As the world gets smaller, and more people move abroad for work or pleasure, the need for cheap international calls increases. Communication with friends and family back home is essential when you move abroad, even if you are only visiting for a short time. The cost of calling, or using data roaming can rapidly increase, especially if there are important matters to attend to. You do not want the cost of the call to be a factor in missing an opportunity. Cheap international calls help to keep you connected to your friends and family, your business, and to meet obligations or gain successful opportunities.
How much do Cheap International calls cost?
When comparing the price of calls overseas and looking for cheap international calls we must first look at the basic rate of calls to give us an easy comparison. When calling EU destinations from the UK, the price is around £0.20 per minute, calling other countries outside of the EU, the price can be much higher but averages at £3.00 per minute. When calling from the USA, Canada is $155 per minute, India is $5 per minute and the UK is $3.70 per minute. These rates do not seem like cheap international calls.
When using VoIP services calls can be a lot cheaper, but there are set up costs involved in getting an account, and then there are additional costs such as headsets, internet usage, computers to fix your lines to and a desk to sit at. You can see that costs can rise and what used to be cheap international calls becomes expensive.
Switching to ConxHub as a Mobile provider of cheap international calls reduces costs of hardware and installation, as it is simply an app on your phone to download and a small monthly payment of £4 to have the basic account. Purchasing a number in Australia or the UK is an extra cost of around £3, but then the cheap international calls make the usage of ConxHub cost effective. Once you have paid the minimal set up fees, cheap international calls can even be free. You can’t get much lower cheap international calls than calling for free!
Other costs associated with cheap international calls.
When making cheap international calls, if you are using your landline, there is hardware and a provider required to connect to the telephone lines. These phone systems are usually fixed to a wall, or to a desk, which requires hardware, wires, connection, and a physical place to make the calls from.
When making cheap international calls from the internet, the hidden extras can be the costs of the internet, the hardware to connect the phone system to, the headsets, and a laptop to connect everything together. This often also requires a physical location to make the calls from, which needs a desk, a chair and enough space to be comfortable. Does that make cheap international calls from the internet cost effective?
When using your mobile phone for cheap international calls be sure to be connected to 4G or 5G Mobile data, or to be connected to the internet, because if you dial a number and just call from your SIM, it is going to be very expensive.
Using International SIMS for cheap international calls
If you are a regular traveler, you might consider adding on international calling to your contract or phone package. This can be an added expense of between £5 and £15 a month, but the costs that it will save on your calls make this option good for cheap international calls.
There are Add Ons like Vodafone’s International Saver, or O2’s International Bolt on that can save money on international calls. These can either cut the cost or can give you a contracted amount of free minutes, making these options great for cheap international calls.
Other smaller networks have some specialist offers for cheap international calls, and getting a phone SIM from Lycamobile gives the biggest generous allowance of free calling, however there are more options for cheap international calls.
ConxHub offers unlimited free calls, as long as you are using your mobile data package and the allocation of minutes within that package, and with so many mobile operators now offering free unlimited calls to landlines and mobiles, this is the best route for cheap international calls.
Simply download the app for ConxHub, choose your international number from a range of countries around the world and connect that number to your app. You can then use your mobile data connection, and that number to make free international calls. If you want cheap international calls, you can’t get much cheaper than free!
International SIMs bonuses for cheap international calls.
Most international SIMs offer their services on a rolling 30 day contract, with a 30 day cancellation period, so you are not tied in for too long. Getting cheap international calls as well as mobile data, free SMS, and UK calls to landlines and mobiles is a great package offered by some carriers.
Just as with most carriers, premium rate numbers are not included, so calls to utility bills, hotel booking lines and customer support companies need to be closely monitored, as they might not be cheap international calls.
When using ConxHub for cheap international calls, you do not need a new International Sim, you simply use the app, your monthly subscription to the app and the international number that you have purchased. If you are making cheap international calls to multiple countries, then you can simply buy additional numbers for your phone for all the places you call.
If you are a student making cheap international calls, there are often offers made specifically for students. These offers are also aimed at travelers, or the digital nomads moving from place to place and calling different overseas locations for their next trip. Phone companies know that people need cheap international calls to help them on their travels, and when they move abroad to a new school or university. Times like that can be hard on people, they miss their families, they miss their home comforts, and they miss their friends. All these issues can be resolved with cheap international calls through your mobile phone.
Specific offers for cheap international calls
Most major networks have a facility or an offer for people travelling. These offers include calls to local numbers and mobile numbers in the country that you are visiting or calling. They do not include calls to non-geographic numbers or premium rate numbers. If you need to contact the government, your bank, or a customer service hotline, these are often not included.
It is worth noting that sometimes the emergency numbers in the country you are calling are also not included. If you are in an emergency, you need to know the best number to call, so that you are still making cheap international calls, but also keeping your costs down. You do not want to be cut off mid-call!
O2 International Bolt On priced from just £3 a month offers inclusive calls and SMS messages to landlines and mobiles in over 200 countries. The price varies depending on the country that you are calling. It can go as high as £20 for some countries.
EE International Pack offers 1,000 minutes of cheap international calls to 50 different countries including some of the expensive countries from other providers. They are slightly more expensive at around £12 a month, but if you use all your minutes, that works out at 1.2p a minute for all calls. This makes it a good service for cheap international calls.
Vodafone International Saver at just £5 a month offers 100 minutes to 100 different countries with options to upgrade your service to add more minutes or more countries as your business grows.
Three Call Abroad again at just £5 a month offers 100 minutes to 55 countries but can be quickly upgraded to unlimited calls for an extra £5 payment.
ConxHub offers cheap international calls through their app, they have a subscription fee of £4 a month then you buy a number for your chose country from £2 a month, and you have unlimited calls on a local rate to that country.
Cheap international calls by VoIP or by mobile?
Whilst VoIP services like Viber, WhatsApp or Skype are free to make international calls, you must be connected to the internet or use your mobile 4G or 5G data connection. There is no need for SIM card bundle offers and you will not be paying high rates for calls. As long as you are connected to the internet, and the person you are calling is connected, you can make cheap international calls through your mobile.
But there are problems.
The internet connection must be stable, and in many countries, the internet can be intermittent at best.
Using these services could drain your data allowance, and if you are paying extra for your data, this could lead to big charges. Saving your data allowance for web browsing and emergency use when you are abroad or for gaming and videos when you are at home, might be better use!
Making cheap international calls through your mobile must be monitored, with counting the minutes and watching your data allowance a priority.
Only making a few cheap international calls a month?
If your usage of cheap international calls is low, it might be worth making sure that the people you speak to are connected to the internet and you have allocated time for making these calls. Ensuring that both parties are connected to the internet is the best way to make cheap international calls, however, that is not always possible, especially in times of emergency.
For emergency contact, to make sure that you are monitoring the safety of your friends and family overseas, it is best to have a phone solution that is always available to make clear and fast phone calls, and the best on the market today is ConxHub.
If you speak to your landline provider you might get some prices and indication of costs of using your landline, but it is more common that you do not have your landline to hand!