Mobile calls overseas slashed

The cost of international mobile phone calls is being slashed today by a new "no frills" service.

It will charge rates as low as 5p a minute to America, 6p to Hong Kong and 7p to France, a fraction of the current costs of making calls overseas on a mobile.

The new service, Mobile World, claims to be able to rival the prices offered by so-called "calling card" companies, but without their hidden charges. It can be accessed by buying a ?9.99 SIM card for your existing handset. There is no monthly contract and customers top up their mobiles as needed.

The service, provided by highstreet retailer Carphone Warehouse, keeps its costs down by routing international mobile calls through a landline network.

The only additional charge is a

2.5p-a-minute levy between 7pm and 9pm on weekdays. Domestic calls are charged at a flat rate of 7p for texts and 15p a minute to any UK mobile or landline.

The service is aimed at people who have to make regular overseas calls such as foreign workers and students based in Britain.

About 3.7 million adults in Britain use calling cards to make international calls, making the market worth ?500million a year.

The most popular calling destinations are India, Pakistan, Ghana, Nigeria and China. The 12p-a-minute rate for India compares with 80p to ?1.49p for the existing mobile networks and

17.1p for an IDT calling card.

Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, said: "There are a huger number of people in the UK who need to make regular international calls to friends and family abroad or to international work colleagues.

"Until now they have had to pay extortionate rates on their mobile or face the mass confusion of the calling-card market, riddled with hidden charges. Mobile World is filling the gap in the market for these customers."

Mr Dunstone said foreign workers in the UK are fed up with "cumbersome" calling cards, and Mobile World will also help other UK handset owners who make a large number of overseas calls.

He said: "International calls are one of the last parts of the market never to have had much competitive illumination. The rates are expensive and you have to really hunt the network operators' websites even to find them."

Last year an Ofcom investigation found many calling-card companies made misleading claims about "low" rates because they did not include extra charges and restrictions.