Does anyone know of any reasonably priced options for calling to and from Afghanistan, where my wife is deployed? Verizon Wireless is quoting $2.29/minute.

(I'm aware of Skype, which is a free option, but it is only an option when my wife has access to a computer which is hit-or-miss).

Thanks!

i used a company called Telestial to call iraq-its 39 cents a minute -not sure what their rates are for calling afghanistan-but google them and check the site out-its a calling card service-you dial i local number-thats whats charged to you phone or cell-then enter a pin code and dial the international number-the connections were good as those goes-local cell phones in iraq were flakely-but it was a decent option price wise.

Thank you very much for responding. It seems worth checking out.

Spawareurope.net is what many of the phone banks are using over there as well. AT&T just isn't cutting it like it used to. $50 will give you just over 20 hours of talk-time.
They also have Free Call Days as well.

Spawar is sponsored by Operation Uplink.

I've been using the company below for three years:



I usually buy the Continental card. It has a lot of good features and they send it to you in your email; only 20 cent per minute to Afghanistan landline and only 21.1 cent to a cell.

Good Luck!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <NEMESIS1960>,

My husband just deployed and I sent him with a blackberry. Verizon claims that they cover all of Afganistan... we did a data only plan so that he can skype me and we can Blackberry IM. He left on friday and I have not heard anything since Sunday. So I am not sure if Verizon has the coverage or if he is just in transit. Either way, it sounded good to us.

Hmmm a blackberry in Afghanistan. When my son signed on to my plan he got a blackberrry and they told him that it WILL NOT work over there.. I guess the best thing is to let us know if you do get a call from them. Also, be aware of the international calling. A friend of mine got hit with a $3500 phone bill from AT&T..Ugh!

Verizon sells exactly 2 phones that are GSM capable-one is a blackberry-so if you got the right one it might work-other wise there "global ready" phones only work in countries that use a CDMA network. Afghanistan is not one of them.

I am currently deployed in Afghanistan right now. I have a Blackberry Storm through Verizon and all I have is the Data Package connected, which is $69.99 a month. It does work because I am able to us the internet and instant message from my phone, but it is a little slow. The only downfall is when you go in certain areas or buildings the phone does lose signal. Also beaware that you have to be on the TDCA Network not the Afghan networks. Also make sure that your mobile network settings are manual not automatic. As far as Skype I am not sure because when I tried to use it from my phone it said that it can only be used from the United States, so you might want to check with Verizon on that. Otherwise my phone does work over here. Oh yeah, to call the states from here is $2.29 a minute if you have minutes included in your data package if you don't then it's either $2.79 or $2.99 a minute. To 106068555 if you haven't heard from your husband he may be in transit it takes a few days to get from the states to here, so don't worry his phone will work when he gets here.

Thanks for the update. My son bought a phone over there that gives him unlimited incoming calls and text messages. Not sure why he would even do that because it costs him to call but not us to text him. Just wondering if I'll be hit with international texting if I were to text him. Ugh....