The Localphone Blog

Many customers have written to us in the wake of the recent flood disaster in Pakistan asking for a temporary discount on our call rates so they can keep in contact with their loved ones.

After negotiating with our suppliers in the country they have generously agreed to reduce our costs, allowing us to immediately lower the cost of calls to Pakistan to just $0.079 USD / £0.053 GBP / €0.064 EUR per minute. I am also pleased to announce that despite only recently reducing our rates, this is not a temporary change but our new standard rate to Pakistan.

Recent United Nations estimates give the number of people suffering as a result of these floods at over 13.8 million, as well as causing billions of dollars of damage to infrastructure and crops. We hope these reduced call rates will go some way to giving comfort as the recovery process begins.

With the massive infrastructure damage there may be some call quality or connectivity issues, but please don’t hesitate to contact us and our engineers will work hard to find alternative routes for your calls.

Further information:

• 2010 Pakistan floods
• In pictures: Pakistan under water
• Red Cross Pakistan Floods Appeal

Hot on the heels of launching our service in South Africa, I’m pleased to announce that our most popular products are now available for users living in or travelling to Germany. As of today you can now use Localphone access numbers in Berlin, Dortmund, and Frankfurt.

With Direct Dial we’ll give you a different German landline number to call for each of your contacts. When you dial these local numbers you’ll be connected straight through—no need for account numbers or PINs.

With our Virtual Calling Card you can call one German number to manage your Localphone account and to dial any number in the world.

Don’t forget you can already purchase Incoming Numbers in Germany. These appear as normal landline numbers but can be forwarded to your landline or mobile anywhere in the world at our great international rates, or for free to a Localphone VoIP account.

Existing users can get German access numbers by clicking the “change” link next to “Your Location” near the top of the Localphone Direct Dial page. New users should select Germany as “Your Country” when signing up for their free test call.

Don’t forget to tell your friends and family in Germany and you can call and SMS for free!

We’re very excited to announce the availability of our most popular products for users living in or travelling to South Africa, with the addition of access numbers in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, and Pretoria.

With Direct Dial we’ll give you a different South African landline number to call for each of your contacts. When you dial these local numbers you’ll be connected straight through—no need for account numbers or PINs.

With our Virtual Calling Card you can call one South African number to manage your Localphone account and to dial any number in the world.

You can now also purchase Incoming Numbers in South Africa in any of the four cities. These appear as normal landline numbers but can be forwarded to your landline or mobile anywhere in the world at our great rates, or for free to a Localphone VoIP account.

Existing users can get South African access numbers by clicking the “change” link next to “Your Location” near the top of the Localphone Direct Dial page. New users should select South Africa as “Your Country” when signing up for their free test call.

We’re very pleased we can now offer these great products to users in South Africa, and to those travelling to South Africa for the upcoming World Cup. Don’t forget to tell your friends and family and you can call and SMS for free.