How much does Rebtel cost?

Well, while Rebtel can be free if you make what we call a smart call (where you ask your friend to hang up and call you back while you stay on the line) we usually say that the cost of Rebtel is the cost of a local call.

So, how does Rebtel's costs compare? Well, Björn did a comparison towards Skype a week back.

However, this blogger has gone further and compared the costs of Skype, Gozmo, Jajah, Rebtel and Truphone and found that Rebtel, while not always being the cheapest still is one of the most competitively priced services. With the added benefit of smart calls and the possibility to get calls completely free to the ones you call the most - I think that you'd quickly see that Rebtel will lower your phone bill the most.

Rebtel on Facebook!!!

Rebtel has created an application on Facebook called Reb Me. It gives the user the possibility to get local numbers to its Facebook friends. The developers have been working hard to set it up and the virility is high.

The newest feature is that for each person you invite that tries the service, you get an extra 5 minutes free international calling. So, with a large network, you can actually get free international calling! I believe that this is what makes this application something for more innovative than what we've seen so far on Facebook.

To make an application viral, having more friends using it, needs to add value to the person spreading it. So far, that value has been quiet intangible. With Reb Me, you actually get free calling for it!

A wish for roaming!

I have a wish right now - and that is to be able to roam!

I travel quite a bit, and I always bring my phone with me - obviously I want to be communicating as much as I normally do when travelling abroad. So what does it actually cost me?

I've got Three in Sweden and it can cost up to 10-20 SEK (about 2-3 euros) per minute to call when I'm abroad. Naturally something that doesn't make sense.

So, either I get a local pre-paid sim card when I go abroad, and use Rebtel to make all calls local calls or I get one of the few options with SIM cards that are global - like Roam4Free or LetsRoam but their benefit is mostly that it becomes free to recieve calls. Still it can cost as much as 4 SEK to make a call (0.5 EUR) even though I'd use Rebtel to get the best rate and buying SIM cards all over the place is an hassle.

Anyone got any more ideas?

GloCALLization

What is GloCALLization, apart from a word-joke?

Globalization, we all know of. The question is, how will it affect you? In what means can you see that globalization is knocking on your door? Is it when the TV start showing programs and films from other cultures, is it from your trip to South America, is it from the accessability on Internet?

Although the web and media has increased its coverage over borders and cultures, these are still only secondary sources to you. For globalization to step into our lives, we need to be in direct contact with other cultures. Going there is inevitable, but then what? How do you keep the world close?

My perception is that you need to retain the friends you have, no matter where, to keep the world close to you. It needs to be as easy and as cheap as calling your friend on the other side of the street as to call someone in Mexico, Canada or Turkey.

Who knows, maybe, in the future, we'll have those beamers they use in Star Trek (you know, "beam me up Scotty") to be able to go for a coffee on the other side of the globe...

What is Rebtel?

We're two guys from AIESEC who got recruited to work the summer at Rebtel. We're young Swedish students who feel like we got just about the coolest summer-job there is. Rebtel is an entrepreneurial company and they wanted two young aspiring entrepreneurs to take their ideas and go out to make Rebtel more well-known, and here we are.

Anyway, Rebtel's a company that deals with international calling using your mobile. They transfer the calls through VOIP by giving you local numbers to each of your international ones. Sounds tricky? See for yourself!

We'll be posting ongoing on what's happening here and what Rebtel's doing...