Cell Phone International Calling Guide

Prior to 1984 local telephone service in the US was subsidized by long distance service. What this meant was that long distance calling was expensive compared to the monthly charges for a phone line and local calls. The reasoning behind this was to provide 'Universal Access" by using long distance revenue to pay the enormous cost of laying telephone wires to even the most remote locations and maintaining the infrastructure. It worked pretty well: by all accounts, AT&T's Bell System was the best in the world.

By 1984, the government decided it was time to "deregulate" the industry, mostly because the high cost of long distance service was causing large users to "by-pass" it and there was hardly anyplace that didn't have local phone service available. AT&T agreed to give up their monopoly by divesting itself of the local Bell Operating Companies in exchange for the ability to compete in the long distance market. This left the local companies (Local Exchange Carriers) without enough revenue to support their cost of providing service so the long distance companies (Inter-Exchange Carriers) had to pay "access charges" to receive and terminate calls between the local companies. If you look on your telephone bills you'll probably still be able to find this charge buried in there somewhere.

One of the funny things about all this is that the market came full circle and AT&T now provides both local and long distance service to most of the country.

Part of the 1984 "Divestiture" was a new dialing scheme that allowed customers to choose which long distance carrier they wanted to use on a call-by-call basis. This capability still exists today - for traditional landline phones - by dialing 101XXXX before the number, where XXXX is a code assigned to each long distance carrier with access to the US market. (This type of dialing is sometimes marketed as 10-10 because it's a catchy phrase and before there were more than 999 long distance carriers it was 1010XXX; 1010288 or 1010ATT is the code assigned to AT&T.) If you want to make an international call, all you have to do is figure out which carrier offers the best rate to the country you want to call and dial their 101XXXX + 011 + 'international number' and you'll be connected. The charges for the call will either appear on your regular phone bill or come in the mail as a separate bill from the carrier you used. The carrier knows where to send the bill because your local telephone company tells them.

Now why did I go through all that? Because, while it's relatively easy to make a cheap international call from a landline, 101XXXX dialing doesn't work on cell phones! That means you're stuck with whatever international calling rates your mobile service provider wants to charge you. Well, after reading this guide, you won't be stuck any longer.

I'll start with this because it's easy to understand and you may not realize that you can use a calling card with your cell phone. The only problem with it is you can't just dial the international number: you have to call an access number, enter a PIN and then dial the number. Many calling cards today offer 'PIN-less' dialing after you register the number(s) you'll be calling from, but you still have to call the access number first, then the international number. You could get around having to dial twice by putting the access number in front of the international number in your contact list with some pauses between the two. This would give time to connect to the calling card network and automatically dial the international number after the prompt. Most cell phones can do this but you might have to actually read the instructions to figure out how ;-)

Usually the least expensive rates will be with pre-paid cards but beware of hidden charges such as for connecting the call. Many also offer "automatic recharge" if you authorize a payment method such as a credit card. There are also "post-pay" calling cards that only charge as calls are made but they typically have higher rates.

When using a calling card to dial-around your mobile carrier you will still be using minutes for the connection to the access number. Most plans have a limited number of "anytime" minutes and "unlimited" night and weekend calling to US numbers. If T-Mobile is your service provider you could add the access number to "My Faves" and have "unlimited" minutes for your international calls. Verizon has a similar feature with their "Friends & Family" offering.

Nobel is a reputable calling card company with some of the lowest rates to most countries. Click on the banner below to check their rates for the places you want to call:

As technology advances, many of the new cell phones are "smartphones", which means they actually have some computing ability built in and can run programs for various applications. One of the applications that's been developed makes dialing around your mobile service provider for international calls automatic. It works similar to using a calling card except the software in the phone does the access number and PIN dialing automatically when it detects an international call being made. By watching the display while the call is being set up, you may find that the access number dialed is always the same, meaning you could use it with T-Mobile "My Faves" or Verizon "Friends & Family" and have unlimited minutes for international calls.

Tel3 Mobile is a unique service which offers free "Smartplug" software that works with over 200 phones. Their rates are competitive with calling cards and they route calls over the traditional voice network instead of the internet (VoIP) so it will sound the same as a regular cell phone call. They also insure quality by automatically crediting your account with extra minutes if a call is disrupted. The service only works for calls originating from the US but their rates are among the least expensive to be found. Check to see if your phone is supported by clicking the banner below and going to the "support" tab at the top of the page:

Pingo is an internet based calling card service that also offers a free download for over 450 smartphones including the iPhone to automate access to their very competitive international rates. In addition to supporting calls originating from the US, they also support access from Canada, UK, France, Australia and New Zealand. Click on the link below then go to the bottom of the page and click on the "Learn More" link under "EZ Dial":

