Hi, I'm in Northern Ireland and have an iPhone 4 on Orange. I have a friend in Republic of Ireland and in order to txt, as we do very frequently, it is costing 22.5p per txt. This runs up about £100 per month as Orange don't do any discounted txt rate to ROI. I use Skype to call her, which is cheap at 12.5p per minute, to her mobile as she doesn't have a landline. I know that Skype to Skype is free but without a landline she only has mobile broadband that comes as part of her mobile package with vodafone ie.

3 main questions -

Will it use a lot of her mobile data allowance if we do Skype to Skype?

Does anyone know any cheaper ways to call ROI from UK? (To save any confusion to some, Northern Ireland IS part of the UK despite what some people on the mainland may think)

Is there anyway cheaper to txt to ROI from UK and, ideally, from ROI to UK?

Thanks for any info

Hi Davybhoy,

I can help answer your question regarding the data.

If your friend is using Vodafone Mobile Broadband to use Skype then it may use up more data than normal browsing would do. Streaming does use more but it will depend on how long she is on it for.

If she needs to check her usage then there is an option to manage usage at the side of the box she connects through. This will show an estimation of how much she has used already.

If there is anything else I can help with then do let me know.

Many thanks,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

Ok:

1) Skype to Skype will likely tear through her data allowance.

2) If you mean to an ROI mobile, then you may struggle to get below 12.5p a minute, at least as far as I'm aware anyway. Cheapest I found was 14p a minute, for direct dial.

3) texting - for UK to ROI this is a good starting point, 10p a text; http://www.o2international.co.uk/cal...lerBoltOn.aspx

for ROI to UK however, well; http://www.three.ie/products_service...e-roaming.html or http://www.o2international.co.uk/cal...andbolton.aspx might be worth looks... there's probably a more sensible solution though, as those could be a tad fiddly.

Hope that's a help

What phone does she have? Rather than texting (sounds like you send her about 400 texts pm) use whatsapp - an instant messaging app.

Investigate networks that focus on international callers such as lebara mobile.

Encourage her to get a landline? At your current spends, you could even get her one and still save a lot of money. You can get a skype subscription for £4 a month to call a landline in Ireland free. I imagine a landline in ROI costs around £12? So £16pm could get you unlimited calls?

I use voxofon to phone ROI from manchester works well

If she has an Iphone (and for android phones very soon...) you both might want to download an app called Viber - You can even send texts for free to other viber users (for phone calls, like skype, you are using some of your internet allowance but remember that you can also use wifi, instead of 3g, as an alternative).

OR

have you seen the pay as you go plans for the 3 network in Ireland, which will give your friend free skype for life? Some decent phones on sale for 39 euros!When buying just check in store that the phone you want does support skype (it should...)

The three application for skype uses the GSM network. no internet usage, so no worries.

http://www.three.ie/products_service...pay/index.html