[Ell]

Hey!!
Can anyone help me find a way to call from my mobile to another mobile in Germany cheaply??
Thanks,
Ell
xxxx

[PDLM]

Calling to mobiles in Europe is almost always more expensive than calling to landlines. For example on IDT1529 it is HK$0.28/min to call HK mobile to German landline, but $1.88/min to call HK mobile to German mobile. I don't think you're going to do much better than that.

FYI the tariff on Deutsche Telekom to call from a fixed line to a German mobile is Eur0.19 per minute, which is about HK$2.4/min. So it is actually cheaper to call a German mobile from a HK mobile than it is to call it from a German landline!

Mobile tariffs in Europe generally are very high compared to Asia (and it's "caller pays")

[cocorosie]

can use Skype to make phone to phone call now even if you dont have a computer with you...very cheap indeed.

i have tried it for Singapore. less than HKD100/ month.

[PDLM]

Er, the Skype-out price to a German mobile is HK$1.95/min. A real phone service would be cheaper (and higher quality).

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by cocorosie

can use Skype to make phone to phone call now even if you dont have a computer with you...very cheap indeed.

i have tried it for Singapore. less than HKD100/ month.

This is hardly relevant to the OP, who wants to make calls to German mobiles.

But on a real phone service high quality (not internet quality) calls to Singapore will cost you about HK$0.18/min. So HK$100 would get you about 556 mins per month to Singapore.

[cocorosie]

Originally Posted by PDLM

This is hardly relevant to the OP, who wants to make calls to German mobiles.

But on a real phone service high quality (not internet quality) calls to Singapore will cost you about HK$0.18/min. So HK$100 would get you about 556 mins per month to Singapore.

i am just giving an alternate idea...
here are more details.

for calling to just one country. it is HKD44.95/ month/ anytime, day or night

for calling worldwide. it is HKD99/ month/ anytime, day or night

about quality, i did not have any problems with it as there is nothing to do with computers or internet.
it is worth to try out for one month first and see if you have any problems with it.

Unlimited calls to landlines in a country of your choice.

[PDLM]

Well yes, but many real phone companies offer very similar packages of unlimited calling to the fixed lines in a short list of countries (the countries that are very cheap to call by the minute anyway). For example HGC offers such a bundle for HK$48/month. If you consistently make 250+ mins / month of calls to these destinations then the bundles can make sense. Otherwise you're better off buying by the minute.

All Skype calls go over the public internet - they don't own their own network. Your $99/month "worldwide" is simply not true - it's to fixed lines in a similar short list of countries (plus mobiles in US/Canada/China) to the HGC deal. And the HGC deal is half the price.

[cocorosie]

Originally Posted by PDLM

Er, the Skype-out price to a German mobile is HK$1.95/min. A real phone service would be cheaper (and higher quality).

we are talking about 2 different things i guess.
you are thinking of skype to phone call.
i am talking about phone to phone call...

[cocorosie]

Originally Posted by PDLM

Well yes, but many real phone companies offer very similar packages of unlimited calling to the fixed lines in a short list of countries (the countries that are very cheap to call by the minute anyway). For example HGC offers such a bundle for HK$48/month. If you consistently make 250+ mins / month of calls to these destinations then the bundles can make sense. Otherwise you're better off buying by the minute.

All Skype calls go over the public internet - they don't own their own network.

yes the one you are talking about is calling to a fixed line, not a mobile phone.

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by cocorosie

yes the one you are talking about is calling to a fixed line, not a mobile phone.

So are the Skype packages you are talking about!

(For both Skype and the real telco packages they are all to fixed line only in 20-30 countries, plus mobiles in the countries where "mobile party pays", which means USA/Canada/China/Singapore.)