I am pleased that the Telkom monopoly will slowly start crumbling as did the BTs, KPNs, Telstras etc of this world. Until then we still have an issue on how to gain access to affordable services.
Other than the "free" peer-to-peer service, I list a couple of services below and summarize their benefits. Some offer more value and flexibility than others. Needless to say, they offer substantial cost savings in particular to international destinations. Given all prepaid airtime charges are in USD, currency conversion have to be taken into account to calculate the effective pm call cost for that block of call time.
PEER-TO-PEER, PC-TO-LANDLINE and CALLING CARD (Calling card not accessible SA)
http://www.net2phone.com (around longer than Skype)
This service allows you to initiate web to landline calls as well as a calling card which sadly is not available from South Africa. Calling cards still being very absent from this continent for reasons we all are very aware of)
1hr CPT to Australia or UK (PC-to-PC) R10-R50 internet cafe charges - Telkom R101/90 (peak/off peak)
PEER-TO-PEER, PC-TO-LANDLINE
http://www.skype.com
Peer-to-peer service also offering Skypeout allowing calls to landlines from the desktop at most competitive rates.
1hr CPT to Australia or UK (PC-to-PC) R10-R50 internet cafe charges - Telkom R101/90 (peak/off peak)
PEER-TO-PEER, PC-TO-LANDLINE, PHONE-TO-PHONE
http://www.cellwireless.com/delorentz
A unique offering. I regularly call The UK, Australia, the USA using this service initiating calls from my mobile phone, PC or by simply sending an SMS. A gateway connects two numbers anywhere in the world like a conference call.
International mobile rates are also very competitive.
1hr CPT to Australia or UK (landline-to-landline) R52.33 - Telkom R101/90 (peak/off peak)
PEER-TO-PEER
http://www.virbiage.com/firefly
Relatively new and unknown, but an yet another alternative to MSN Messenger etc.
1hr CPT to Australia or UK (PC-to-PC) R10-R50 internet cafe charges - Telkom R101/90 (peak/off peak)
Other than the "free" peer-to-peer service, I list a couple of services below and summarize their benefits. Some offer more value and flexibility than others. Needless to say, they offer substantial cost savings in particular to international destinations. Given all prepaid airtime charges are in USD, currency conversion have to be taken into account to calculate the effective pm call cost for that block of call time.
PEER-TO-PEER, PC-TO-LANDLINE and CALLING CARD (Calling card not accessible SA)
http://www.net2phone.com (around longer than Skype)
This service allows you to initiate web to landline calls as well as a calling card which sadly is not available from South Africa. Calling cards still being very absent from this continent for reasons we all are very aware of)
1hr CPT to Australia or UK (PC-to-PC) R10-R50 internet cafe charges - Telkom R101/90 (peak/off peak)
PEER-TO-PEER, PC-TO-LANDLINE
http://www.skype.com
Peer-to-peer service also offering Skypeout allowing calls to landlines from the desktop at most competitive rates.
1hr CPT to Australia or UK (PC-to-PC) R10-R50 internet cafe charges - Telkom R101/90 (peak/off peak)
PEER-TO-PEER, PC-TO-LANDLINE, PHONE-TO-PHONE
http://www.cellwireless.com/delorentz
A unique offering. I regularly call The UK, Australia, the USA using this service initiating calls from my mobile phone, PC or by simply sending an SMS. A gateway connects two numbers anywhere in the world like a conference call.
International mobile rates are also very competitive.
1hr CPT to Australia or UK (landline-to-landline) R52.33 - Telkom R101/90 (peak/off peak)
PEER-TO-PEER
http://www.virbiage.com/firefly
Relatively new and unknown, but an yet another alternative to MSN Messenger etc.
1hr CPT to Australia or UK (PC-to-PC) R10-R50 internet cafe charges - Telkom R101/90 (peak/off peak)