Cheapest way to call India from Singapore

[unikorn]

Hello everyone! I need to call India from Singapore and I was wondering which International Calling Card thingy I would most benefit from.
Also, if i were to use one of these cards, would the person I'm calling have to pay as well? Thanks so much for any help you can offer! (Do include price and where I can get it as well please)

[sundaymorningstaple]

Ask any of the 250,000 Indian construction workers here. They can tell you the cheapest way.

[beppi]

The time you took to type your message above, measured at any reasonable hourly rate, is worth more than what you can save with a cheap-cheap calling card compared to the obvious option: Skype.

[zzm9980]

Actually, Skype lately is no longer the cheapest. Sometimes by a lot, depending where you're calling.

As far as a calling card, they all vary depending on country, so it's hard to say which is the best

If you're OK with VoIP, Skype is 9 cents a min to India, but Google Voice is 2 cents a minute. (USD) You'll need to create an account and claim to be in the US to use Google Voice though. Skype does have the advantage that you can install an application on your iPhone or Android. With Google Voice for those rates, you need to use a VoIP plugin in your web browser. (The phone app will only work with a North America number)

There is also an option I haven't tried called "Localphone.com" which is slightly cheaper than even Google Voice, but I can't vouch for it's quality.

[ancientmariner]

S-unno may be one of the cheapest VOIP options for India compare to Skype.

http://www.s-unno.com/index.php?lang=en-us

[logo1234]

You have a couple of options.

Skype/Google Voice are both free when you call from PC to PC.
YOu can buy some minutes on skype and call local landlines and mobiles. I use it quite often and it is extremely effective.
If you have a mobile connection, you can sign up specific services which allow for discounted calls to specific countries including india.
There are multiple other sites and 'phone cards' which could be cheaper but have never used them. Also sometimes you do a trade-off in cost vs. quality.

@sundaymorningstaple - maybe its just me but I found your comment on 250,000 Indian workers in bad taste and slightly racist. Its was a fair question and deserved a better answer.

And yes, I am an Indian.....incase you are wondering.

[sundaymorningstaple]

logo1234,

You didn't need to tell me you were an Indian, the fact that you posted that kind of response told me that. Would you rather I'd said there are 150,000 PRC workers here, ask them the cheapest way to call India?

You ought to use you head before you try to bite somebody else' head off. I meant it in all sincerity because they earn the least of all the Indian diaspora here, they would naturally know of the cheapest method of staying in contact with their home country. Why do you take offense at that? Or, are you just thin-skinned?

[logo1234]

Looks like you dont see any issue with your comment.
So be it.....rather than pursue and debate ad nauseam....I will let it be.

[logo1234]

@Unikorn - this was discussed in another thread. You may find it useful:
http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic58327.html

[rahgup5]

I came here while getting redirected from Google and found a moderator posting racist comments !!
I am a proud Indian and the comment certainly offends me, because it's made against the Indian community.

If you cite asking hundreds of construction workers, I would rather ask Google whose CEO is also an Indian !

[sundaymorningstaple]

rahgup5

What would he know about a Underpaid, Abused Indian construction worker in Singapore. For that matter you don't seem to know too much either considering you are here in Singapore and probably from Bangalore IT industry and working here as a Foreign Talent and not as a construction worker. There seems to be four separate and distinct Indian communities here in Singapore. There are local Indians who have been here for generations, there are South Eastern Indians who are primarily construction workers and generally the lowest paid workers in Singapore (they are screwed by Indian agents in Indian before they ever get here). There are Northern and South Western Indians who are primarily highly educated and look down their noses at the South Eastern Indian and also generally refuse to mix with the local Indians here because they think they are better than Singapore Indians. And there are the Sikhs. The fact that there are a lot of highly educated Indians around the world and in Singapore in senior and C level positions doesn't help the Indian construction worker who is living 16 to 20 men in a 40' container without aircon and earning 600 SGD a month of which they rarely see any of it until they have work for over two years because of the horrendous agents fees charged in their home countries.

If my comments offend you, GOOD. Get off your arse and help you fellow countrymen get a fair deal here. Otherwise, go back to google or the rock you climbed out from under. I'm not a racist, but I do call a spade a spade. In fact my Indian wife (Tamil) and my Indian Son-In-Law (Malayali) are as outspoken against the abuses heaped on them by their own people back home as I am.

[rahgup5]

Firstly, learn some manners dude. Nobody has climbed out from under a rock ! In this day and age, everybody shines because of his/her knowledge and some people, like you, because of their comments and deplorable language !

I still don't understand what's so special about the Indian poor ! Poverty is a malaise which affects not just Indians but also Nepalese, some sections of the US, large parts of Africa. Poor people needn't be categorized on the basis of their nationality or religion. They need help from everyone - me and you alike ! If I have to help poor people, why only Indians then ! If a humanbeing is suffering, he should be helped simply on the humanitarian grounds and not on nationalistic or religious grounds - something which you are alluding to in your message.

Your comments are certainly in bad taste but since you probably will not understand it since you are not at the receiving end.

[ecureilx]

Firstly, learn some manners dude. Nobody has climbed out from under a rock ! In this day and age, everybody shines because of his/her knowledge and some people, like you, because of their comments and deplorable language !

I still don't understand what's so special about the Indian poor ! Poverty is a malaise which affects not just Indians but also Nepalese, some sections of the US, large parts of Africa. Poor people needn't be categorized on the basis of their nationality or religion. They need help from everyone - me and you alike ! If I have to help poor people, why only Indians then ! If a humanbeing is suffering, he should be helped simply on the humanitarian grounds and not on nationalistic or religious grounds - something which you are alluding to in your message.

Your comments are certainly in bad taste but since you probably will not understand it since you are not at the receiving end.

oh no.

Where did that come from ?

Wait, you want SMS to go out of his way to help poor in Bharat ?

Well, when the natives don't even acknowledge the mere existence of poor (as well violent criminals claiming the media is making bad ...)

good going!

[ecureilx]

Firstly, learn some manners dude. Nobody has climbed out from under a rock ! In this day and age, everybody shines because of his/her knowledge and some people, like you, because of their comments and deplorable language !

says a guy who pulls the racist card when the errors of some folks are pointed out ... that's RICH !