2824 Cheap international calls - any suggestions?

We just use Telecom Italia and though it may not be the cheapest option we certainly have not found it expensive. We have an itemised bill and calls made after 6,30pm and at weekends to the Uk are very reasonable and one of us in particular can be known to chat for ages!!

hi we live in abruzzo and we used telcom it special packcage for phoning uk and it cost a lot we now buy carta telefonica internazionale cards they can be recharged after inichal purchase and for 25 eros you get 16 hours .they are not abit inpractical as you simply prefix a 4 figure infront of the code then dial the rest of the number there is no waiting and also english instuctions once you have your code you use your phone normaly an they tell you how much talk time you have left and you buy them and recharge them at any italia post office regards roy

Many thanks to both of you for your quick replies.

[QUOTE=oil di lino]hi we live in abruzzo and we used telcom it special packcage for phoning uk and it cost a lot we now buy carta telefonica internazionale cards they can be recharged after inichal purchase and for 25 eros you get 16 hours .they are not abit inpractical as you simply prefix a 4 figure infront of the code then dial the rest of the number there is no waiting and also english instuctions once you have your code you use your phone normaly an they tell you how much talk time you have left and you buy them and recharge them at any italia post office regards roy[/QUOTE]

That does sound a good rate - less than 3 €cents per minute. I hadn't realised that it would be so simple to use them. Do you happen to know if the rates are similar for France, USA and Germany?

Thanks again,

ExTownie

[I will have no internet access for the next 3 days so I may be a little slow to reply]

I may well be wrong BUT the last time I was in Italy and rummaging around on the Telecom Italia site (trying to pay a bill and eventually discovered it was [url]www.187.it[/url] I needed) I found an 'add-on' (so only for those who have Telecom Italia as a service provider) for 10 euros a month which gives UNLIMITED calls to Europe and the US (maybe other places but those were my places of interest so I paid particular attentuion to them).
For anyone who REALLY likes to chat and who have family in England and America (as we do) this could be very useful :D
Anyway i found it on the telecomitalia.it website - might be worth a look?

Lesley

[QUOTE=iwanttobeinitaly]I may well be wrong BUT the last time I was in Italy and rummaging around on the Telecom Italia site (trying to pay a bill and eventually discovered it was [url]www.187.it[/url] I needed) I found an 'add-on' (so only for those who have Telecom Italia as a service provider) for 10 euros a month which gives UNLIMITED calls to Europe and the US (maybe other places but those were my places of interest so I paid particular attentuion to them).
For anyone who REALLY likes to chat and who have family in England and America (as we do) this could be very useful :D
Anyway i found it on the telecomitalia.it website - might be worth a look?

Lesley[/QUOTE]

Being linguistically-challenged, I couldn't see from the link if that package was still available. It does sound a great deal though for a high user. Can you see from the link if it's still available?

Many thanks,

ExTownie

[Away from computer now until Sunday]

Have you tried skype
[url]www.skype.com[/url] - you call from your computer via a microphone or headset, skype calls a landline, mobile anywhere in the world and is extremely cheap...if the other person you are calling has a computer with skype installed then it is free for as long as you can be on the internet for!!!! ABSOLUTELY GENIUS!!

[QUOTE=ExTownie]Being linguistically-challenged, I couldn't see from the link if that package was still available. It does sound a great deal though for a high user. Can you see from the link if it's still available?
[Away from computer now until Sunday][/QUOTE]

Had another rummage - and suspect it was only visible once I'd signed in so maybe isn't viewable unless you are logged in as a customer?
Here's the waffle - afraid it's in Italiano.
Have a vague recollection of Telecomony getting a mention in some other respect - can anyone remember that?
Shall try a search if I get a mo
HTH Lesley & Brian

Europa e Nord America a portata di mano
Con Teleconomy Internazionale potrai telefonare tutte le volte che vuoi ai tuoi amici e parenti lontani, senza preoccuparti della spesa telefonica: le chiamate verso i telefoni fissi di Stati Uniti, Canada e di tutti i Paesi dell'Europa Occidentale (Zona 1) sono gratis e senza limiti.

