Calling UK from ireland- Rebtel

Hi folks,

I've been reading a bit about Rebtel and can't make out exactly if its a service that can save me some serious money.

My girlfriend lives in the UK (i'm in Dublin) and we both only have access to mobile phones. She is on pay monthly with Orange and i'm pay as you go with Vodafone. We're spending an absolute fortune on call charges.

Does anyone know much about the rebtel system and if its something that could work for us?? Is their charge paid by the minute by both parties and do both pay local charges also??

or has anyone any other bright ideas???

all help will be hugely appreciated

cheers

cosmo

If you have a pc/laptop each .... use skype .... it's free

skype is your best option.

Get a skype enabled phone from 3 ireland and one from 3 uk and you can make free unlimited skype calls.

Rebtel is a good service - I use it to call home (Scotland) but the one thing to bear in mind is that you will still incur local charge per minute as you connect to person using a local number and then rebtel will charge you 0.1 cent per minute to UK (only for the person making the call). If you could get Skype phone that would be the best option. If you cannot maybe you should change to pay monthly (with inclusive minutes) and then use Rebtel - that way a $10 Rebtel account will last you a good while. I have used it for last 7 months with no problem at all.

Just to clarify,as the OP will be phoning a UK mobile,the cost is 15c a minute plus the local charge.

thanks very very much for the replies,

hi vandriver, just to clarify, rebtel would be 15c a min plus the price of a local call?

I just checked the 3 website and it seems i can buy the INQ (INQ1) for €50, with a pay as you go policy, and can make unlimited skype calls to other countries (i presume the other person needs a skype phone also as you said?, or could they just use regular skype with a laptop?). This would be perfect for me, but sounds to good to be true!

is that your understanding of the terms??

thanks in advance

The skype program is free to use. You set up a skype account & are identified by a username (associated with an email address). So, skype to skype calls are free (username to username).

So if you are using a pc/latop to make & receive calls to & from other skype users it’s totally free. The only problem is that you do need to have your pc/laptop turned on & connected to the internet to do this.

The skype application works on mobile phones that are skype enabled. The 3 network supplies & supports skype enabled mobiles, & they don’t charge you for the internet data usage when running the skype application on your mobile phone (subject to having topped up your 3 credit, or being a billpay customer). The advantage is that you don’t need to be at your pc/laptop or it’s general vicinity to make & receive calls & once you are signed in to skype on your mobile you can make & receive calls to other skype users who are also signed in on their mobile or pc/laptop, as well as instant chat messages.

For a pay as you go 3 customer you have to top up by €20 every 30 days in order to avail of the free skype to skype calls for 30 days. A 3UK customer would have to do the same (not sure of the required top-up amount) If you signed up or ported your number over to a 3 contract there is no topping up required as free skype is included in your monthly tariff, so it might be worth your while considering this option, as the cheapest package is €19 per month. A 3Ireland pay monthly contract customer can also make a certain amount of 'free' (by 'free' I mean they use the 'minutes' included in their chosen package) calls to any UK landline or mobile number depending on what tariff they are on, but this has nothing to do with whether they use skype or not.

Just don’t get confused over exactly what kind of skype calls are free – it’s just skype to skype (username to username) that’s free. You can purchase skype credit to use skype to call mobile & landline numbers in Europe or worldwide (skypeout calls), which is an entirely separate skype facility.

on the subject of cheapest calls,anyone know cheapest from irish landline to australian mobile,i use skype and g mail,but not always possible to contact other person.at the moment i use diallwise,it used to be 7 cent per min,but its 14 or 15 now at the weekends.

Voipcheap.com....highly recommended.

If you both have access to a PC (e.g. in university etc) then Skype etc is the way to go. Another idea is that your girlfriend in the UK can simply get a Voda Irl SIM card, this does not charge to receive calls in the UK, so you can call her with your minutes or Vodafone deals. She might need a phone just to talk to you though!