The revolution of telecommunication has enabled us to make long-distance calls at very low rates. If you want to call India at a cheap rate, then there are several options available which will not include very high mobile or landline rentals for I.S.D calls. You could use VOIP technology to call over the Internet, use a special dial-up facility, get a third party service provider to set up the calls at a lower rate or you can use the cheap and convenient option of using international caller cards, which are available everywhere and will enable you to talk for long hours to people in India, at very reasonable rates, without paying extra taxes.

International calling cards are provided by many telecom companies but you must keep in mind the following features when you choose a card:

1. Connection Fee: This fee will be applicable every time a phone call connects. The charge for the long distance call may vary depending on the kind of number that you are dialing.

2. Service Charge & Taxes: Usually, a special charge is deducted from your card balance for each phone call made, the rate of which varies from 0 to 25%. (For example: if the calling rate is 5 ¢/min and the surcharge tax is 10%, then a 20 minute phone call will approximately cost you $1.10).

3. Maintenance Fee: In the case of international calling cards, the Maintenance fees are deducted from your card’s balance till there is a balance on the card. The fees are deducted within 24 hours of your first phone call. Depending on the type of card you are using, the maintenance fee might be charged every month, after two weeks, or deducted every week.

4. Rounding: This is the basic unit the calling card company will use for calculating your phone call duration. All long-distance prepaid calling cards can be rounded to 1 second, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, or 3 minutes, depending on the type of promo offer you have chosen.

5. Pay-Phone Surcharge: On most cards, a 99¢ surcharge is deducted from the card balance if you are using it via a public pay-phone.

Also consider the following points when researching for the best calling card for India:

• Fees- It is a must to compare the price that is demanded by different companies for cheap calling card service as the charges may differ on certain special factors.

• Expiration Dates- It is very necessary that you check the expiration date of the calling cards. It is always better to opt for a package that offers you a long expiration date.

• Calling Rates- Calling rates of different service providers may vary and the calling rates may differ from one place to another. So, choose the card that will provide cheaper rates to India.

• Additional Services- Check out for some additional features offered by calling card companies like Speed dial, a Permanent PIN¸ Toll-free numbers, SMS refill services, prepaid conference calls, Web or SMS callback facilities and many more options.

• You must know that a Calling/ phone card is actually a telecommunication credit card that is used by people to pay for cellular and telephone services in a pre-paid credit mode. Thus, you can also pay for long distance calling charge in advance with prepaid phone cards services. AT&T, ACC, IDTE CLL, ECC, NTC, NW-IP are the common names of calling card companies.

These cards are easily available with local vendors or can be purchased on the Internet.

Making cheap calls to India is a necessity today. The Author of this article clearly compared the best options for cheap calls to Pakistan.