The Localphone Blog

We recently launched Localphone SMS—a service for sending cheap international SMS text messages. We’ve listened to your feedback and have added a number of new features to enhance the service.

SMS Your Direct Dial Contacts

Users in the UK can now send SMS messages to our Direct Dial numbers and the message will be forwarded on to the corresponding contact. There is no extra charge for using this service—just our standard SMS rates.

We are working to add this functionality to other countries as soon as possible.

SMS History

From now on any messages you send will be recorded and available on your SMS History page.

Receive SMS Messages on Your UK Incoming Numbers

If you have a Localphone Incoming Number in the UK you can now retrieve SMS messages too. When a friend sends a message to your number it will be displayed in your SMS History.

You can also send SMS’s from your Incoming Number when sending a Web SMS.

This added functionality comes at no extra charge and we hope to expand it to our Incoming Numbers in other countries soon.

New Number Verification Methods

Customers asked for alternative methods to SMS-enable Your Numbers so we have added the options to send or receive a verification code on your mobile. You can find out more information on this new feature on our SMS Verification page.

We hope you’ll enjoy these improvements to Localphone SMS. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any comments or suggestions about this or any other part of the Localphone service.

I am very pleased to announce that you can now send cheap international SMS text messages from the Localphone website.

We hope to bring to the international SMS market the same balance of high quality and low rates that you’ve come to expect from Localphone.

You can check out our fantastic rates on our SMS page.

You can start sending SMS messages straight away by logging in to your account and visiting the SMS dashboard.

We have a lot of great features planned for the future and are already working on extensions to the service. As always, we would value your feedback so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any thoughts about Localphone SMS.

Best wishes,
Paul Cusack, CEO.

As part of our ongoing commitment to reducing the cost of international calls I’m please to announce that we’ve been able to discount our rates to Nigeria by up to a whopping 20%!

As of yesterday our new rate to Nigeria is just 6.9p GBP / 9.5¢ USD / 7.6c EUR per minute to both landlines and mobiles.

You can expect to see the same great call quality despite this reduction, as the price drop reflects the growing popularity of our calls to Nigeria. As we continue to grow we’ll keep re-negotiating our rates and passing the savings on to you, so don’t forget to recommend Localphone to your friends, family, and colleagues—you can even earn free call credit when they top up!

Thank you for your continued support and loyalty. With your help we’ll keep driving down the cost of calling Nigeria and the world.

Best wishes,
Paul Cusack, CEO.

Hot on the heels of our recent rate drop to Bangladesh I’m pleased to announce even further reductions in the cost of calling.

The response to our announcement on the 1st October was so overwhelmingly positive we’ve already been able to return to our suppliers to negotiate a further decrease, and we’re passing the savings straight on to you!

You can now call Bangladesh for just 2.25p GBP / 3.15¢ USD / 2.5c EUR per minute to all landlines and mobiles. Don’t forget that for this low rate you’re getting a direct digital connection to your friends and family, giving call quality and reliability that simply can’t be beaten.

As always, the more calls we handle the stronger our negotiating position so please continue to recommend Localphone to your friends—you even earn free call credit when they start to use the service.

Thank you again for your continued support and loyalty.

Best wishes,
Paul Cusack, CEO.

To celebrate the upcoming Diwali festivities we’re announcing our new low rates to India…

These fantastic new rates are effective immediately, and there are no expiry dates, no minimum top-ups, and no other terms or conditions required to participate. It’s also not just a temporary promotion - these are our new rates to India going forward!

This latest round of reductions reaffirms Localphone’s position as the best value for money international call provider in the market. Our direct digital connections to India’s largest carriers give us crystal clear call quality that is second to none. Our ongoing commitment to negotiating better rates and passing the savings on to you means the big brands simply can’t compete.

I’d like to thank you for your ongoing support and loyalty that has made great rates like these possible. Let’s continue to work together to drive down the cost of calling India and the world.

Best wishes,
Paul Cusack, CEO.

Update: Thanks to an overwhelmingly positive response we’ve already been able to reduce the Bangladesh rate further!

Thanks to your continuing support we’ve been able to discount our rate to Bangladesh to just 2.4p GBP / 3.3¢ USD / 2.7c EUR per minute, and our rate to Pakistan to just 5.3p GBP / 7.4¢ USD / 5.9c EUR per minute.

These new low rates apply for all calls to landlines and mobiles, and are effective immediately. We’ve partnered with the largest carriers in Bangladesh and Pakistan to provide a direct digital connection to your friends and family, offering unrivalled call quality and reliability.

Bangladesh and Pakistan have always been among our most popular destinations and as we continue to grow we’ll keep negotiating for lower rates on your behalf. The more calls we handle the stronger our position is when we work with our suppliers, so don’t forget to recommend Localphone to your friends and family — you can even earn free credit when they top up.

