From Newsgroup: comp.dcom.telecom

For a number of years, I have been using CallCentric (front-ended by the SoftPhone app) to call my family in Denmark on week-ends. For some time,
I have noticed that the calls were disconnected after some time, but
would reconnect immediately with no problem. A few days ago, I was
annoyed enough to find out what was happening.

When I first started using CallCentric, calls to Denmark were 7
cents/minute for landlines and I think 26 cents/min for mobile phones,
while the regulars AT&T rate from my mobile phone was around 1
dollar/minute. This made it affordable to talk to my family for an hour
on Saturdays.

What has happened now, is that the billing rates have flipped. Calls to
mobile numbers are now 1.6 cents/minute, while landlines are billed at
38.5 cents/minute. This causes the 10-20 dollar reserve I keep in my
CallCenric report to get exhausted, and when it hits about 3 dollars,
the call drops. The account automatically rechanges and I can call
again. Until I hit the maximum number of daily recharges (which I have
set to 2).

I am shocked at this change in rates. I was sure it must be a data entry
error in thir rate table, but their customer service says that these are
indeed the rates now.

Do other VoIP providers (SIP telcos) have similar rates? What happened
to cause these changes? I would have expected that 7 cents/26 cents might
turn into 10 cents/30 cents over a decade or so (although I would have
thought it more likely that thay would turn into 4 cents/10 cents, given
the general trends in wholesale tececom costs.

Lars Poulsen
Santa Barbara, CA

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From Newsgroup: comp.dcom.telecom

On 8/31/25 7:32 PM, Lars Poulsen wrote:

Do other VoIP providers (SIP telcos) have similar rates?

In the EU, the mobile user pays /min for outgoing, but the caller pay$
for to-mobile calls.

What happened to cause these changes?

Good Question.

I know a while ago the EU dropped the hammer on outrageous intra-EU
roaming charges [ie: German user goes to France, makes a call, $$$] so
the carriers quickly found other ways to be greedy. One was multiplying charges for terminating inbound calls from outside the EU.

But I have no idea why they have flipped. I know Callcentric uses
Bandwidth on their back end, and would guess that's who hosts their EU
calls, but that's a guess.

Here's Google Voice's rates <https://voice.google.com/u/0/rates>

Denmark - Landline $0.02
Denmark - Mobile $0.02
Denmark - Premium $0.70
Denmark - Shared Cost $0.01
Denmark - Special Services $0.01
Denmark - Toll Free $0.01
Denmark - Universal Access $0.01

So maybe you want to look at Google Voice.

Or ask CallCentric why they are so uncompetitive...


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From Newsgroup: comp.dcom.telecom

On 2025-09-01, David <wb8foz@panix.com> wrote:

Here's Google Voice's rates <https://voice.google.com/u/0/rates>
Or ask CallCentric why they are so uncompetitive...

According to Lars Poulsen <lars@cleo.beagle-ears.com>:

Thank you so much for that list.
I will indeed ask CallCentric ...

On 2025-09-02, John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> wrote:

VoIP long distance prices are all over the place.
VoIPdiscount which used to be very cheap is now 29cpm US to Denmark landline, 35cpm to mobile.
Mytello, which has a phone app, is 1cpm landline, 3.6cpm mobile.
Mint Mobile, T-Mobile's captive MVNO, charges 1cpm landline, 20cpm mobile.

My guess is they're passing through prices from their long distance wholesalers, but the wholesale prices are all over the place too.

CallCentric essentially said: Those are the prices ... live with it or
leave.

I am now setting up a VoIP.ms account, preparing to move. They are about
1 cpm regardless of mobile or landline.

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From Newsgroup: comp.dcom.telecom

Lars Poulsen <lars@cleo.beagle-ears.com> wrote:

CallCentric essentially said: Those are the prices ... live with it or
leave.

I am now setting up a VoIP.ms account, preparing to move. They are about
1 cpm regardless of mobile or landline.

I've been a VoIP.ms subscriber for years but when you started this
thread, I couldn't spot interational calling rates on the Web site. I
spotted something vague about not being able to complete some calls.

I would ask specifically about the surcharged caller-pays mobile numbers
you are trying to reach.

Their customer service people are so pleasant that you are shocked that
they work in telecom.

fwiw, I pay per minute inbound and outbound; don't receive enough
inbound calls to justify the monthly inbound rate.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.dcom.telecom

On 2025-09-01, David <wb8foz@panix.com> wrote:

Here's Google Voice's rates <https://voice.google.com/u/0/rates>
Denmark - Landline $0.02
Denmark - Mobile $0.02
Denmark - Premium $0.70
Denmark - Shared Cost $0.01
Denmark - Special Services $0.01
Denmark - Toll Free $0.01
Denmark - Universal Access $0.01

So maybe you want to look at Google Voice.

Or ask CallCentric why they are so uncompetitive...

Thank you so much for that list.
I will indeed ask CallCentric ...

- Lars

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.dcom.telecom

According to Lars Poulsen <lars@cleo.beagle-ears.com>:

On 2025-09-01, David <wb8foz@panix.com> wrote:

Here's Google Voice's rates <https://voice.google.com/u/0/rates>
Or ask CallCentric why they are so uncompetitive...

Thank you so much for that list.
I will indeed ask CallCentric ...

VoIP long distance prices are all over the place.

VoIPdiscount which used to be very cheap is now 29cpm US to Denmark landline, 35cpm to mobile.

Mytello, which has a phone app, is 1cpm landline, 3.6cpm mobile.

Mint Mobile, T-Mobile's captive MVNO, charges 1cpm landline, 20cpm mobile.

My guess is they're passing through prices from their long distance wholesalers, but the wholesale prices are all over the place too.
--
Regards,
John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly

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From Newsgroup: comp.dcom.telecom

Lars Poulsen <lars@cleo.beagle-ears.com> wrote:

CallCentric essentially said: Those are the prices ... live with it or >>leave.
I am now setting up a VoIP.ms account, preparing to move. They are about
1 cpm regardless of mobile or landline.

On 2025-09-02, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

I've been a VoIP.ms subscriber for years but when you started this
thread, I couldn't spot interational calling rates on the Web site. I
spotted something vague about not being able to complete some calls.

I would ask specifically about the surcharged caller-pays mobile numbers
you are trying to reach.

Their customer service people are so pleasant that you are shocked that
they work in telecom.

fwiw, I pay per minute inbound and outbound; don't receive enough
inbound calls to justify the monthly inbound rate.

My problem is with overpriced calls to residential landline numbers.
My older brother is too befuddled to use a mobile phone, so I call him
on his landline every week. But 45minutes at 38cpm gets a bit expensive.

I wish his son could set him up so I could video call him on a tablet,
but so far it has not worked out.

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