Se hai un parente o un amico all’estero per motivi di studio o di lavoro, questa nuova offerta di Telecom Italia ti consentirà di risparmiare enormemente sul costo delle chiamate.

I tuoi cari più lontani non sono mai stati così vicini!
Teleconomy Internazionale costa solo 10 Euro al mese (IVA inclusa). E se la abbini a Teleconomy No Problem potrai chiamare senza limiti in Italia, Europa Occidentale e Nordamerica a condizioni eccezionali!

Richiedi Teleconomy Internazionale chiamando il Servizio Clienti 187 o recandoti presso uno dei Negozi Punto 187.

Ricorda che puoi richiedere l'offerta Teleconomy Internazionale solo sulla linea telefonica di base.

Using Google Translate I end up with

"Europe and America North to hand capacity With International Teleconomy you will be able to telephone every time that you want to your friends and far relatives, without preoccuparti of the telephone expense: the calls towards the fixed telephones of United States, Canada and of all the Countries of Western Europe (Zone 1) are gratis and without limits. If you have a relative or a friend to the foreign country for job or study reasons, this offered new of Telecom Italy will concur you to save enormously on the cost of the calls. Your farther beloveds never have not been therefore near! International Teleconomy single coast 10 Euro to month (Vat enclosed). And if it binds together it to Teleconomy Not Problem you will be able to call without limits in Italy, Europe Occidentale and North America to exceptional conditions! You demand International Teleconomy calling the Service Customers 187 or bringing near one of the Storees Point to you 187. It remembers that you can only demand International the Teleconomy offer on the telephone line of base."

which isn't pretty, but it seems clear enough. It does sound a very useful package. I think the two options of this €10 per month package, and the carta telefonica internazionale card mentioned above are both really good deals. Which one works out to be better value will depend on the volume of calls.

Thanks again

ExTownie

snappersass - I have considered Skype, but the internet calls I have received from France and Grand Cayman were significantly poorer sound quality than the landlines. Maybe it has improved since then, but call quality is relatively important. Thanks a lot for the suggestion though. - ExTownie

iwanttobeinitaly - I wonder if you could help me a little more?

Do you know exactly how you go about signing up to this €10 package once you have a Telecom Italia line? My partner's mother speaks Italian, but isn't very computer-minded so I'd like to give her as complete instructions as possible.

Many thanks,

ExTownie

Well it looks like you can sign up online by clicking on the ATTIVA button on screen from the [url]www.187.it[/url] website (the International option for Teleconomy shows under the Offerta then Tariffe per Risparmiare tab).
There is also bound to be a way to do it over the phone also but my Italian isn't up to telephone calls yet ;)

I would imagine you need to be logged in as a customer at 187.it.
I recall it was easy to register (I did so in order that I could view and pay my phone bills online by credit card from England and it has worked very well)

Hope this helps
Lesley

That's a great help. It does sound an ideal package for her, used in conjunction with the phonecard for mobile calls.

Thanks,

ExTownie

we have been given VOIP to use through the computer. paid 10E and it comes up that all calls are free!!! are they really. Well I am assured that they are. janetta

A slight change of track, I'm looking for a call service (one that i can use to get cheap calls to Italian numbers from the UK home phone.

I currently use Dial Around who offer:
Calls from a landline to a landline 0844 861 73 73 @ 1p/min
Calls from a landline to a mobile 0871 343 42 42 @ 9p/min

Does anyone have any better (especially for calls from UK landline to Italian mobiles!) that they can acutally [b]recommend[/b] (rather than just give a list of links that I could have Googled(!)

Hi Tuscahills

Can't get the mobile calls any cheaper, but I'm using cheapestcalls for Italian land lines @ £0.05p per minute on tel no: 0844 200 70 70.
I also use Voipcheap for free calls, but the line can be a bit poor at times.

I check this web site before dailing.

