Indian telecom companies offering cheap calls to US & Canada

Seems that Indian telecom is now feeling the presence of Voip. With start of a few voip providers in India, calls to US, Canada and some other countries was very cheap. A lot of business started moving to voip for their calling needs. Specially the US companies in India make full use of Voip and save a lot on phone bills by making cheap voip calls.

While I was just surfing on my phone, I came across an offer by Idea (one of major telecom in India). The offer was you can make calls to USA and Canada for 1 paisa per sec. That's 60 paisa per minute, almost 1.2 cent per min. This calling rate is very comparable to what voip companies are offering, instead the price is cheaper then the voip companies. If you compare the price with the local and STD rates in India, then my local/STD calling rate is also the same (1 paisa per sec).

The time is here in India, when the local/STD/ISD calls cost you the same amount. This seems great for Indian telecom. The next thing to look out for is call rates dropping for other countries.

So for all our NRI living in USA, your friends and relatives from India can themselves call you from India.

Please share your views !!

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Net4.in Voip Home Calling Plans : India

Lately there have been a lot of advertisements about voip in India and unlimited voip calls from India. net4.in is one such voip provider creating this buzz. I thought to check net4.in and its individual plans that is home voip plans, if its any good for people.

net4.in offers a wide range of voip plans for home users. These are Phonewala Home/ SOHO Plans that enable you to use internet connection to make and receive phone calls at very low rates, basically voip calls. So firstly you require Internet (broadband connection) at your home in order to make these calls. I am not sure, but these internet charges are not included in their calling plan rates.

Lets check out the various plans net4.in offers:

1. Homeland Plan : Rs 599/month
500 minutes* of calls to US/UK/Canada
Outgoing calls to landline and mobile destinations (except UK mobile).

I think this plan is not so good as you can make calls to USA/UK for free using Voip or most other voip provider are offering calls to USA/UK at 1 cent per minute (40-50 paisa per min).

2. One World: Available in Rs 100/250/500/1000 denominations
Call anywhere* in the world @ Re 1 per minute only.
Terms & Conditions
* Re 1 per minute applicable to more than 40 countries.
* Re 1 per minute applicable to landline destinations only.
* Calls to rest of the destinations available at Rs 10 per minute.
* For US, Canada, China, Hongkong , Thailand, and Singapore, calls to mobile destinations at Re 1 per minute.
* Validity of 30 days on Rs 100, Rs 250, and Rs 500 packs.
* Validity of 90 days on Rs 1000 pack.

Again as I said before the plan looks costly to me.

3. Gulf Gold:
Call more than 45 Gulf & European countries @ Rs 8 per minute.*
Terms & Conditions
* Rs 8 per minute applicable on calls all destinations.
* Validity of 30 days on Rs 500 pack.
* Validity of 90 days on Rs 1000 pack.

4. Unlimited Silver: US/ Canada
Unlimited* calls to US/Canada @ Rs 2499 per month only.
Terms & Conditions
* One month validity and maximum 3000 minutes per month.

Again a very costly plan.

5. Unlimited Silver: US/ Canada/ UK Unlimited* calls to US/Canada @ Rs 2999 per month only.
Terms & Conditions
* One month validity and maximum 3000 minutes per month.

Well, net4.in home plans are not at all cheap if you compare them to other voip providers. But if you compare net4.in international calling rates to your normal telecom provider then its way cheaper for many countries. So, if you are thinking of shifting to voip from your normal telecom provider then net4.in is a good option. We will soon also review their business plans.

READ MORE - Net4.in Voip Home Calling Plans : India