Calling Cards for India

Calling cards have been the best option for calling to india since long ( Calling Cards are another name for pre-paid cards ). There are two main options here - the ones that are available in your local india shopping stores (let's call them retail cards), and the ones you have to buy online.

Before we go ahead, let's clearly understand the basic terminology used for describing these cards.

• Calling Rate : That's the amount of money you will be charged for every minute.

• Pulse : That's the minimum unit of money charging, expressed in seconds or minutes.

  • For example, for a calling card with pulse of 6 minutes: if you talk for say 7 minutes, you will be charged actually for 12 minutes . Or in other words everything more than 6 min but less than or equal to 12 mins will be charged for 12 mins, and so on..

  • So it's advisable to buy a card with a pulse rate of say 1 minute.

• Connection Fee : Whenever you make a call, you are charged 'connection fee' in addition to your money charged for your calling time. There are many cards available with zero connection fee though.

• Maintenance Fee : Some cards charge a weekly or monthly maintenance fee, once you start using a card. It's not very common though.

I don't have much experience with retail calling cards to india. I have bought few long time back, but was never satisfied with them. First the calling rates and terms were never clearly written on these cards. Secondly there was always a huge connection fee, a high pulse rate. In other words, I won't recommend these to anyone.

Online calling cards are the best option now-a-days. You can easily select among different cards and compare their details clearly. Once you buy these using your credit card or paypal, your PIN is emailed to you instantly.

My current favorite now-a-days are Reliance India Call, and NobleCom. One should always read the details about calling rate/pulse/connection fee etc before making a purchase..