Lower Rates Due To 1-minute Rounding
As of 12th of November, Rebtel will start using 1-minute rounding instead of 6-second rounding after the first minute.
First let’s clarify what per minute rounding really is and how it affects you as a user. Minute rounding is the portion of the per minute rate charged for calls with a duration of less then a full minute of call time. Many calling card companies use 3-minute or even 5 minute billing to fraud their users, however the standard rounding in the telecom business is 1-minute billing. With a 1-minute rounding, a full minute is charged for any portion of a minute that is used. In other words, the call time is rounded up to the next full minute. For example, a call with duration of 2 minutes and 10 seconds would be billed for 3 minutes.
The reason why we are moving to 1-minute rounding is because we can then lower our rates even more and become comparable with the standard in the telecom business. We constantly strive to consistently push our rates to new lows for all calling destinations worldwide and this will allow us to do just that. As a direct testament, we’re kicking things off by lowering the rates to more than 60 calling destination. To see it for yourself, head over to our rates page for more information.
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RENE says:
December 4th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
I´ve been using rebtel for almost 4 months and the think that used to love most it was the 6-second rounding after the first minute. I live in El Salvador and here the telecomunication enterprises have a very hard fight for give to the people the best rates. I always use rebtel to call my girlfriend in France and i can see that the rates to that country are still the same, so 1 minute rounding isn´t helpfull for me, if I talk 1 more second I have to pay $ 0.17 for that…. what a shame :S
Joshua says:
December 25th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
I have also been a customer for some time now, and the main reasons for choosing Rebtel has always been because they are fair to the consumer and dont steal money, like many other companies out there. Now you are saying and I Quote “Many calling card companies use 3-minute or even 5 minute billing to fraud their users”. So now you (Rebtel) are saying you will only fraud us of one minute, how fair is that uh? AHA.
alexander drewniak says:
January 11th, 2010 at 10:36 am
@RENE and @Joshua Thanks for your comments. The fact of the matter is that 1-minute rounding is a predominant industry standard these days. Exception are, as you mentioned, fraudalent calling cards that take it to an extreme of 3-5 minute rounding. We strongly feel that the ends justify the means as we will countinously lower our rates to all destinations as a direct effect of this change. We highly appreciate you using our service and we’re looking forward to making up for this. The countries mentioned in the blog post which we lowered our rates to are merely a start. Thanks guys!
Robert says:
January 29th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Hi,
It would be nice to have a call log summary which shows the minutes spent for each contact just like regular phone bill. Most of the user have contacts in multiple countries and knowing the minute breakdown will help them estimate the credit and money spent.
Vince says:
February 16th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
Could you please explain the different rates for different calls to mobile phones in Nigeria? Some calls are 38cents and more while others are 9-cents. Whats the deal?
alexander drewniak says:
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:33 am
@Robert Thanks for your feedback Robert! If you log in to your account, click on ‘My Rebtel’ and then ‘My account’, you will be able to see your entire Account History view with duration, cost and more. Thanks!
alexander drewniak says:
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:42 am
@Vince The rate to mobiles in Nigeria (across the board) is 9.3 US cents. May I ask where you saw the 38 cent price? Thanks!
silas says:
February 26th, 2010 at 11:09 am
this is all good but am not trying to be greedy but i am suggesting something be done to the nigeria call rate. cos that is where most of my family live, particularly my fiancee.but i just can’t bear the calls to uk. it’s suppose to be one if not the cheapest. I just use skype pc to pc to talk to my siblings.Its worth the stress.