Customer Experiences    Keeping it in the family

Li Chu, a 33-year-old living in San Francisco, was being charged $1.49 per minute by Verizon to stay in touch with his friends and family in Hong Kong. When he got sick of paying hundreds of dollars each month in mobile phone bills, Li Chu decided to try Rebtel. Now, for just 2¢ per minute, Li Chu can call Hong Kong and talk as long as he likes – any time, day or night.

“Last month I spent just $5 on international calling, where before I would spend at least $350,” said Li Chu.  “Rebtel is so cheap and easy to use that I am much more likely to just pick up the phone and call my dad in Beijing or brother in Hong Kong.”

Today, more than 1 million people around the world use Rebtel to call abroad for a fraction of what the big mobile operators charge.

“Mobile operators’ international rates are a crime – and calling cards aren’t much better,” said Hjalmar Winbladh, who started Stockholm-based Rebtel in early 2006. “In an Internet world there is no reason a call to the other side of the world should cost anymore than calling next door.”

The Rebtel revolution started with a staggeringly simple concept: make all calls local.  Give someone living in San Francisco a local San Francisco phone number to reach their dad in Beijing.  And give the dad in Beijing a local Beijing phone number for their son in San Francisco.  Then, all you have to do is connect those two local phone calls over the Internet and the cost is next to nothing.

Li Xiao is a believer too. She grew up in San Francisco, and loves it there, but with her boyfriend in China she was suffering from the international calling depression. Li Xiao thought she had to either pay outrageous fees on her mobile phone, or wait until she got home to use her computer. She heard about Rebtel from a friend and tried it right away, weary that it sounded too good to be true. Lucky for Li Xiao, and her boyfriend, it actually was that good. She now spends less than $5 each month and can stay in touch with the boyfriend wherever she is.