Switched from Three to PennySIM (Optus) - and on paying next to nothing for phone calls.
For those in Australia that might have used to call me on my mobile because the calls were free on Three, I'm now on the Optus network.
First phone was on Telstra (Motorola Jazz), second was Vodafone (Ericsson T28), third was Orange (some cheap Samsung CDMA device that I purchased outright), then a free upgrade to Nokia 6280 on Three (my first UMTS phone!), and then I purchased my own Nokia E71 on Three, and now I've moved to Optus. This means I've finally been on every mobile network in Australia at some time in history.
With me on an old grandfathered plan on Three with cheap calls (24c for 10 minute calls to landlines nationally), it was hard to move on, particularly as I won't be able to move back to the same plan if it doesn't work out. Three have been good to me.
But yesterday I moved to a service that has recently become available from my VoIP company, Pennytel - an $8.80/month SIM card that allows me to make voice calls through their infrastructure at their VoIP rates, whilst avoiding using VoIP and only making voice calls. Like a calling card, they have an application that sits on the phone, calls the Pennytel gateway and then dials out. This means that virtually all my phone calls are now made at just 8 cents per call, regardless of the length of the call), and this includes calls to the UK, Canada, US, New Zealand and piles of other countries as well.
With phone calls costing next to nothing, and long calls costing no more, I am finding that I'm calling many people now. On the way home from work each night, I'm using the 40-plus minutes each way on the Bluetooth headset, speaking to people. I did a 90 minute call to Rick (
ricksf) from home, driving to work, and then walking into work, and it only cost me 8 cents. That's just incredible. Suddenly I'm back to having those in depth discussions with family again, and I love it. I'm reconnecting in one of those basic ways that I used to do - with telephone conversations in the car.
Now just to convince Russel that he needs to go on PennySIM, and I'll be set (free calls between our mobiles again!). But for now, I'm just happy to be making calls.
So since I can now call the US, UK, Canada, etc. from my mobile for next to nothing, who wants a call? I'll screen comments so that if you want to leave personal details, you're welcome to and they won't be public. It would be great to chat with as many of you as I can on the phone. Expect me to spend a lot more time on it.
Oh, and Randy (lostncove) and Tom (pierbear)? I still owe you guys calls. Timezones are the major problem (your 7pm is my 11am, when I'm at work - I'll have to try the weekend instead.
First phone was on Telstra (Motorola Jazz), second was Vodafone (Ericsson T28), third was Orange (some cheap Samsung CDMA device that I purchased outright), then a free upgrade to Nokia 6280 on Three (my first UMTS phone!), and then I purchased my own Nokia E71 on Three, and now I've moved to Optus. This means I've finally been on every mobile network in Australia at some time in history.
With me on an old grandfathered plan on Three with cheap calls (24c for 10 minute calls to landlines nationally), it was hard to move on, particularly as I won't be able to move back to the same plan if it doesn't work out. Three have been good to me.
But yesterday I moved to a service that has recently become available from my VoIP company, Pennytel - an $8.80/month SIM card that allows me to make voice calls through their infrastructure at their VoIP rates, whilst avoiding using VoIP and only making voice calls. Like a calling card, they have an application that sits on the phone, calls the Pennytel gateway and then dials out. This means that virtually all my phone calls are now made at just 8 cents per call, regardless of the length of the call), and this includes calls to the UK, Canada, US, New Zealand and piles of other countries as well.
With phone calls costing next to nothing, and long calls costing no more, I am finding that I'm calling many people now. On the way home from work each night, I'm using the 40-plus minutes each way on the Bluetooth headset, speaking to people. I did a 90 minute call to Rick (
ricksf) from home, driving to work, and then walking into work, and it only cost me 8 cents. That's just incredible. Suddenly I'm back to having those in depth discussions with family again, and I love it. I'm reconnecting in one of those basic ways that I used to do - with telephone conversations in the car.Now just to convince Russel that he needs to go on PennySIM, and I'll be set (free calls between our mobiles again!). But for now, I'm just happy to be making calls.
So since I can now call the US, UK, Canada, etc. from my mobile for next to nothing, who wants a call? I'll screen comments so that if you want to leave personal details, you're welcome to and they won't be public. It would be great to chat with as many of you as I can on the phone. Expect me to spend a lot more time on it.
Oh, and Randy (
lostncove) and Tom (pierbear)? I still owe you guys calls. Timezones are the major problem (your 7pm is my 11am, when I'm at work - I'll have to try the weekend instead.