!

Closed