Calls to irish mobiles on voip

thetourist

Do people find it cheaper to make phone calls to irish mobiles via a voip provider or via eircom etc - i would have thought that it was cheaper via voip, but in comparing rates on the blueface website with my eircom bill it seems that blueface to o2 mobile is 0.18peak 0.16offpeak on the plans and a bit more on payg whereas unless my maths is out then eircom are charging me 0.19 and 0.14 for the same deal. ( basically the same price as blueface overall).
Am i missing something or are mobile call savings not one of the big attractions for paying a voip subscription ?

bhickey

thetourist wrote:

........ eircom are charging me 0.19 and 0.14 for the same deal. ( basically the same price as blueface overall).
Am i missing something or are mobile call savings not one of the big attractions for paying a voip subscription ?

You might be missing 21% VAT for starters unless you're on some special Eircom call package? The Eircom standard rates (inc. VAT) are at :

http://mmm.eircom.ie/Callcalc/res_costs_alt.asp

thetourist

oops :eek:
sillly me

though that only explains the daytime calls - weekend calls still seem cheaper with eircom - 14c vs 16c - is this the case ?

bhickey

thetourist wrote:

....... weekend calls still seem cheaper with eircom - 14c vs 16c - is this the case ?

The mobile operators reduced their wholesale rates (mainly off-peak) recently. No doubt these reductions will be passed on quickly by the various providers to their customers. More details at :

http://www.comreg.ie/publications/default.asp?nid=102247&ctype=5

Blaster99

With Telestunt it's a fixed 15c no matter what time of day, by the way. Debatable if it's worth the bother, though, and you probably lose the saving by the time the call is setup.

The best bet for mobile calls is to use 3.

bhickey

Blaster99 wrote:

The best bet for mobile calls is to use 3.

As long as you are very careful and disciplined with how you use your minutes:

1. You ONLY use it to call mobiles. 10-12.5c per minute during your monthly plan to call landlines is not nice. 15c per minute when your allowance is up is just taking the piss.
2. You ONLY use the voice minutes in your monthly plan (it's typically 30c per minute once your allowance is up).

It wouldn't be very easy trying to manage the minutes like this. Calls to and from mobiles are always going to make up the biggest part of most people's phone bills. Best to avoid using them whenever possible.

Blaster99

Yes it is extremely challenging to keep oneself within the call plan. It's remarkable that so many people can even manage to use a phone at all.

thetourist

so moving to a voip is not going to save money on landline to moble calls then ?? is that the general concensus

bhickey

thetourist wrote:

so moving to a voip is not going to save money on landline to moble calls then ?? is that the general concensus

I think that the consensus is that there's more than one way to save money on landline -> mobile call costs. VoIP is one way and changing them to mobile -> mobile calls can be another if you've got the right mobile plan. The best thing for you to do is probably to spend a few minutes working out for your own bill what you would have saved.

paulm17781

Thetourist, just to add to what bhickey said:

I use VOIP for all landline calls, save alot of money compared to Eircom prices.

I only call mobiles from my mobile. I am with 3 and have never gone over my 100 minutes. My total phone bill (excluding BB) are about €35 per month.

lzbones

I think the best savings with VOIP is to get rid of line rental. Use a wireless provider/cable provider. So no line rental plus your phone bill on top of that will be at least 50% what you paid before. I use freespeech and they have no monthly charges so I just pay for what I use.

thetourist

unfortunatly i cant make business calls on my mobile from where i live because the only operator that has any coverage at all at my work (o2) doesnt have anything worth talking about from my home - i am not prepared to operate from 2 different accounts and even if i was i dont think you can put 2 sims in the one phone and i cant carry around 2 phones --- moan:( -- thanks for your input people

as reguards line rental i am with irish broadband and i really wouldnt trust them as far as i'd throw them so im afraid i have to keep paying that money to eircom