Advice for calling US Mobile Phone?

Hi, I live in the UK and my girlfriend is going to america as part of an
exchange programme for the summer.

Does the cheapest/easiest way for us to keep in contact simply involve
her buying any old USA pay as you go mobile phone and then me calling
her via a voice over ip service? Can anyone recommend a decent one with
not too much lag? Or is there a better method than this, ie: is it
cheaper to register with one of those calling card companies in the UK
and call using their number? This'd be great if I could use a UK mobile
phone to call her and not pay through the roof?

Thanks for your help!

Mark.

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Mark wrote:
> Hi, I live in the UK and my girlfriend is going to america as part
> of an exchange programme for the summer.
>
> Does the cheapest/easiest way for us to keep in contact simply
> involve her buying any old USA pay as you go mobile phone and then
> me calling her via a voice over ip service? Can anyone recommend a
> decent one with not too much lag? Or is there a better method than
> this, ie: is it cheaper to register with one of those calling card
> companies in the UK and call using their number? This'd be great
> if I could use a UK mobile phone to call her and not pay through
> the roof?
> Thanks for your help!
>
> Mark.

Will there be broadband access where she'll be going..? If so she could
take a VoIP ATA and you could both use something like Sipgate
(www.sipgate.co.uk) which would mean totally free calls. Of course you'd
have to buy the ATA's but alternatively you could use a softphone such as
X-Lite if PC's are available.

If you want to go the mobile route, then if she gets a US PAYG phone you
can call it using either inclusive minutes on an Orange or O2 mobile via
Pre-Dial, or at relatively cheap rates from Sipgate (1.5p/min) or
Telestunt/Telediscount etc. from a BT/Telewest line.

Hope this helps,

Ivor

Does your girl friend have broadband in the US? Do you have a landline
in the UK? Do you have broadband.

Calling the UK is really cheap from the US with a calling card. I use
onesuite.com, it is two something cents a minute. In the other
direction, look at call1899.com. Half a p a minute. They also, have
a VOIP program. I
Does your girl friend have a triband? One of the better prepaid
offerings comes from 711.com. Their speakout wireless phones are
effectively free and the per minute rate is $US0.20 a minute. It works
nationwide in the US, and has a one year expiry. Remember that in the
US incoming calls come out of your bucket of minutes.

On Sun, 22 May 2005 21:58:46 GMT, Mark <[email protected]> wrote:

>Does the cheapest/easiest way for us to keep in contact simply involve
>her buying any old USA pay as you go mobile phone and then me calling
>her via a voice over ip service?

using 18866 or the like could be cheaper, depending on rates offerred
by the VoIP provider for calls out to US numbers.

Prepay is far less common in th eUSA and mobiles have standard area
code numbers.

Phil
--
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Come on down !

>>Does the cheapest/easiest way for us to keep in contact simply involve
>>her buying any old USA pay as you go mobile phone and then me calling
>>her via a voice over ip service?
>
>
> using 18866 or the like could be cheaper, depending on rates offerred
> by the VoIP provider for calls out to US numbers.
>
> Prepay is far less common in th eUSA and mobiles have standard area
> code numbers.

Thanks for all your advice so far guys, everyone that replied to my
questions.

I do have broadband, though she won't have internet access when she's
over there I don't think.

I like the idea of something like the pre-dial service, that seems
pretty cheap, and I could call their access number using the free
landline minutes I get with my '3' mobile contract here in the UK.

You say that prepay telephones arent that common in the US, are they
available anywhere at all? She doesn't have a triband phone... She'll
be working in or around the ocean city area in maryland... can she pick
up a prepay mobile there do you think?

Cheers.

Stuart Friedman wrote:

> Does your girl friend have a triband? One of the better prepaid
> offerings comes from 711.com. Their speakout wireless phones are
> effectively free and the per minute rate is $US0.20 a minute. It works
> nationwide in the US, and has a one year expiry. Remember that in the
> US incoming calls come out of your bucket of minutes.

Sorry by this do you mean that if someone from abroad calls any native
US mobile phone, even if that phone is in the US, they have to pay to
/receive/ the call? Or does that go for all calls?

Thanks.
Mark.

