Call rates came down and were around 15c/min on phone cards about two years ago and more recently were around the 9c/min call rate.



Now a lot of new cards have come on to the market with rates below 5c/min, some as low as 3c/min, with no connection fees. This means that for a $10 card you are getting 200 to 250 minutes – an amazing amount of time – almost like making a local call.

Some cities in India have an even lower rate because of their high volumes of calls. These include Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bombay, Calcutta, Chennai, Gujrat, Hyderabad, Jallandur, Madras, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

The call rates to mobiles have also fallen to the same rates – as low as 5c/min.

One of the key drivers of price in the market place is the volume of calls. The volume of calls to and from India is increasing dramatically because of the call centre outsourcing companies operating from India. A lot of the marketing calls you receive in the evening will originate from overseas. This is only possible because of these very low rates.

The other driver is technology. The huge growth in the VOIP (Voice Over IP) network has led to significant savings for callers to India.

The newer technologies based on making phone calls over the internet are not really any good for India yet because not many people have broadband high speed internet connections in India especially in remoter areas.

Which phone card to choose has now become a very complex decision. There are so many different factors that affect the actual number of minutes you really get.

If you go down to your local Indian grocery shop or Asian convenience store you will see windows and walls completely wallpapered in phone card posters. The rates look to good to be true!

Have you ever tried to look at these posters, read the fine print and then work out which is the best phone card for your call? You have to be a giraffe with a magnifying glass!

If you ask the attendant which is best phone card they give you the phone card which gives them the highest commission not the phone card which has the best call rates for you – it's like fighting a losing battle.

To really be able to determine which phone card to use you need to be able to compare all the phone cards on the same basis. This includes using peak call rates and not off-peak calls rates and providing standardised information on each card in a “more info” section. This enables you to compare the phone cards on the same basis – apples with apples. A really good free resource that does exactly this in Australia is www.ephonecards.com.au