[url]http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/callchecker/[/url]

....thanks for the link, I used that site for the flight-checker, but didn't see the call-checker!

Nice one ;)

PS, how come your 5p/min is cheaper than my 1p/min one......have I done [i]my mafs[/i] wrong?

Oops
It should have read £0.005p or 1/2 ppm :D

I have just signed up to a new package by T Mobile where calls to Europe and USA come out of your free anytime minutes.

Jackie

[QUOTE=jackie C]I have just signed up to a new package by T Mobile where calls to Europe and USA come out of your free anytime minutes.

Jackie[/QUOTE]

Hi jackie
Sounds great.
T-Mobile UK I hope, if it is what's the package called so I can sign up. :D

I have tried this and it works very well
If calling from a landline use: 0844 988 4904 and its 3p/min if you are calling a landline in Italy or its 20p/min if you call a mobile.

Or if you have a UK mobile from O2 or Orange you can use: 0774497 4904 and its included in your free minutes. Other mobile contracts may also support this but you would need to check as I'm not sure.

Happy saving!

Tim

Just to say that I've never had a problem with the sound quality with Skype - rather better quality than the phone in some cases, and they have upgraded the software recently. As pointed out free if the other person has Skype, 1c a minute if you use SkypeOut to phone a normal phone number. I've also got SkypeIn, which is a uk London number (I believe other countries have it) which people can use to call you at the appropriate local UK rate (which on certain packages could be very cheap).

All in all I'd certainly recommend everybody to investigate - for the cost of a headset it must be worthwhile.

[QUOTE=sueflauto]Just to say that I've never had a problem with the sound quality with Skype - rather better quality than the phone in some cases, and they have upgraded the software recently. As pointed out free if the other person has Skype, 1c a minute if you use SkypeOut to phone a normal phone number. I've also got SkypeIn, which is a uk London number (I believe other countries have it) which people can use to call you at the appropriate local UK rate (which on certain packages could be very cheap).

All in all I'd certainly recommend everybody to investigate - for the cost of a headset it must be worthwhile.[/QUOTE]

You can also get Skype ready phone or like myself a Uconnect which alows you to connect any phone to your computer, you just type "**" before the number to routes the call through skype.

3P PER MINUTE 0844 430 0307 TIRANA / ANDORRA / AUSTRIA / BELGIUM / BRUNEI DARUSSALAM / BULGARIA / CHINA INCLU MOBILE / CROATIA / CYPRUS / CZECH REPUBLIC PRAGUE / DENMARK / ESTONIA / FINLAND / FRANCE / TBILLSI / GERMANY / GREECE / HUNGARY / HONG KONGINCLU MOBILE / ICELAND / JAKARTA / SURABAYA / BAGHDAD / IRELAND/ SAN MARINO / JEDDAH / RIYADH / SINGAPORE INCL MOBILE / SLOVAKIA / BRATISLAVE / SLOVENIA / SOUTH KOREA / SPAIN / CANARY ISLANDS / SWEDEN / SWITZERLAND / TAIWAN / TAJIKISTAN INCL MOBILE / THAILAND INCL MOBILE / TURKEY / VATICAN CITY / ROMANIA / RUSSIA / PORTUGAL / POLAND / NORWAY / OSLO / NETHERLANDS /ADAM RDAM / MONACO / MALAYSIA INCLU MOBILE / LUXEMBURG / LITHUNIA / LATVIA / RIGA / SOUTH KOREA / ALMATY / KARAGANDA / JORDAN / JAPAN / ITALY

No hidden costs, no connection fix,
no need for phone card.
24hour fixed rate

Dial the code
.Wait for the dial tone .
.Then dial the international code
Then dial the destination number.

a useful link if looking for the cheapest access numbers (eg. 0844) from the UK to other countries is [url=http://niftylist.co.uk/calls/]The Nifty List[/url] - it covers both account based and "call cost only" services, and it also covers calling international mobiles as well as landlines.

Subject dear to my heart as I watched my Wind credit plummet trying to sort out an issue with my bank in the UK.