All calls with a few exceptions (e.g. certain mobile to mobile calls, some
off peak calls, etc.). All the exceptions are plan specific.

Stu

"Mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Stuart Friedman wrote:
>
>> Does your girl friend have a triband? One of the better prepaid
>> offerings comes from 711.com. Their speakout wireless phones are
>> effectively free and the per minute rate is $US0.20 a minute. It works
>> nationwide in the US, and has a one year expiry. Remember that in the
>> US incoming calls come out of your bucket of minutes.
>
> Sorry by this do you mean that if someone from abroad calls any native US
> mobile phone, even if that phone is in the US, they have to pay to
> /receive/ the call? Or does that go for all calls?
>
> Thanks.
> Mark.

That's mad. I can't find anything on the 7-Eleven Speak Out site about
having to pay for incoming calls, it says incoming texts but doesn't say
incoming calls, can you point me to where to find out about this?


Stuart Friedman wrote:
> All calls with a few exceptions (e.g. certain mobile to mobile calls, some
> off peak calls, etc.). All the exceptions are plan specific.
>
> Stu
>
> "Mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Stuart Friedman wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Does your girl friend have a triband? One of the better prepaid
>>>offerings comes from 711.com. Their speakout wireless phones are
>>>effectively free and the per minute rate is $US0.20 a minute. It works
>>>nationwide in the US, and has a one year expiry. Remember that in the
>>>US incoming calls come out of your bucket of minutes.
>>
>>Sorry by this do you mean that if someone from abroad calls any native US
>>mobile phone, even if that phone is in the US, they have to pay to
>>/receive/ the call? Or does that go for all calls?
>>
>>Thanks.
>>Mark.
>
>
>

Mark wrote:
\> Sorry by this do you mean that if someone from abroad calls any native
> US mobile phone, even if that phone is in the US, they have to pay to
> /receive/ the call? Or does that go for all calls?

In the U.S., the user of a mobile phone always pays airtime whether
calling or receiving a call. For people on post-pay, they generally have
a fairly large bucket of included peak-time minutes per month, and many
such plans include unlimited free off-peak and weekend airtime. Also, it
is very common for all calls to other users of the same provider to be
free at all times. These free times do not apply to pre-pay users.
Furthermore, since the mobile phone user pays for incoming airtime,
there is no surcharge for the caller to call a mobile phone. Mobile
phone numbers in the U.S. cannot be identified by the number, and in
fact, a number can be moved between a landline and mobile provider.

Thus spaketh Mark:
> That's mad. I can't find anything on the 7-Eleven Speak Out site
> about having to pay for incoming calls, it says incoming texts but
> doesn't say incoming calls, can you point me to where to find out
> about this?
>
In the USA the owner of the mobile you are calling has to pay to receive your
call or it comes out of some of their inclusive minutes, some networks may
allow for the first 30 seconds or so of an incoming call to be free. This
also means it costs the same for you to call a USA mobile as it does a USA
landline. Crazy system I know, and one I am glad never took off here in
Europe and elsewhere. It might not mention about paying for incoming calls on
some of the websites as in the USA it is common knowledge you have to pay.

{{{{{Welcome}}}}} wrote:

> In the USA the owner of the mobile you are calling has to pay to receive your
> call or it comes out of some of their inclusive minutes, some networks may
> allow for the first 30 seconds or so of an incoming call to be free. This
> also means it costs the same for you to call a USA mobile as it does a USA
> landline. Crazy system I know, and one I am glad never took off here in
> Europe and elsewhere. It might not mention about paying for incoming calls on
> some of the websites as in the USA it is common knowledge you have to pay.

I see. Hmm. Okay then, well, leading up to my final questions .. Can
anyone recommend what network the cheapest Pay-as-you go mobile she
could pick up would be, that would charge the least amount to receive an
incoming call from Britain? Just some pointers would be cool, I know so
little about US mobile companies that I just need somewhere to start.
Coverage would have to be good in the Ocean City area of Maryland.

Thanks again!!

I cannot point you to the specific provision on the website, but I can tell
you that in the U.S. mobile numbers are on the same area codes as landlines,
that calls to mobiles are not surcharged, and that we normally pay for
incoming calls on our mobile plans. Even on contract plans, the exceptions
are few and far between. We have free mobile to mobile calls on many
contract plans (and on a small number of prepaid plans), we have free nights
and weekends, but incoming calls are come out of our bucket of minutes.

