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Life / Telephone / International
Making cheap international phone calls from the UK
     
Sections:
 Introduction
Cheap international calls: from a mobile
  Cheap international calls: from a landline
  International telephone cards
  Links
   
Related pages:
 Guide (introduction to telephones in the UK)
  Mobile (using a mobile phone in the UK)


INTRODUCTION

For international calls, there can be big differences in costs depending on which telephone company you use.
This section explains how to make a cheap international telephone call from the UK to these and other countries:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greenland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE (United Arab Emirates), Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, US (USA, United States, America), Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen

If you need to find the international access code for a country, click here.

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CHEAP INTERNATIONAL CALLS: FROM A MOBILE

Summary:
- Use your mobile phone to text the word pay to one of these numbers:
80041 (for £3 credit)
80550 (for £5 credit)
- The cost is the amount of the call credit (£3 or £5) plus the price of your text (based on your standard mobile network rates)
This is charged by your mobile phone service provider
- You will receive a text message; you now have £3 or £5 of call credit

- To make a call:
Dial 020 7124 6666 (or 03333 218 747 if this is cheaper for you to call)
Enter your PIN if you are using a different phone from the one with the call credit
Dial the international number you want to call

Detailed explanation:

If you are in the UK and have a mobile phone, the following service is an easy and cheap way to call abroad. The service, called topup2talk, is provided by the company New Call Telecom Ltd. There is no need to buy any special telephone cards or to give your personal details.

(1) Checking the cost

The total cost of your international call is the total of these:

(a) A charge per minute
The amount depends on the country you are calling and whether you are phoning a landline or a mobile.
To see the call rates, choose the country and click on "Details" (the prices will appear in a new window):

(b) A connection charge
A connection charge equal to twice the pence per minute rate (up to a maximum of 30 pence) for the relevant country is also charged per call

(c) The cost of a UK call to the access number.
This part of the cost is paid in the same way that you normally pay for calls on your mobile.
There are three possible access numbers you can choose. Check your mobile phone's call charges to decide which access number is cheapest.
- If you use the access number 020 7124 6666 (a London number) you will pay the cost of a normal call to a UK number.
If you have a monthly contract for your mobile, you may be able to use your "free minutes" for this.
- If you use the access number 03333 218 747 there is an extra charge of 2p per minute (20p/minute from a payphone). This option may be cheaper for some people: it depends on the conditions of your contract with the mobile phone company.

(2) Topping up your account (to pay for your calls)

- You need to pay for calls in advance to use this service. You must have the bill payer's permission before topping up the account.

- If you are using a pay-as-you-go phone, first make sure that your phone's balance is enough to pay for the credit you are buying.

- Make sure that your phone's message memory has enough space to receive a new text message.

- To obtain credit:
For £3 credit, send a text message with the word "pay" to the number 80041, or:
For £5 credit, send a text message with the word "pay" to the number 80550
Each time you top up your account, £3 or £5 is added to your next mobile phone bill, or is taken from the call balance if you have a pay-as-you-go phone. You are also charged your standard mobile network rates for the request message.

- Wait about a minute until you receive a text message. After you have received the second message your international account is credited (with £3 or £5).

The message will be similar to this:
Thanks. Your UK Student Life account has been topped up with £3 [or £5]. To use, dial 03333218747 or 02071246666. PIN [personal identification number]: **********

- The PIN (personal identification number) which you receive is the number which you will need to enter if you want to make a call from a different mobile phone (you do not need to use it if you make a call from the phone which you used when you bought your credit).

- If you want to add more credit, all you need to do is to repeat the process.

- Your credit will expire after 90 days if you do not use it.

- To make it easy to top-up your account in future, store 80041 or 80550 in your phone book - if you name this number "pay" you will remember the text message which you need to send to this number.
(3) Making your call

- You must have the bill payer's permission before making calls.

- Dial the UK access number 020 7124 6666 (the access number is always the same - it doesn't depend on which country you call).
[ Note that if this is cheaper with your phone, you can choose to call a different UK access number: 03333218747]

- You will be told your account's balance.The message will be similar to this:
Credit remaining: *** pounds. Please enter the number you wish to dial

- If requested, please enter your PIN (personal identification number). You will not be asked to enter your PIN if you are using the same phone which you were using when you bought your credit.

