Overseas calls from a cellphone, down to one cent per minute

By Stuart Corner
Monday, 16 November 2009 09:55

Your IT - Home IT

Lebara Mobile -  the UK based mobile service provider and recent entrant to the Australian market that specialising in providing low cost international calls from mobiles - has cut its already low rates to as low as one cent per minute for six destinations.

These are Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Jakarta, South Korea and Japan. The company says other reductions are in the pipeline that will represent reductions by up to 92 percent across 50 destinations. The one cent rates are to landline numbers. Calls to mobiles vary from one cent in Singapore and Hong Kong to as much as 19 cents in Japan. Other low cost destinations are China 3c & 3c, India 3/3, Iraq 5/19 and Vietnam 3/3. All calls are charged in one minute increments with a 20 cent flagfall.

In contrast, Optus, for example charge 30 & 30 to Hong Kong and Thailand, 60 & 65 to South Korea, 60 and $1.25 to Japan 60 and 60 to Vietnam, 95 and $1.20 to Iraq and 25/25 to China, all with a 35 cent flagfall and 60 second charging.

Lebara, which launched in Australia in March, achieves its low cost international calls by taking these calls off the Vodafone network and routing them overseas via its own switch.

It charges calls to Australian landline and mobile phones at 20 cents per minute and SMS at 15 cents, again with 20 cent flagfall and in one minute increments - so all calls cost at least 40 cents. Calls to other Lebara mobiles in Australia are 20 cent flagfall then no charge for the first 10 minutes and 20 cents per minute thereafter.

Australia was the eighth country to get Lebara services and the first outside Europe. The company was founded in 2001 and now operates in The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Spain. Annualised revenues are in excess of $A400 million and the company claims in excess of three million customers. In Australia it claims to have almost 10,000 retail outlets.

The company is targeting overseas born residents and users of prepaid calling cards in particular. Lebara Mobile head of marketing, Sheila Panchani, said: "Our strategy is to shake up the market by offering the lowest international call rates direct from a mobile phone. We expect it will influence consumers' transition from calling cards to Lebara's better quality, better serviced prepaid SIM card."

This article first appeared in ExchangeDaily, iTWire's daily newsletter for telecommunications professionals. Register here for your free trial.