Free calls to USA and Canada for 2010

Today I received notification in my Gmail account I can make free calls to the US and Canada in 2010 . I decided to check out the Google phone service. Unfortunately I don't call anyone in the US so I couldn't test the free call. I decided to call someone in Australia.

The cost to call Australia is 2 cents (USD) per minute and Google gave me a 10 cent credit so I gave it a go. The call quality was good for me, but the person on the other end felt there was a delay. I found during the call we would talk over each other which is a good indication there is a delay. As long as you slow down you can have a good chat.

In Australia local calls are not timed and generally cost around 25 cents. However for short calls paying 2 cents (USD) for a minute (charged in minute intervals) you can even save money on local calls.

What interested me is the cost to call mobiles in Australia is 14 cents (USD). The cost to call mobiles in Australia is quite high. For example I notice on mobile plans (calls to other mobiles) cost 35 cents or more for the flagfall and 80 cents to a dollar per minute. That means I can talk for around two minutes and it wouldn't have cost me as much as the flagfall.

As long as I have a WiFi connection this might be an excellent way to save money calling mobiles. I was recently in Greece on holidays and from the main square in Athens there is free WiFi. That means it may now be possible to call mobiles in Australia from Athens for 14 cents (USD) a minute and that's a great way to stay in touch on holidays.

Those who are lucky enough to have contacts in the USA and Canada should be able to make calls from Australia for free.

Australian telephone companies (Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Three, Virgin etc) will find the future hard as the younger generation realises all it takes is a netbook and wireless access and call costs become a fraction compare to the cost of their mobile phone. Yes it isn't as convenient, but for many the savings they can make on their mobile phone could pay for their next holiday overseas. I know I'd prefer to travel than to spend the money on telephone calls.

Using one service I can already send SMS messages for 12 cents (which appear to come from my mobile) and now being able to call mobiles for 14 cents (USD) a minute may give me a cost effective way to call mobiles, subject of course to Google's service delivering the quality of service needed. It will be interesting to check out Google's phone service.

Enjoy,

Kelvin Eldridge