Thank you once again for choosing Localphone to handle your calls. With your help we’re building the world’s premier international calling service and we look forward to continuing to provide you with high quality calls at market-leading rates.

Best wishes,
Paul Cusack, CEO.

Over the weekend we slashed our rates for all calls to Thailand landlines and mobiles by up to 25%!

Now, for just 0.6p GBP / 0.8¢ USD / 0.7c EUR per minute we’ll give you a high quality, reliable connection to Thailand with no connection charges, monthly fees, or other hidden costs.

Don’t forget that you can also call Thailand for free by recommending Localphone to your friends and family. It’s really easy to get started and you could be earning free calls within minutes. Find out more on our recommend page.

Thanks to your ongoing support we can continue to negotiate better rates with our suppliers, passing the savings on to you. The longer you call, and the more friends you recommend, the stronger position we’ll be in to negotiate in the future.

I’d like to thank you once again on behalf of everybody at Localphone for your continued loyalty and support.

Best wishes,
Paul Cusack, CEO.

We’ve spent a great deal of time listening to our customers’ feedback; finding out what services you would like to use, and what features could improve the Localphone website. If you haven’t noticed already, I’m pleased to announce that we have re-launched our website adding a whole host of new services.

The best way to explore our new features is to visit Localphone.com and look around, but here are some of the changes we’re most proud of…

Localphone Incoming Numbers

We can now provide you with your very own phone numbers in a growing list of countries. You can choose to forward Incoming Numbers to your landline or mobile, to a Localphone VoIP account (see below), or just let it go to your free Localphone Voicemail.

For example, if you live in the UK but have family in Australia, you could buy an Incoming Number in Sydney and forward it to your UK mobile. When somebody dials it you’ll receive the call on your mobile, and you’ll only be charged our standard rate to the UK. To the caller it will just appear to be a normal local landline number.

Get an Incoming Number wherever your friends and family live, and no matter where you go in the world you’ll always be just a local call away from your loved ones.

Localphone Incoming Numbers

Localphone VoIP

Localphone VoIP lets you make and receive cheap international calls over the Internet. It’s free to upgrade, and once you do you’ll be able to call from your PC or laptop, VoIP phone, or many modern mobiles that are VoIP-enabled.

We’ve made VoIP easy and fast to set up and it’s perfect for users where we don’t have local access numbers, or if you don’t want to use up your mobile contract’s free minutes.

Don’t worry—if you upgrade to VoIP you can still use our fantastic Calling Card and Direct Dial options. We want to give you the power to choose the most convenient way to make and receive calls.

Localphone VoIP

The Localphone Website

There are a few features that lots of customers have asked for; easier to manage contacts, a printable contact list, and simpler access to your account history. I’m pleased to announce that all of these features, and many more, are now available on the Localphone site.

Please take some time to familiarise yourself with the new dashboard layout as we continue to improve and simplify the interface.

Your Localphone Dashboard

We’ve received some great feedback from our customers so far, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the new site and services, so please don’t hesitate to contact us with suggestions.

As always, you can keep up-to-date with our latest news and releases on The Localphone Blog and by following @localphone on Twitter.

Finally, don’t forget you can call for free by recommending Localphone to your friends and family.

I hope you’ll join the Localphone Team in celebrating the launch of our new website. We’ll continue our commitment to listen to your feedback and implement the features you feel will make your Localphone experience even better.

Pakistan and India are celebrating their Independence Days on 14th August and 15th August respectively, and to help commemorate the occasions Localphone are offering half price calls each day!

To mark 62 years of Pakistani independence you’ll be able to call any landline or mobile in Pakistan for just 2.85p / 3.95¢ / 3.25c per minute from 18:00 GMT on Thursday 13th until 18:00 GMT on Friday 14th August (midnight to midnight in Pakistan).

Likewise, India’s 62 years of independence sees our rate dropping to just 0.9p / 1.25¢ / 1.05c per minute for calls to any landline or mobile in India between 18:30 GMT on Friday 14th and 18:30 GMT on Saturday 15th August (midnight to midnight in India).

Customers don’t have to do anything to participate in this promotion - the rate will be adjusted automatically and will return to our standard low rates after the day ends (see our Call Pakistan and Call India pages for details).

Don’t forget to let your friends and relatives know about this promotion using our recommend-a-friend system, and you can call for free!

We have recently completed a thorough review of all of our call destinations and I’m happy to inform you that we have been able to cut the cost of calling hundreds of locations.

Our new rates came into effect at 12:00 GMT today (13th July) so you may already be saving even more when calling with Localphone.

Just a few of our more popular destinations that are now cheaper include:

Please check the international call rates section on the Localphone website to see all of our fantastic new rates.