Skype is a popular VoIP service that most people associate with making free computer to computer voice and video calls over the internet. Their "SkypeOut" service allows users to make calls to landlines and cell phones and has been enhanced to allow call origination from iPhone and other smartphones. The service comes in two flavors, one for iPhone and Windows Mobile smartphones that also gives WiFi access and a "Lite" version for other smartphones. Both use Skype local access numbers in Australia, Brazil (Rio de Janeiro & Sao Paulo), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, the United States and the UK. Click the banner below and go to the "Use Skype" link at the top of the page for more details:

PhoneGnome is a less well known VoIP service similar to Skype who also have developed an interface for cell phone users. In addition to a software download for iPhone and other smartphones they also have a unique Mobile Web interface that will work with any cell phone capable of getting the weather and news. The banner below will take you to the page that shows their rates. If those look good for the countries you want to call, click on the Mobile Phone link. You can try the service for as little as $5 using the pay-as-you-go "voovox" option. Check it out:

As explained in the introductory module at the top of the page, all the major cellular companies have plans that allow you to make international calls, but they're quite expensive compared to other alternatives. There are two cellular service providers who allow you to use your minutes for international calls with no extra charges.

MetroPCS is a relatively new cellular company that's been rapidly expanding and is available in most major metropolitan areas. The reason for their rapid expansion is the offer of low cost, no contract service with unlimited minutes and texting. On their higher end plans they also offer unlimited international texting and, for an additional $10 per month, unlimited international calling to over 100 countries. Click on the banner below to see if the unlimited international plan covers the countries you want to call:

Tracfone offers pre-paid wireless service with no contracts - you buy minutes and when you use them up you buy more. The unique thing about this pre-paid cellular service is that the minutes can be used for calls from the US to over 60 international destinations. To view their international calling plans, click on the banner below and enter your zip code to get into the site. Once there, click on the "Service and Support" button, then "Tracfone Programs" and you'll find the link to their international long distance offerings:

The service is provided by a company called Rebtel, created by a group of mobile technology experts based in Sweden and Luxembourg. To use their system, all you need to do is log into your account and enter the international number you want to call. They provide a permanent 'alias' number which is a local call to you and is routed over the internet and terminated locally in the country you're calling. These 'direct calls' are charged at the rates listed on their website.

To make a free call, you dial the local 'alias' number Rebtel has provided for one of your contacts. When they answer, tell them to hang up and call back on the local number they see in their display. You remain on the line and when they call back you'll be reconnected. Quirky, but it's free for calls between 50 countries!

And, if you have T-Mobile or Verizon service, you can add the permanent alias number to "My Faves" or "Friends & Family" and make unlimited free calls!

Rebtel offers the first direct call free just to try the service. They've also got apps for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry as well as a discount SMS international texting service. Click on the banner below to get to their website then hit the button to sign up and it'll take you to a page where you'll find links to see all they have to offer, including how to make free calls to your friends.

The site banner below will take you to a comparison tool where you can enter the country you're calling from and to and find the range of rates between different international calling services. Based on their arrangements with the local telephone companies which will terminate the calls, you may find that one company has a better rate to a specific country while another may have a better rate to a different country. For calls originating from countries other than the US you may also want to check out the section on "More Calling Card Options" in the Other Useful Sites section below.

Before you start you might need to understand some of the terms used to compare rates on different international calling services.

Dial Around indicates that the service works by 'dialing around' the carrier who would normally carry the call if it was dialed directly. In the case of a cell phone call, this would be your mobile service provider and they won't typically have very good rates for international calls. With a straight dial around service, you'll dial an access number from the phone you have registered with the service and then dial the international number.

1-Plus does not work with cell phones. It means that the carrier provides service to landlines on a pre-subscribed basis. When you order a landline the phone company will ask you who you want to be pre-subscribed to for long distance calls. Whenever you dial a long distance or international number, they will automatically hand you off to the carrier you chose. As described above in the section on history, you can dial 101XXXX in front of a long distance or international number and be routed to another carrier for that call but it doesn't work with cell phones.

SIM Card If you have a GSM phone it has a SIM card that gives it an identity. Changing the SIM card will change the phone number and carrier it's registered with, so if you buy a SIM card to just to make international calls be aware of this. The more common use of SIM cards is for travelers who don't want to pay high international roaming charges and so will have a SIM for each country or region they plan to visit. AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM phones.

VoIP means the company routes calls over the internet. VoIP service providers are typically focused on providing home and small business telephone service, although some have specific offerings for cell phones. If they have good looking rates to the country you want to call, click the "order now" button from the comparison page to be taken to their site and see if they offer dial-around service to cell phone users.

OK, now you're ready to click on the banner below to compare rates for cell phone international calls!

