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Free International Mobile Calling Standard Reset By Rebtel

DEMO Spring 2010, Palm Desert, CA – March 23, 2010 – Rebtel, the Internet phone company used by more than 4 million people around the world, today demonstrated a new application for Android phones that automatically makes international calls between 51 countries free of charge – no Wi-Fi required.

Called Rebtel Free Call, the app will be in the Android Market by next week. The iPhone and BlackBerry versions are now being prepared for submission to Apple and RIM.

“International calls from telephones used to grow a steady 15% every year until recently when it dropped to 8%, mainly due to the new behavior of calling from computers. But most people would rather use their phone, not their computer, to make an international call,” said Andreas Bernström, CEO of Stockholm-based Rebtel. “As we take our Android app’s automatic free international calling to iPhone, Blackberry, and eventually regular feature phones, we think we can tear a significant chunk out of the annual 406 billion minutes called internationally, because Rebtel Free Call means you’ll never have to pay for an international minute again.”

Rebtel Free Call is free to download and free to use. Once installed:

  1. Select an international phone number from the onboard address book or type in the number.
  2. Press the Call button.
  3. Rebtel uses the standard cellular network to connect the call over the Internet.

There is no charge for the call if the initiator and receiver have Rebtel Free Call installed on their phones. Rebtel’s standard ultra-low rates will apply if the person abroad receiving the call doesn’t have Rebtel Free Call installed on their phone. However, a manual method for making the call free of charge is available at http://www.rebtel.com/en/Learn/Make-Free-Calls/.

By: admin, March 23rd, 2010 Tags: , , , ,

Overseas Filipinos Cheated by Calling Cards Switch to Internet Calling

STOCKHOLM – March 18, 2010 – The average overseas Filipino has been cheated out of hundreds of dollars by calling cards that don’t deliver the minutes promised, according to new research by Rebtel, the Internet phone company used by more than 4 million people every day for their international calls.

Overseas Filipinos said they were cheated out of $500 on average by fraudulent calling cards, and many said they had been ripped off for up to $3,500 or more, according to Rebtel’s survey of more than 1,000 customers who regularly use Rebtel to call the Philippines.

As of December 2008 there were more than 7.5 million Filipinos working abroad, the most recent figures available from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. Wikipedia puts the numbers between 8.7 million to 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide, equivalent to about 11 percent of the total population of the Philippines.

Sick and tired of calling card fraud, overseas Filipinos said they switched to Internet-based calling services like Rebtel, that starting today lets them call home for just 0.109 USD/min to landlines, 0.129 USD/min to mobiles.

Of the Rebtel customers who previously used calling cards to stay in touch with calling family and friends at home, 61 percent said calling cards were not trustworthy and 72 percent said they regularly received fewer minutes than promised.

In contrast, 76 percent of survey respondents said Rebtel consistently offered lower rates than calling cards or other international calling services. And, because there are no special PIN numbers to remember or long international phone numbers to enter when using Rebtel, 83 percent of respondents said Rebtel was easier to use. Finally, 71 percent said call quality is better or much better with Rebtel than any of the cards or services the survey participants had used previously.

“No one makes calling the Philippines from 50 countries around the world easier, cheaper, or with better sound quality than Rebtel,” said Andreas Bernstrom, CEO of Stockholm-based Rebtel. “Call your family and friends at home and use any phone you like – mobile or landline. These are the world’s lowest calling rates to the Philippines, bar none.”

By: admin, March 18th, 2010 Tags: , , , , , , ,