Thread: Do people in India get charged extra for calling long distance?

Hello folks, I will be visiting India for about a 6 month stay to visit family. I will probably equip myself with a cell phone and acquire a local number to make calls back home in Canada and other international countries. Now I don't know how the system works in India but in Canada making long distance national & international calls without any deals can cost a lot of money. People typically subscribe to long distance services that allow people to call long distance for very cheap. I have the impression that a lot of people in India don't sign contracts with network providers where they would get billed monthly but rather simple pay a certain amount of rupees for a certain amount of minutes? Please shed some light if I'm wrong. So a couple of questions i would like to ask you folks;

- Is it costly for telephone/cell phone users in India to make calls out of their state/country? Or does the rate remain fixed regardless of where you call to?

- Now if the rates are expensive to call long distance, are there other alternatives available that allow users to make cheaper long distance calls?

If anyone in the forum can reply back and give me some inside knowledge that would be awesome! Thanks!

Install OOMA VOIP in your Location In Canada.
Buy similar one for use in India!
Annual charges less than U.S $100/=
Unlimited VOIP calls via Internet.
You need Internet Connection at both places.
Or
Install Skype application in computers at both locations.
( You can use/see video also when talking ). FREE. Also other tariff/s

For ref : https://www.relianceglobalcall.com/call-rates.aspx
Rs 1/50/minute. Almost same charges from BSNL landline.

If you want to call from your cellphone, charges will be higher .


Please await further suggestions from other members. Mine only gives general idea. Your cell phone whether compatible/ freq in India /please check model details. GSM/CDMA etc .( also locked to particular service provider in U>S/Canada )

Longdistance...calling all states in continental canada/usa (mexico excluded)
International.... outside continental usa/canada ----- two different things.

In India all the states (other than the state you are staying-which is local)from kashmir to Kanyakumari/porbandar to asaam -all are same STD charge.
cell STD costs as high as Rs1/min or as low Rs0.25/min like that.

Calling ISD -you need a ISD pack which is cheaper from many cell providers.
BSNL sells a Rs 500 ISD calling card with attractive ISD rates.
go to all web sites Aircel/airtel/Reliance etc and check ISD pack and choose sim (if they provide cell in your region).
Calling with in the country is cheap and almost same with all cell operators.

Thanks for the replies, so let me get this straight, calling long distance within the country is pretty cheap as the STD booths have good rates. But I will probably be calling internationally beyond India's borders and the ISD calling cards provided from phone companies seems like the only option. What is the rate difference between ISD booths and ISD calling cards?

Depending on how much you spend on a calling card which varies from 50 to 1000+ Rupees you get the rates of paisa's per second billing. But if you get a cheap calling card for about 50-200 Rupees your only going to get about 15 to 20 minutes of talk time (I did the math), which is not that much. Only those calling cards work on your mobile as those of which are supplied by your phone network, other calling cards from other network companies will not work. I am trying to search for private calling card companies.

Do you guys know of any private ISD calling card companies who specialize in long distance/international phone talking?

Are there are calling cards available of which can work on all mobile phones with more talk minutes? OR the ones supplied by the phone network companies that only work on their phones is the only option?

Get an Airtel prepaid sim card and get a voucher that costs Rs59 and makes calling North America cheaper for 30 days and your calls to canada will cost you 1 paisa per second so thats 60 paisa per min which is cheap and its is convenient as you can just call from your phone without having to use any access codes or anything just call direct from your mobile.

Without this voucher it will cost you Rs6-7 per min I think so its a 90% discount even the calling booths charge a hell lot as compared to this deal.

@tatla
confirm your cellphone model number gsm or cdma , and whether it is
LOCKED to particular provider ( say for two years you get the phone free )

Originally Posted by Admin

Get an Airtel prepaid sim card and get a voucher that costs Rs59 and makes calling North America cheaper for 30 days and your calls to canada will cost you 1 paisa per second so thats 60 paisa per min which is cheap and its is convenient as you can just call from your phone without having to use any access codes or anything just call direct from your mobile.

Without this voucher it will cost you Rs6-7 per min I think so its a 90% discount even the calling booths charge a hell lot as compared to this deal.

What about Reliance, i heard they have some good plans for isd with calling card..