Ok, I have to accept that this may not be the cheapest call rates to India, but by far the best in it’s class and quality. I have a lot of friends back home and I am a social animal – literally can’t do anything, without talking to my friends 🙂 . ( Check my Social Networking Profiles for more proof 😉 ). Coming back to the topic, currently I use a combination of various voip and calling card services, to make effective desi calls.
Using this method, a 1 min call to India costs me around $0.057 ~ INR 2.83. This pricing is for regular recharges, without any offers, if you have a discount or an offer, it costs you much cheaper !
You should be aware of the fact that, there are a few other services that will let you make cheaper calls, but you’ll end up compromising on quality and clarity of the calls.
Here’s what you need to do to make the cheapest calls to India :
1> Get a Skype monthly subscription for at $3 / month.
Related Post : List Of Airtel Call Home Local Numbers.
2> Sign up for Airtel Call Home. I’ve reviewed two services in the past and airtel call home is a better service provider in this category, when compared to reliable calling service ( trust me when I say they suck – Reliable calling card service really sucks I mean every word !!! ).
When you sign up, the first time, make sure you check out for offers, you’ll always find something or the other through out the year (Surprise surprise :P) :
As you can see in this offer, you get 1039 additional mins on sign up ! which means your call rates will fall further.
Assuming that my math is correct, call rate per min for normal talk time is
= ( Skype monthly subscription charge + Airtel Normal Recharge ) / total numb of mins
= 3 + 100 (assuming u but the $100 package – you’ll need one if you are like me .. ) / 1818
= $0.057 ~ INR 2.83
If you get some discounts or recharge during offers, you get better rates !
3> Once you have Skype and Airtel Call home ready, start making calls. Check out Skype mobile section to learn how to make skype calls when you are on the move.
Really cool tip mate. u made my day.