A lot depends on your circumstances and how often you call.
We spend most time in the UK where we have a fixed line and less time in Italy where we have just mobile accounts.

FROM UK TO ITALY
[B]18185[/B] and its sister companies charge about 1p or less per minute to fixed italian line and 15p per minute to mobiles. Reliable in quality and billing
[B]JustVoip[/B] and its sister companies are pre-pay and charge nothing to call fixed italian lines and 8p per minute to mobiles. You need to add pre-pay credit, you don't need to call using the internet as they have a UK access number you can use instead for a 5p connection charge. Less reliable in quality depends on time of day and network congestion, particularly calls to mobiles.
[B]Noodle[/B] is a new one and you can call out for practically nothing using your inclusive mobile minutes - they subsidise your call by doing interconnect revenue share (involves nothing on your behalf but gives you cheaper calls). Currently reliable in quality and billing and customer service that call you back if you email a query - stunning. They also have a nifty way of diverting a UK mobile number to your italian SIM so whilst you're away people can call you just dialling an ordinary UK mobile number.

An Orchid dialler takes the hard work out of remembering all those access codes BTW.

FROM ITALY TO UK - ASSUMING YOU HAVE BROADBAND
[B]Eutelia Skypho [/B]gives you basically what Skype does but for less ie free local numbers either in Italy or UK and cheaper calls.
If you live in a covered area you can even get your wireless broadband from Eutelia on a pay as you go daily rate which is great for second home owners, providing you're in the limited coverage area, predominantly bits of Toscana, Umbria and now parts of northern Lazio. 3 cheers for Eutelia - our only chance of broadband in Tuscia.
[B]JustVoip[/B] and the sister companies can get you practically free calls back to the UK providing you use your computer
[B]Sightspeed[/B] is also worth looking at as it gives better quality than Skype and allows people you connect to, videocalling without them having to first install the Sightspeed software.

FROM ITALY TO UK - ASSUMING YOU HAVE A FIXED LANDLINE
A whole plethora of companies who ask you to put in a prefix code, no account required for calls starting at 1c, just google for chiamare all'estero and take your pick. There is an italian site for 18185 for those familiar with it in the UK.

FROM ITALY TO UK - ASSUMING YOU HAVE NO FIXED LINE AND RELY ON MOBILES
Best deal I've found at the moment is Iminuti combined with Vodafone Casa Infinity. VCI give you 500 minutes per month for E3 to any landline in italy which is good for your local use as well as international "because".....you use your minutes to call Iminuti in Milan and then onwards to wherever you like with nifty speed dial numbers. IMinuti to UK landline is about 3c per minute. VCI demand you only call from your house and vicinity to qualify for inclusive calls but it's not that difficult to achieve.

Jajah and Vyke / Tri-call are also worth a look though they work on a callback basis to your mobile (you send a text and they connect both parties) which makes it hit and miss in reliability and quality.

Happy calling and only too pleased to see someone find an even cheaper (yet still reliable) way of keeping in touch.

Thanks Brownie - just what I have been looing for. Had solved the problem of UK to Italy etc calls using Skype and 18185, but was stumped for a option for Italy - UK. Will investigate the italian 18185 option as I am very impressed with their service and reliable billing.

PS Can't find the italian version of 18185 - have tried [url]www.18185.it[/url] - am assuming it is not this address - help!

They didn't make it easy to find but it's imaginatively called [url]www.tel10090.it[/url]

If you use 18185 from the UK you'll spot the similarities immediately.
No free calls to the UK but 2c per minute but you know these things change constantly.

Molto grazie! I will add this to my Sykpe option so I have more flexibility.

The link to 10090 is very helpful but it seems you have to formally join the service. Is there no prefix you can add to call cheaply from Italy to landlines and mobiles in the uk as you can do in the UK? (Sorry if this covered elsewhere)

From the UK you can call a mobile in Italy for 9p pm using 0871 3420505 as the prefix

Crikey I thought I'd covered most eventualities.

