Telephone calls to the FSU (again)

[philb]

Since the topic of calling the FSU comes up periodically, I thought I would post on my recent experiences.  Prior to my wifes arrival in July, I had been using various calling cards to call her with mixed results.  After she got here I decided to give one of the broadband telephone companies a try. 

I read numerous reviews and decided on Packet8. I have been quite pleased.  In fact, after two months I decided to cancel my Qwest service and port my number over to Packet8.

We call my wife's family in Kiev.  The sound quality is quit good and we have not experienced any dropped calls, or inability to connect.  The rates are decent (19.95 a  month, 12 cents a minute to Kiev and 2 or 3cents a minute to Western Europe, Moscow, etc.) .  Packet8 does offer an international plan with unlimited calling to 50? countries.  Unfortunately Ukraine is not on the list (Moscow and St Petersburg are).

There are drawbacks of course.  Sound quality on my local calls is a bit lower than what I had experienced with Qwest.  Then there is the issue of not having phone service when cable is out.  Fortunately the local cable provider is pretty reliable here.

Anyway,  my experince has been positive and for Alla and I this is by far our best option.

[Bruce]

Somehow, it sounds high to me.  Why not just buy calling cards instead of paying 12 cents each minute?

[philb]

The cheapest calling card I found that was reasonably reliable cost between 12 and 13 cents a minute to Kiev.  Now I am getting a similar rate with more consistant and better quality connections, no 2 or 3 minute rounding, and no connection fees.  The $19.95 a month includes unlimited local and long distance calls in North America, call waiting, caller ID, and call forwarding.  Qwest used to charge me about $48.00 a month for this without any long distance.   

[Bruce]

PhilB, sorry to hear that calling Kiev is so expensive.  It is just so much cheaper to call big and even small cities in Russia.  The standard Russian calling card is roughly 5 cents a minute anywhere in Russia these days.  Naturally, the bigger cities are cheaper. 

[jb]

I like this FREE long distance company.

http://www.futurephone.com/faq.html