- Enter the full international call number (starting with 00). After you have entered the number, wait for your connection - do not press the "call" button.
The full international number is the international access code (00) followed by the country code (eg: 81 for Japan) followed by the normal telephone number without the first 0 (for example, to call the number 0xx xxxx xxxx in Japan, dial 00 81 xx xxxx xxxx).

- You will be told how many minutes you can call this number using the credit in your account.

(4) Customer help

If you have a problem using the service, you can get help by calling 0870 7606 726 (if necessary, leave a message for them to call you back) or by sending an e-mail to: enquiries@dialabroad.co.uk (please remember to mention the telephone number of the phone you are using).

If you are topping up the credit from a pay-as-you-go mobile phone, check that you have enough credit on your account and that your text message storage is not full.

If you do not receive your text messages after sending your text message to pay for credit, please contact customer help - do not repeat the process [your text messages may have been delayed if your mobile phone service is experiencing problems].

(5) Advantages of this service

There are several advantages of using this mobile service instead of "international telephone cards":

- you do not need to buy any cards - wherever you are, you simply send a text message to top up your account
- the charges are low and clearly explained (many cards have hidden charges)
- you do not need to buy large amounts of credit (just £3 is enough)
- your credit will not expire until after 6 months (the credit on many cards expires after 3 months)
- you can also use the service to get cheap calls to UK mobiles.
- you can use your "free minutes" to call the access number (if you pay a monthly tariff)

(6) Quick dialling: using your phone book

If you call the same number often, you can make the process quicker by storing the full number in your mobile's "phone book".

- Select the "phone book" on your mobile, and choose to add a new entry to your SIM card (your phone's memory card).

- Type the UK access number (eg 020 7124 6666), followed by a "pause", followed by the international number you want to call. The way to enter a "pause" depends on the manufacturer of your phone:

Manufacturer of your phone How to enter a "pause" on your phone:
Nokia press * three times (a "P" will appear)
Sony Ericsson/Motorola press * and hold this key down (a "p" will appear)
Siemens/Panasonic press 0 and hold this key down (a "+" will appear)
NEC/Samsung press # and hold this key down (a "p" will appear)
Blackberry press the "N" key (or for the 7100 series press the "L" key) to show a "p"
Apple iPhone press the "+*#" key and choose the pause option

For some other manufacturers you need to type a "p" or a comma to enter a pause (in some cases this needs to be repeated twice). Check your manufacturer's website for details.

Example
To call the international number 00 81 3 0000 0000, add the following number to your phone book:
02071246666p0081300000000 (instead of the "p" a "+" will appear on some phones - see above)
Give this number a name (for example: "mum"), and use this name to make phone calls easily in future.
If you use this method of dialling, you will still be told your balance and how long you can call using your credit.

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CHEAP INTERNATIONAL CALLS: FROM A LANDLINE

If you are in the UK and have a landline, the following service is an easy and cheap way to call abroad. The service is provided by New Call Telecom Ltd.

Summary:
- To make a call, dial the correct one of these UK access numbers (use a landline, not a mobile phone):
(use the input box in section (1) below to find out which number you need)
0844 838 7700 (2 pence / minute)
0844 431 2171 (3 pence / minute)
0844 904 4030 (4 pence / minute)
0844 570 7700 (5 pence / minute)
0871 751 2150 (6 pence / minute)
0871 801 2263 (7 pence / minute)
0871 552 2156 (8 pence / minute)
0871 341 2180 (9 pence / minute)
0871 570 7165 (10 pence / minute)
0905 306 6942 (15 pence / minute)
0905 257 6946 (20 pence / minute)
0905 474 6747 (25 pence / minute)
0905 032 6443 (35 pence / minute)
0905 091 6147 (50 pence / minute)
0905 152 6115 (60 pence / minute)
0905 074 6116 (75 pence / minute)
0905 107 6131 (1 pound / minute)

- Wait until you hear the start of the message

- Dial the international number you want to call

Detailed explanation:

If you have are in the UK and have your own landline (a fixed phone) in your accommodation, the following service is an easy and cheap way to call abroad. The service is provided by JustDial, part of the Carphone Warehouse group. There is no need to buy any special telephone cards or to give your personal details. You can also use the service from a public telephone (but it is cheaper to call from a private landline). This is what you do:
(1) Finding your UK access number

- Choose the country you want to call to see the number to call and the charge:

- Write down the UK access telephone number. There may be a different number if you are calling to a mobile phone. The same number and call rates apply on all days of the week and at all times of the day.

