Mon 21 Nov 2011
Widgetpad
AT&T launches a new way for Mobile Users to Save Money on Long Distance Calls
Of course AT&T is not the first company to release an application like this, currently Skype is the reigning king for long distance calls....or at least it was. AT&T manages to topple Skype’s 9.2 cents to India with a flat 9 cents...significant?
Maybe not, but it wipes the floor with Skype with its 33.6 cent rate when making calls to another mobile device in the U.S, certainly significant if you routinely make calls to a mobile phone within the U.S. If in the U.S, users launch the app, dial the number and hit for rates as little as 4 cents a minute to wireless or wireline phones as far as China.
The global village has just started to feel a little bit more like a village. When abroad users simply connect to a Wi-Fi network, dial the number and can connect to another country for as little as a quarter a minute and if you’re connected to a mobile phone its only four cents.
The Call International app in addition also allows users to call numbers that are stored in their address book and connect with their own phone number when abroad.
The rates of the Call International App are noticeably reduced when compared to AT&T's normal long distance rates, with many countries costing only a few cents per minute. Having said this, this is an App designed for upper tier Mobile devices that have a reliable Wi-Fi connection, in order to make the call, the reliability of the “Call International App” is as much determined by your Mobile Devices Wi-Fi capabilities as it is by the app itself.
This is not always consistent when you are travelling for instance to remote areas. Having said this it is an invaluable Utility and must have for anyone who is a frequent traveller abroad.
How will this affect the current market, or more specifically AT&T’s current international revenue? I speculate it won’t have much of an impact on the current market and certainly not on AT&T because the App is not functional enough for people who frequently travel ie. business people. It is most likely to appeal to those who frequently vocation.
For those on Vocation who’d like to maybe check up on things back home by making a call for a hotel or internet cafe, this could prove an invaluable resource. The Call International app is free and available for Android, IPhone, and BlackBerry now.
Maybe not, but it wipes the floor with Skype with its 33.6 cent rate when making calls to another mobile device in the U.S, certainly significant if you routinely make calls to a mobile phone within the U.S. If in the U.S, users launch the app, dial the number and hit for rates as little as 4 cents a minute to wireless or wireline phones as far as China.
The global village has just started to feel a little bit more like a village. When abroad users simply connect to a Wi-Fi network, dial the number and can connect to another country for as little as a quarter a minute and if you’re connected to a mobile phone its only four cents.
The Call International app in addition also allows users to call numbers that are stored in their address book and connect with their own phone number when abroad.
The rates of the Call International App are noticeably reduced when compared to AT&T's normal long distance rates, with many countries costing only a few cents per minute. Having said this, this is an App designed for upper tier Mobile devices that have a reliable Wi-Fi connection, in order to make the call, the reliability of the “Call International App” is as much determined by your Mobile Devices Wi-Fi capabilities as it is by the app itself.
This is not always consistent when you are travelling for instance to remote areas. Having said this it is an invaluable Utility and must have for anyone who is a frequent traveller abroad.
How will this affect the current market, or more specifically AT&T’s current international revenue? I speculate it won’t have much of an impact on the current market and certainly not on AT&T because the App is not functional enough for people who frequently travel ie. business people. It is most likely to appeal to those who frequently vocation.
For those on Vocation who’d like to maybe check up on things back home by making a call for a hotel or internet cafe, this could prove an invaluable resource. The Call International app is free and available for Android, IPhone, and BlackBerry now.
