MOBILE SPECIAL – AUGUST 2004

WARNING: Using your UK Mobile phone whilst abroad can seriously damage your wealth!
 

Welcome

Last month we promised to bring you a special newsletter covering the advantages and disadvantages of using your Mobile, both within and outside the UK. Here it is...

Using your UK Mobile abroad

Using your UK Mobile abroad whilst on holiday or business is clearly convenient but very costly.  Most Mobile operators require the phone to be "Roaming Enabled" before you travel, and they charge you their high International rates for both making AND receiving a call.  The result is a very large and often unexpected bill when you get back.  We rang the major Mobile operators to find out their Roaming charges to popular holiday destinations and here is what they quoted us, based on their lowest pay monthly contract prices:

• The answer to cheaper calls from Europe whether on holiday or on business is clearly to avoid using your UK Mobile abroad, open an Easy-dial Calling Account, purchase a local "SIM" card for your Mobile phone (ensure your phone is "unblocked" before you travel), and use the relevant easy-dial European access number to make your calls.  Anyone calling you would need to know your local number, and they would pay for the call - not you!.  If you then recommend that they use easy-dial for their calls, not only would they pay less, but you would also get £10 call credit for recommending a new customer to us, and this would help fund some of your call costs.
   
• The answer to cheaper calls from the USA is to use our Roaming USA/Canada service which gives you UK calls for 4p per minute from the USA.  There are surcharges from payphones of course, but overall, your call will still cost less than half the above Mobile operator rates.
   
• Finally, if you are calling from outside Europe and the USA, we can offer you incredibly cheap call rates using either our Global CallBack product.  This is suitable for travellers who have access to a fixed line or local Mobile. Alternatively, our Ring-me option on our Calling Account, is particularly suitable if you know your overseas number before you travel, or if you simply live abroad and would like cheap calls to anywhere in the world.

Using your UK Mobile within the UK

• Convenience.  The most important advantage of having a mobile phone. Easy to keep in touch with family, friends and business colleagues.  Also good for keeping kids entertained with games, ring-tones, pictures and the like.  Within the UK, many Mobile tariffs are now starting at £15 per month (£180 commitment) and include typically 100 call minutes and 50 text messages per month.  Call costs vary from about 10ppm (pence per minute) through to 40ppm, depending on who you call, when, and your tariff.  Inclusive call minutes usually exclude calls to non geographic numbers and some also exclude calls to other Mobile networks.  So is all this good value?  We do not think so.  Why can easy-dial do calls to Mobiles in China, Taiwan, USA and many other countries from under 2ppm at all times, when Vodafone or Orange charge typically 25ppm to call another Mobile in the UK during the day?  We shall leave this question open....
   
• So how do we get the most out of our UK Mobile here in the UK?  The answer is simple;  If you do not have a Mobile yet, then Orange contract Mobiles currently pass 0800 calls through without charge.  This would give you access to easy-dial and a UK call for 3.9p per minute !  However, please note that we cannot guarantee that Orange will continue to charge nil for 0800 calls.  After all, all the other networks charge their standard rates.  If you already have a Mobile, then you may have free or inclusive minutes as part of your package.  Remember that access to easy-dial using our 020 access number will qualify as part of your inclusive minutes, enabling you to use easy-dial to make amazingly cheap international calls.  For example, whilst calling directly from your Mobile to the USA will cost around 70p per minute, calling using your free minutes plus easy-dial will cost 1.5p per minute. You must however be careful not to press the send button on your phone a second time.  Click here on more detailed information on how to make calls from your Mobile.

easy Mail Now - New service Powered by BT 

Talking e-mail: receive and send e-mails from your Mobile or any landline, when you are away from home and office!

easy Mail Now is more than just e-mail - it is a universal way to keep in touch. With our unique "talking" e-mail, you can hear and send e-mail from your mobile phone - so you won’t miss any important messages. easy Mail Now is powered by BT, which means you get secure, reliable and fast email.

We are please to offer our customers easy Mail Now, at the introductory price of just £20 for the first year, i.e. 38p per week.  This includes your own additional email address to which you can divert your emails whilst on the move, 5MB of email space (1,000 emails approx), a host of features, and your access to voice read emails on your Mobile phone, from 10p per minute, using the easy Mail Now access number, 0871 204 2222.  You can also block spam, block specific senders, etc......click here for more information.

How do I get further information?

Just email us at admin@easy-dial.com or call us on 0844 804 2803 between 9.30am and 9.00 pm weekdays, or 12.00 pm till 6.00 pm weekends.

Susan Ward
Editor