You could try IMinuti's direct calling service so no need to register or prepay. That may fit the bill if you want a more informal flexible, use when you want to approach. [url=http://www.iminutidirect.com]IMinuti Direct: Chiama il mondo a tariffa discount[/url] rates are almost certain to be higher than pre-pay or registered services because they expect you to be more transient.

I'm not sure how helpful this will be to ExTownie but it might be of interest to others.

I've just signed up to Tiscali in the UK and can phone Italy (plus France, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, North America, Australia, and New Zealand) for "free", i.e. included in my monthly subscription. I pay £25 a month and get up to 8 mB broadband, phone calls to 01 and 02 numbers plus the international calls listed above plus digital TV for that monthly price). This represented a saving of several hundred pounds per annum to us when we cancelled BT and the broadband provider. (I should reveal that I do work for Tiscali, but I wouldn't buy the product or recommend it if I didn't think it was a good deal)

I've also just swapped my 3 Network mobile for one that includes Skype. 3 assure me that this will work in Italy at no further charge than I would have in the UK. The advantage here is that the phone should be easier to operate than a PC. I haven't been to Italy yet to try this, though.

going off topic, but related to Licciana's post mentioning Three's offers throughout the countries where they have networks & their support for Skype ... those looking for fast mobile broadband in both Italy/UK for very attractive flat fee pricing & generous data allowance could look here for info:
[url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/cost-living-utility-services/7829-wi-fi-lunigiana-la-spezia-parma.html#post73138[/url]

We use our cell phones for making international calls as we don't have access to a land line at this time. At the tabacchi you can get an "Edicard" for international calls. The price per minute varies depending on how much you spend on the card and what cell service you use. For a 20euro card and using a Wind cell it costs about .10 euro per minute to call the US. I believe it is less with using land lines.

Just look for a tabacchi that does the lottery as they need to have the computer to sell the Edicard. I have seen other services at the tabacchi and have looked at the postale one but for us the Edicard works best.

[quote=Bruno;75902]We use our cell phones for making international calls as we don't have access to a land line at this time. At the tabacchi you can get an "Edicard" for international calls. The price per minute varies depending on how much you spend on the card and what cell service you use. For a 20euro card and using a Wind cell it costs about .10 euro per minute to call the US. I believe it is less with using land lines.

Just look for a tabacchi that does the lottery as they need to have the computer to sell the Edicard. I have seen other services at the tabacchi and have looked at the postale one but for us the Edicard works best.[/quote]

I bought an "Edicard" last September and it really saved us lots of money on calls to our daughters in the UK and USA, both on a land line and on our mobile. I wish I had heard of them before!!!!:yes:

Cheap international calls from your landline
Terms: All calls inclusive of VAT. Billed by the second to your BT or cable landline (other providers may charge a higher rate). Calls are charged from the time you connect & no other telephone numbers will appear on your bill, only the number you have dialled. This service is regulated by ICSTIS & OFCOM and provided by Akoma international (UK) ltd

ring italy / vatican city landline 2p per minute 0844 799 0302

No hidden costs, no connection fix,
no need for phone card.
24hour fixed rate

Dial the code
.Wait for the dial tone .
.Then dial the international code
Then dial the destination number.

I can recommend Call2 - perhaps not quite as cheap as the best price listed here - but works well for us. Web based (or SMS, or telephone - but not used that way by me) - circa 3.5p per minute - handy as the system call syou back with the required number (when using someone elses phone for example - or a call box or direct dial hotel room phone) - [url=http://www.call2.com]Cheap international phone calls from Call2[/url] - if you sign up add my code JMW405 - I get a credit of some kind :-)

You can for about two Euros a month sign up for Telecom Italia's international discount rate on your land line. It's about six Euro cents a minute for all of Europe as well as the US and Canada.

from uk bt/cable landline try [url=http://call-mercury.angelfire.com]international calls from uk[/url]
cheap rates ring italy landline 1.5p per minute 0844 303 0302
to italy mobile 20p per minute 0911 225 0307

I've recently signed up with infostrada. You pay only 20 cents per call to the uk! The charge for the international option to your contract is five euros a month!

