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It's worth noting that the billing methods for US and the rest of Europe are very different when it comes to voice. For instance, it costs between 4c/min to 26

by anemitz 12y ago

It's worth noting that the billing methods for US and the rest of Europe are very different when it comes to voice. For instance, it costs between 4c/min to 26c/min to call a UK mobile phone. In the US it's < 1c/min. Outside the US, the caller of a mobile phone is generally the party footing the bill for the entire call. The more interesting question I have is why would it cost 26c/min to call a mobile phone? And since each carrier prefix may have a different cost, how do consumers keep all these prefixes / carrier rates straight in their heads? Edit: I'm looking at flowroute, plivo, and twilio.

martinald 12y ago
Not correct and I don't know where you get those prices from. OFCOM has regulated termination charges (http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/mtr/statement http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/mtr/statement) in the UK. Right now they are at 0.8p/min but it is likely they are going to rule to drop them to below 0.5p/min. Edit: these are wholesale prices, so there will be some overheads for whoever provides it to end users, but the crazy termination fees in the UK are long gone.
- anemitz 12y ago
  Where does the overhead come when you look at rates from carriers like http://flowroute.com/rates/ http://flowroute.com/rates/ or https://www.plivo.com/pricing/GB/ https://www.plivo.com/pricing/GB/ or http://www.twilio.com/voice/pricing/gb http://www.twilio.com/voice/pricing/gb It might be that wholesale rates are capped but it clearly isn't pushing prices down for consumers who want to call into mobile numbers.
  - martinald 12y ago
    2.65c/min on Plivo? The other prefixes are more 'premium rate' numbers, not mobile numbers. That's about 1.5p/min. Considering Plivo charges 1.2c/min for US numbers as a benchmark, the difference between US and UK numbers is 1.45c/min or... 0.88p/min, exactly the wholesale cost pretty much. So I think it is working.
joosters 12y ago
The maximum that a UK mobile company can charge for an international call in the EU is 18p/minute, around 29c. Same-country calls are naturally cheaper. Another thing to consider is that off-plan call rates are certainly high, but since you could get a better plan for less than the cost of an off-plan call, you won't be making many of them. Generally all carriers are covered by any plan minutes so you don't have to worry about differing charges. Ironically though, in the UK, calls to freephone numbers are mostly not included in plans so they do cost money...

by anemitz 12y ago

martinald 12y ago

Not correct and I don't know where you get those prices from. OFCOM has regulated termination charges (http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/mtr/statement http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/mtr/statement) in the UK. Right now they are at 0.8p/min but it is likely they are going to rule to drop them to below 0.5p/min. Edit: these are wholesale prices, so there will be some overheads for whoever provides it to end users, but the crazy termination fees in the UK are long gone.

anemitz 12y ago
Where does the overhead come when you look at rates from carriers like http://flowroute.com/rates/ http://flowroute.com/rates/ or https://www.plivo.com/pricing/GB/ https://www.plivo.com/pricing/GB/ or http://www.twilio.com/voice/pricing/gb http://www.twilio.com/voice/pricing/gb It might be that wholesale rates are capped but it clearly isn't pushing prices down for consumers who want to call into mobile numbers.
- martinald 12y ago
  2.65c/min on Plivo? The other prefixes are more 'premium rate' numbers, not mobile numbers. That's about 1.5p/min. Considering Plivo charges 1.2c/min for US numbers as a benchmark, the difference between US and UK numbers is 1.45c/min or... 0.88p/min, exactly the wholesale cost pretty much. So I think it is working.

joosters 12y ago

The maximum that a UK mobile company can charge for an international call in the EU is 18p/minute, around 29c. Same-country calls are naturally cheaper. Another thing to consider is that off-plan call rates are certainly high, but since you could get a better plan for less than the cost of an off-plan call, you won't be making many of them. Generally all carriers are covered by any plan minutes so you don't have to worry about differing charges. Ironically though, in the UK, calls to freephone numbers are mostly not included in plans so they do cost money...