Whether the U.S. system or the European system of caller pays is a better
system has been debated extensively on various groups before. I go both
ways on this point and have no definitive answer.


"Mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> That's mad. I can't find anything on the 7-Eleven Speak Out site about
> having to pay for incoming calls, it says incoming texts but doesn't say
> incoming calls, can you point me to where to find out about this?
>
>
> Stuart Friedman wrote:
>> All calls with a few exceptions (e.g. certain mobile to mobile calls,
>> some off peak calls, etc.). All the exceptions are plan specific.
>>
>> Stu
>>
>> "Mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>
>>>Stuart Friedman wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Does your girl friend have a triband? One of the better prepaid
>>>>offerings comes from 711.com. Their speakout wireless phones are
>>>>effectively free and the per minute rate is $US0.20 a minute. It works
>>>>nationwide in the US, and has a one year expiry. Remember that in the
>>>>US incoming calls come out of your bucket of minutes.
>>>
>>>Sorry by this do you mean that if someone from abroad calls any native US
>>>mobile phone, even if that phone is in the US, they have to pay to
>>>/receive/ the call? Or does that go for all calls?
>>>
>>>Thanks.
>>>Mark.
>>
>>

Incoming calls cost the same whether the originator is in the UK or across
the street. The cheapest pay as you go plan carries a per day usesage charge
or very short termination periods. I think the best values on whole are
Virginmobile (http://www.virginmobileusa.com/), the 7-11 offering that I
mentioned, icallplus, libertywireless.com. In a few cities there is an
interesting alternative in a few select cities called Cricket
(https://www.mycricket.com/).


"Mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> {{{{{Welcome}}}}} wrote:
>
>> In the USA the owner of the mobile you are calling has to pay to receive
>> your call or it comes out of some of their inclusive minutes, some
>> networks may allow for the first 30 seconds or so of an incoming call to
>> be free. This also means it costs the same for you to call a USA mobile
>> as it does a USA landline. Crazy system I know, and one I am glad never
>> took off here in Europe and elsewhere. It might not mention about paying
>> for incoming calls on some of the websites as in the USA it is common
>> knowledge you have to pay.
>
> I see. Hmm. Okay then, well, leading up to my final questions .. Can
> anyone recommend what network the cheapest Pay-as-you go mobile she could
> pick up would be, that would charge the least amount to receive an
> incoming call from Britain? Just some pointers would be cool, I know so
> little about US mobile companies that I just need somewhere to start.
> Coverage would have to be good in the Ocean City area of Maryland.
>
> Thanks again!!

Stuart Friedman wrote:
> Incoming calls cost the same whether the originator is in the UK or across
> the street. The cheapest pay as you go plan carries a per day usesage charge
> or very short termination periods. I think the best values on whole are
> Virginmobile (http://www.virginmobileusa.com/), the 7-11 offering that I
> mentioned, icallplus, libertywireless.com. In a few cities there is an
> interesting alternative in a few select cities called Cricket
> (https://www.mycricket.com/).

Thanks...

Hmm, it looks like most of these charge around 0.10c a minute to receive
calls, looks like it's pretty much standard across the board, apart from
Cricket which doesn't cover Maryland...

Beginning to think it might actually be a lot cheaper to swap the odd
text and leave the onus on her to call me using a cheap calling card,
since that'll be far cheaper than the 10c a minute to receive an
incoming call, and then me do the same if she can get access to a landline..

Thanks for everyone's help :-)

mark.

Mark <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hmm, it looks like most of these charge around 0.10c a minute to receive
> calls, looks like it's pretty much standard across the board, apart from
> Cricket which doesn't cover Maryland...

If you will be talking a fair bit, then she should get a post-paid plan that
includes a fair-sized pail of minutes.

> Beginning to think it might actually be a lot cheaper to swap the odd
> text and leave the onus on her to call me using a cheap calling card,
> since that'll be far cheaper than the 10c a minute to receive an
> incoming call, and then me do the same if she can get access to a landline..

Anything that doesn't involve mobile phones will be a lot cheaper (pretty
close to free if you do it right).

miguel
--
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