More Calling Card Options: While the RatesComparisonTool.com site above is hard to beat for calls originating from the US, these sites will give you even more options for calls originating from other countries:

Cloncom offers comparison shopping for nearly 100 different calling cards and other services. They also provide wireless recharge for prepaid mobile phones in the US and some Central/South American countries as well as local numbers in many countries (so your friends can call you for free) and PC to Phone internet calling:

ComFi has a couple of interesting features in addition to calling cards: Web-Call and SMS-Call. The Web-Call feature allows you to set up a call between any two numbers from a browser and SMS-Call lets you simply send a text message with the number you want to be connected to. They've also got a PC-to-Phone service. All these are listed along with calling cards for comparison of rates between different countries.

Pingo is an internet based calling service that has access numbers in over 200 countries and very competitive rates. If you travel often and are looking for a single discount calling service, this might be the best option:

International Roaming: If you have a GSM phone through T-Mobile or AT&T and want to use it in other countries without paying the high roaming fees, this site has everything you need. If your phone has multi-band capability you may be able to simply get a SIM card for the country or region you're visiting and make/receive calls for MUCH less than the roaming rates you'd be charged otherwise. They also provide phone rentals for short trips and 'international phones' that will work almost anywhere:

International Roaming with a US Phone Number: Using a SIM card from another region or country involves having a foreign phone number associated with it that people will need to know in order to call you. Roaming with a US cell phone will let people call you from your US number but the rates are very expensive. Telna offers a SIM card with a US number that allows roaming in over 170 countries for less than 1/2 the cost of the US cellular companies. While not as inexpensive as using a local SIM or rental phone, it does give you the ability to send and receive calls from a US phone number, same as you could do from the major carriers. The site is very well organized to explain exactly how the service works, check it out if this sounds like a good option for you:

Caller ID Spoofing: Zenofon is a new service that offers very competitive rates for international calls. An interesting feature of their service is the ability to define what Caller ID is presented on outbound calls. They also have a callback feature that lets you dial one of their access numbers then hang up and let it call you back, also with a user defined Caller ID. Think about this for a minute: if you enter a number that's on the same cellular network as you, when they call you back with that Caller ID your cellular company sees it as an "in-network" call and so will use "unlimited" minutes. You can also define different outbound Caller IDs on up to 20 numbers, allowing you to call your friends from a number on their carrier's network which will use "unlimited" minutes for that end of the call as well. You can probably think of other fun ways to use this feature, I'm sure ;-)

Buy a New Phone: You may not realize it but you can get significant discounts on new cell phones simply by extending your existing contract. You might be surprised at how little it would cost to get the phone you REALLY want. Check it out here:

Cell Phone Accessories:

Orion Gadgets has an enormous number of accessories for most any cell phone, from chargers to sync cables to screen protectors to holsters and much more. Check it out:

If you have a question you don't see answered here, please ask it in the feedback section below or click here to send a private message.

Q: How do I dial an international number from my cell phone?

A: The simple answer (for dialing from the US) is to do it the same way you'd do it from a landline: dial 011 then the international number.

The long answer is that different countries will have different codes that must be dialed to indicate the call is an international one. 00 is the most prevalent in Europe and you can find a complete list here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_dialing_prefix

International numbers consist of a country code and national number. The country code for the US is 1 and the national number is 10 digits, consisting of a 3 digit area code, 3 digit local exchange prefix and 4 digit local number. To call the US from another country you would dial +1 and then the 10 digit number. Note that the US, it's territories and Canada all use what's known as the North American Numbering Plan and calls between these countries are considered international but the dialing doesn't require an international access code. To call another country from the US, you would dial 011, then the 1-3 digit country code, then the national number, which can be up to 15 digits. This site has an easy look-up table to find the correct format for dialing to any country:

http://www.howtocallabroad.com

Also related to this question is what does the "+" sign mean in front of in international number? That means the format of the number is what you'd dial from an international location to reach it. The "+" is generic for whatever code you need to dial from the country you're in to indicate the call is an international one. Most mobile phones are capable of entering a "+" in front of the international number but vary on how to do it. Most commonly it will be to hold the "0" down until it appears in the display, some others do it by pressing the "star" key twice. Not all cell phones have this feature so you may have to just dial the international access code instead.

Q: Why are international calls to cell phones so expensive?

A: Good question, I'm sure many people have noticed after using the International Rates Comparison Tool that calls to cellular phones in many countries are more expensive than to landlines. This is because of the way their mobile networks are set up -- cellular numbers are easily distinguishable from landlines so the caller knows they're going to have to pay extra to call a mobile phone. In countries such as the US, mobile numbers aren't easily distinguishable from landlines and so the mobile user pays for both incoming and outbound airtime. More detailed information on this subject is available here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_mobile_phone_codes