Shop around to find the best rates for calls to Pakistan.
If you are traveling abroad or live away from your home country, it is important to keep in touch with your friends and family. Phone calls are one of the best ways to do this as, unlike emails, you can have a real time two-way conversation. In the United Kingdom (U.K.) there are a variety of service providers offering international calls to Pakistan. However, as of 2010, prices vary greatly, from four pence to over one pound per minute, so it is worth shopping around.
Vonage
Vonage offer a variety of plans depending on what, and how many, countries you call on a regular basis. The "V-Plan 2" is designed for users who often call the same one or two international countries from the U.K. This package costs 8.99 pounds per month, which allows you to call both landlines and mobile phones in Pakistan for just five and one half pence per minute, as of 2010. To take part in this plan, you need a broadband Internet connection and a touch tone phone.
Planet Talk
Planet Talk offers a variety of ways to make cheap calls to Pakistan. With "Planet Talk Instant," callers key in the access number listed on the Planet Talk website, then dial the required number in Pakistan. No phone card or online registration is needed to make the call. Costs in 2010 are four pence per minute from U.K. landlines (more from mobile phones) and the amount is added to your monthly phone bill.
Another option, the Planet Talk Card, allows you to call Pakistan for five pence per minute. To activate the service, you need to send a Short Message Service (SMS) requesting an international phone card to the appropriate number, your phone is then automatically topped up with five pounds international calling credit and you receive a 0207 access number to make the call. However, for this service, there is a 25 pence per minute surcharge on British Telecom phones and a connection charge is added to all calls.
Skype
Skype is an Internet-based calling service that allows you to make cheap international calls from the U.K. to anywhere in the world. You may sign up for a free Skype account online using your email address and a password. There are two ways to make calls using Skype. If both parties are logged into their online Skype account, they can talk to each other for free using a head set and microphone. Alternatively, the caller may log into a Skype account in the U.K. and call a landline or mobile phone in Pakistan for 8.1 pence per minute, as of 2010. If your billing address is registered in the U.K. then Value Added Tax is added to your call. There is also a fee for connecting your call, which varies by country and service provider.