Fastweb do a similar monthly package. V. good broadband/phone set-up, with international add-on. Avoid the dire tele2 if you want net connection.

Easiest way is to buy International calling cards from Tabacchi. They cost €5 and I think you can talk for for at least an hour on them. I haven't tried mine yet though.

Alternatively a lot of broadband companies are throwing is calls as part of their packages. Tiscali in the UK seem to have good deals on just calls packages too. Try Tiscali Italia.

I would Google Tiscali before signing up with them….
Not that I’ve personally tried them , but I do know a few who have here in the UK and regretted it… Probably a hell of a lot worse company over all is mine (Sky), but hey it’s free (well I love the footie and have the TV). You need a BT line, but using BT’s 12 mth free after 18:00 and weekends package, my calls are almost nil… Of course having the Broadband (BB), Skype does come in handy (especially for Australia) and the quality is excellent if you
a) have a decent microphone/web cam

b) ensure you have your sound set correctly i.e. not too high.

Mind it may well depend on your BB connection. On the subject of BB , if you are thinking using any so called 8MB service, check the small print, I can guarantee , unless you live next door to the exchange, and even then you still won’t get 3mb never mind 8!!!

PS To be honest (and I hate them) Sky BB (a year on now) has been top notch (touch wood), I’m just waiting for them to take it away….. or charge squillions for it… Ha!

[quote=ExTownie;23231]My partner's mother is about to move from France to Italy. I found her a reasonable call provider in France that cost 2 - 4 €cents per minute for international calls. From the UK I use 18185 which is even cheaper at 0.5p per minute.
I have been searching for the Italian equivalent of these kind of services, and I'm a bit lost. Not speaking Italian doesn't help my internet search. I wonder if anyone can recommend the cheapest way to make international calls from Italy (mostly to France, USA, Germany and UK).
ExTownie[/quote]

I have scanned the 5 pages and no one seems to have mentioned the company we use and have not found a cheaper or more reliable service to date. (They even repaid us a billing error quickly!!) Used to be called 3U now Elephant Talk (reg in Switzerland) email [email]info.10085@elephanttalk.com[/email] [url]www.elephanttalk.com/10085[/url] where English is used. We had to take a form to the Bank to complete. We pay by RID (direct debit). We phone other countries at any time of the day and VERY IT'S CHEAP. Infostrada etc have not stood up as well when something goes wrong either. As an aside, we have found Tele 2 preferable to Telecom Italia pricewise for calls in Italy.

If you cannot understand written Italian go the international website. [url=http://www.elephanttalk.com/]Elephanttalk[/url] for details.

we use telicom italia for which we pay 10 e a month and we get 24 su 24 call to all of erope and north america its called teleconomy internazionale its not easy to get you have to be persistant

Thanks oil di lino, but if there is a charge of 10 euros a month, not such good value for those who are not in Italy all the time perhaps?

iminuti isn't bad either. You have to create a sort of account with them - put say 20Euros in the kitty - and then use as you like. Really cheap. Google iminuti.

Well I took oil di lino's advice, plus others on the Forum and as we are here all the time, signed up with the Telecom Italia 10 euros offer. Even friends with holiday houses have dialled 187 and joined, because they have husbands who are workaholics and at 120 euros a year, it's still a lot cheaper than their past phone bills!

Well if Telecom Italia turn up on the 13th, which will be the third appointment, I will go for this option and the Mega 7 internet package. :cool:

[quote=Noble;94255]Well I took oil di lino's advice, plus others on the Forum and as we are here all the time, signed up with the Telecom Italia 10 euros offer. Even friends with holiday houses have dialled 187 and joined, because they have husbands who are workaholics and at 120 euros a year, it's still a lot cheaper than their past phone bills![/quote]

I also signed up for this, and had the first bill in........and it worked......no one more surprised then me :nah::wideeyed::nah::wideeyed: