# Cost effective way to phone Australia?



## tester1 (14 Apr 2009)

Hi 

My sister is going to live in Australia for one year. 
Looking for advice on the most cost effective way to phone Australia. Payphone, bill phone, landline or call cards? Thanks in advance. ​


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## AlbacoreA (14 Apr 2009)

Skype to skype?


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## coleen (14 Apr 2009)

I use [broken link removed] and this allows you to use your house phone and phone them on their mobile. It costs 12 cent per minute. This suits me as I dont always have access to a computer. I am not sure how much a skype call costs


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## nilbud (14 Apr 2009)

Via [broken link removed]

Dial Thru 0818 221 221

5.12 per minute


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## daveco23 (15 Apr 2009)

Skypeout -(call from skype to an australian landline) costs 1.7 c per minute. Skype to skype is free.
We bought a dual skype/landline phone an can switch between our landline and skype - no need to plug a headset into the computer.


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## envelope (15 Apr 2009)

I use dialwise. For australia its the same as a local call. the number you need to call first is 1890 99 02 02 
you can ring australian mobiles also but i think this is the same cost as ringing a different area in Ireland. the details should be on their website dialwise.ie


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## newyork (15 Apr 2009)

Definately call cards the way to go.


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## SLS (15 Apr 2009)

If you don't have an Eircom phone line you cant use many of the cheap call providers (Ive tried quite a few), although a quick check at the first suggestion on the list seems to have a way around i. I will be checking it out

I use Skype as a general rule (although sometimes phone quality isnt great), I have also had a recommendation from Blueface which apparently has an upfront cost initially


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## David_Dublin (15 Apr 2009)

Dialwise.ie is the best that I know of. No subscription or buying minutes etc. To landlines worldwide is dirt cheap, you dial 1890 99 0505, then you get a ringtone, then you dial your number. It is the cost of the 1890 you are paying, ie:
Mo-Fr 6pm/8am: 1.26 cent per min
Mo-Fr 8am/6pm: 4.92 cent per min

That is for nothing. It is billed on your monthly bill.

They also have rates for mobiles, still pretty cheap, eg Australia:
Mo-Fr 6pm/8am: 4.92 cent per min
Mo-Fr 8am/6pm: 8.17 cent per min

I dont like Skype, you often get very poor quality even when both ends are on a good connection.


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## Brook (18 May 2009)

Skype have a new service ''Skype to Go'' - It can be used from a landline or mobile..
I haven't tried it yet but it looks very good


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## Tondel (22 May 2009)

Skype is the best.


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## Noilheart (15 Jun 2009)

Making calls from Skype is free if call is to other Skype users, and if not to other users the costs are really low.
 I use it every week with webcam to spend an hour with my relatives in Australia and its all free, except of course the cost of Eircom  their spit-on-it 7mb broadband.


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## chlipps (2 Jul 2009)

friend rang me recently from chile on skype and i am on eircom,.. his call was costing him 2.5 cent per min


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## Slash (13 Jul 2009)

We use 13636 from TalkTalk to call family in Australia, not sure what the rate per minute is, but a 60 minute phone call at any time of day costs about 7 Euro.


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