- Occasionally the cost of calls to a country changes - in this case, the number you need to call will change. Please check occasionally to make sure that you are calling the correct number (using the dropdown box above). If the price for calling a country goes down and you continue using the old number you will not be taking advantage of the new lower price.

(2) Making your call

- Use a landline to make your call. You must have the bill payer's permission before using this service.

- To make a call, first dial the access telephone number.

- You will hear a message from Just Dial. You do not have to listen to this each time you call - you can start calling the number you want to call at any time (recommendation: dial after you have heard the introduction and confirmation of the cost per minute).

- Enter the full international number you wish to call. Complete the call in the normal way.
The full international number is the international access code (00) followed by the country code (eg: 81 for Japan) followed by the normal telephone number without the first 0 (for example, to call the number 0xx xxxx xxxx in Japan, dial 00 81 xx xxxx xxxx).

(3) Paying for your call

- You pay for your telephone call in the same way as for any other call on the phone you are using. If you use a private landline, it will appear on the next telephone bill. If you use a public telephone, you will pay in the normal way using cash, credit cards or debit cards.

- You are charged from the time you are connected to the service. Please hang up after a short time if your call is engaged or unanswered.

- If you are calling from a BT landline an additional charge (call-set-up fee) of 11.5p is made for each call made.

(4) Customer help

If you have a problem using the service, you can get support by calling 0870 7606 726 or by sending an e-mail to: support@justdialstudent.com.
You can find further details about the service at this website: JustDialStudent.

(5) Advantages of this service

There are several advantages of using this Just Dial service instead of "international telephone cards":

- you do not need to buy cards - you just pay for your calls on your telephone bill
- the charges are low and clearly explained
- you do not need to pay for calls in advance
- you do not lose money if you do not make enough calls (the credit on telephone cards expires after 3 or 6 months)
- your calls to the access numbers will be clearly shown on the telephone bill - maybe this will persuade your landlord/landlady to allow you to use his/her phone to make international calls (note: only the access numbers will be shown on telephone bills - the number you called will remain confidential)
- line quality should be good

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INTERNATIONAL TELEPHONE CARDS

Be careful if you buy phonecards from newsagents and other shops. This industry is not well regulated - many advertisements which you may see are misleading, and some of the companies do not provide a good service to customers. Be careful about the following points:

- note that you need to pay for the cost of calling the UK access number (which you pay in the normal way from your phone) as well as paying for the international part of the call (which you pay using the credit on the telephone cards)
- advertisements in newsagents' windows are not always up-to-date, so you may not pay the rates which are shown there
- some adverts show prices before value added tax (VAT) - if so, you will need to add 17.5% to get the true price
- some sellers exchange cards for cash and do not provide a receipt (to avoid paying VAT) - if you buy this way, you are also breaking the law
- make sure that the rates you see advertised apply to the card value you are buying (eg £20 cards may offer cheaper rates than £5 ones)
- rates are sometimes "rounded to the nearest penny", so for example if it says 5p per minute, it may cost 5.5p per minute (10% more)
- there may be a much higher charge for the first minute or few minutes of any call (eg 75p per minute)
- note that there are normally surcharges when you use these cards to make calls from a public telephone: these can be large (eg: 25p per minute)
- note that there will be higher charges when you make a call to a mobile telephone
- numbers starting with 0800 are called 'freephone', but the telephone card providers charge a fee for using these numbers
- cards often expire 90 days after you first use them, so don't buy a card unless you expect to use the full value within this time
- some cards have a daily maintenance charge, so it will cost you money even if you don't use them
- the number of "minutes" you receive only applies if you make one long, single call - the time may be much less if you make several shorter calls
- some card companies provide a poor quality line, or may cut you off in the middle of your calls
- some companies illegally charge for "minutes" that only last 50 seconds or less
- some companies illegally remove credit from card balances for no reason, hoping that customers will not notice
- illegal operators may be closed down, in which case you will lose any credit which you have

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LINKS

Introduction to telephones in the UK: Life/Telephone/Guide
Using a mobile phone: Life/Telephone/Mobile
Communicating by computer: Life/Computer/Guide

Home page: Home

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