Calls to USA mobiles from Europe with Alice

Just in case..are people aware that with the ALICE option (Talk4Free Europe and more...which includes USA fixed lines...) you can actually phone USA MOBILES for free ...!!! In the USA a distinction is NOT made between Fixed and mobile hence when you phone from Europe through ALICE with above option , you can phone a mobile in the USA for as long as you like for free !!!

Not really free. It's covered in the flatrate, true, but that in itself is pretty expensive, and unless you literally spend many hours a day on the phone to distant parts is more expensive than paying for the calls explicitly. Using call-by-call services calls to the USA (mobiles too) from a Telekom line are €0.74 cents a minute, that's 44 cents an hour. The Alice Flatrate costs an additional €14.90 a month, so you'd have to talk for more than 2013 minutes (33 hours) or over an hour a day every day to make it worthwhile, and when you go for a months vacation you just wasted €14.90. You can't get these rates on a "normal" Alice line, but with VoIP services (which you can use with Alice) then the charges are even less.

Well, some call-by call operators work on Alice too.
For example, one I use regulary gives me :
USA (Fest und Mobil) 3.9 cents/minute

I understood that ALL call-by-call numbers were blocked on Alice. Do you have a website for the one you use to call to the US? Or maybe someone else knows some other call-by-call services that work over Alice? As I come from a tiny little god forgotten part of the world it costs a fortune (1,299 euro/min) to call back home. I usually skype, but sometimes need to call to a fixed line and now with Alice I have no clue how to go around it.

Panama sent you a PM

You can use EasyTelecom to call Panama from Alice network. This is a callthrough service and will cost 9ct+tax per minute and is not blocked from Alice. An alternative callthrough service is TeleStunt.

Thanks for the info mates. I will try them out and give some feedback later.

Call-by-call does not work with Alice. That's why I wrote "You can't get these rates on a "normal" Alice line, and why I suggested a VoIP solution which is even cheaper than call-by-call. Using Pennyphone you can call Panama on a call-through service for 3.9cents/min by dialling 0180 193 33 33 from Alice.

Please avoid discussing a topic via PM, or at least if you do, keep it to yourself. There is nothing more annoying than reading answers generously donated to a public forum in the knowledge that there is also a private interchange going on too.

YL6

I haven't been able to read the two sites given above and also haven't been able to try any numbers yet. I'm at work. So in the case those are not VoIP numbers, which they may well be, could you suggest some VoIP solutions YL6? I don't know much about how to go about it. I know that you can get a VoIP phone, but I guess that's just like using a skype phone, so it really makes no sense because I can do it with my pc. Thanks for the info.

Ok, you edited while I was writing and provided a link. Will also give it a try. Thanks again.

...which is expensive as Skype calls to Panama cost 10 cents per minute with a 4.5cent connection charge

VoIP options for Panama:
Voipcheap - 1.2ct per minute.
JustVoip - "free" for first 120 days (max 300 minutes per week) when you buy a minimum credit of 11.90 EUR, after which it is charged at 1.2ct/min. Additional 5ct/call if you use the callback option.

Yes, skype calling to a fix line is expensive. I use it to call both Panama and Brazil but only to another pc which is for free and works wonders.

minga offers the best advice here. Use VoIP and forget these pathetic deals from telecoms providers. VoIP doesn't mean you have to use a special phone (you can if you want though). You can always use a call back service, which calls your normal phone then rings the other person.

As minga pointed out EasyTelecom,TeleStunt and others all work with Alice "normal" line. Not as cheap as VOIP, but work like Call-by Call with cheap rates. Advantage is you can use them straight on your "normal" telephone, without having to set up /buy a VOIP router etc or use a computer.

But you can also use VoIP services with your normal telephone and no special equipment. Services such as Voipcheap let you log into your account over their website and enter your home number and the number you are calling. You then receive a call at home - pick up the phone and wait a few seconds while you are connected to the number you want to call. As Minga pointed out Voipcheap is free to Panama during the 120 days you are in credit, thereafter 1.5 cents per minute. If you use the web interface to connect your call there is a 5cent connection charge

Used the pennyphone.de as suggested before and it worked very good. Had some problems with one of the calls, but after calling again it was very clear and no lags. Let's see how much they charge me at the end of the month 'cause I talked for a couple of hours in total. I hope it really is 3,9 cents/min.

If you were going to sign up for such a service, why didn't you go for www.voipcheap.com that has been mentioned many times here already, and would have only cost you 1c per minute to call Panama? You can also check your current balance as you go with them, and only spend what you topped up with.