How To Always Save Money On Overseas Mobile Calling
Marc Weber Tobias
I was just in Paris and received a call from a colleague in California who was totally clueless as to how calls are billed when dialing a cell phone that is outside the U.S. I would not have paid any attention to this issue, except that the audio quality was poor, so I asked whether the caller was on cellular or a landline. It turns out that he dialed my Verizon cell number through Skype which was an application on his handset that offers the option of different call routing to save money on international calls. He thought that if he called me in Europe through the VoIP application it would cost him less money because of the high roaming charges overseas. He was wrong on several counts.
I had just cautioned him a week before when he was in China not to make or answer any phone calls (in China) because the rates were about $4.00 per minute. So, he naturally thought that this same high rate would apply when he called me in Europe. His misunderstanding highlights a common misconception and confusion about who pays for what when making or receiving a call on your cell phone when traveling in a foreign country.
The issue can become more convoluted and complicated depending on whether you are using a mobile phone with a U.S. carrier SIM card, a roaming SIM like I use from Ekit or Telestial, or if you have installed a SIM from a local carrier in the country where you are using your phone. It’s important to distinguish the costs of receiving or placing calls. If you use Skype when you are traveling, or your phone number is call forwarded from the U.S., then other issues can come into play. Read more »»»
