The Localphone Blog

Localphone aims to gradually reduce our rates over time as our service grows and we are able to negotiate better deals with our suppliers. Unfortunately from time to time an external force interferes with this plan and as of Sunday 1st February the Pakistan government’s tax on companies that handle calls into the country will cause a huge surge in our suppliers’ rates.

Inevitably this means we will also have to increase our rates, and from the morning of February 1st the cost of calling Pakistan landlines and mobiles will be 10.3p for UK customers, 11.4c for Euro customers, and 12.5¢ per minute for USD customers.

Please understand that Localphone will not profit from this increase, and will in fact make less money than before. We have set these new prices at the bare minimum we can afford to continue to function as a business. We are confident that as with the last time the Pakistan government dictated a price increase in 2008, we will quickly be able to lower our rates again as the market settles.

This is a situation that we deeply regret, and feel unfairly persecutes Pakistanis abroad and legitimate companies trying to provide quality calls. All companies that use legal routes into Pakistan will be affected so we expect our competitors will announce similar rate increases shortly if they have not already.

Please rest assured that we value each of our customers who call Pakistan and will work tirelessly to secure more favourable rates for you as soon as possible.

Thank you for your continuing loyalty and support.

Best wishes,
Paul Cusack, CEO.

Customer satisfaction is very important to the Localphone team, and to this end our focus has always been on balancing low cost calling with high quality routes. It has traditionally been difficult to find reliable suppliers for calls to Bangladesh, and in the past your feedback has been that call quality hasn’t been clear and consistent.

I’m pleased to report that we have negotiated a partnership with one of the four new government licensed operators who can route traffic directly into Bangladesh. We have been testing this new supplier over recent weeks and are very pleased with the results we have seen; hopefully many of you will have already experienced the improved quality and noticed that we can now pass your Caller ID. We will be rolling out the changes to all routes into Bangladesh from February 1st.

Understandably higher quality routes come with a premium and as a result while the majority of Bangladeshi destinations will actually see a reduction in price, some customers may see their rates increase. When the new supplier goes live on the morning of February 1st our new rate for calls to all landlines and mobiles in Bangladesh will be 3.7p for UK customers, 4c for Euro customers, and 4.5¢ per minute for USD customers.

We believe that this is a step in the right direction for our users who call Bangladesh, and that you will be much happier with the Localphone service as a result.

We’d love to hear your feedback on these changes so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you’d like to discuss this or any other aspect of the Localphone service.

Update: 2009-02-13 – We’ve lowered our India rate even further!

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that the world economy has taken a hit lately, and people are looking to cut costs wherever they can. The good news is that thanks to your continued support Localphone is in a stronger position to negotiate with our suppliers, and we’ve managed to obtain a reduced rate for our calls to India; savings we are passing on to you.

Effective immediately our new rate to both landlines and mobiles in India will be 1.95p, 3.3¢, and 2.5c per minute for GBP, USD and EUR customers respectively.

Our Long-Term Commitment to Value

We have seen some companies offer a promotional rate over the past month at a price we feel they cannot sustain in the future. I believe our customers will not fall for short-term gimmicks and appreciate our consistently low rates and dependable, quality routes.

This is our new rate going forward and we hope to only reduce it further as our service grows.

No Compromise on Quality

It is also important to note that this reduction is the result of renegotiating with our existing partners in India who we will continue to work with. Localphone has a direct digital connection to the telephone network in India and you can expect to experience the same high quality calls you’re used to receiving from Localphone.

As always we’d love to hear your suggestions so please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any thoughts about this reduction or any other aspect of the Localphone service.