Rebtel is turning on service today in Shanghai.  We’re super thrilled to welcome China to the Retel family of countries where residents can make free international calls.

Opening this market has been in the works for a long time.  It’s one of the toughest markets to get into.  So we’re very proud to be the first to give people in Shanghai local numbers they can use to ring friends anywhere in the world.

This local number service that Rebtel invented is what gives the 24 million residents of Shanghai a choice to either make super low-cost calls to any phone, anwhere in the world, or make free international calls to friends, family or work colleagues living in one of the other 39 Rebtel countries.

When we started Rebtel last year some influential bloggers were skeptical that the Rebtel service would take off.  They said that asking your friend to hang up and call back on their local number for you while you stayed on the line, was too complex.

Well guess what?  Thousands upon thousands of people do it regularly.  And, many more thousands are signing up every week to give it a try.  Clearly we’re doing something right because not only is the number of Rebtel subscribers growing steadily, our users, on average, make at least three Rebtel calls per week, and their calls are getting longer and longer, meaning our minutes, too, are on a very steady growth path week-over-week.

But I digress.  Back to China and low-cost calls.

Rebtel calls from Shanghai to the U.S. cost just $0.018 per minute; $0.019 per minute from the U.S. to Shanghai.  None of the VoIP services beat that, but even their prices are better than AT&T, which charges $3.50 per minute to call a mobile phone in the China from a mobile phone in the U.S.

Rebtel calls from Shanghai to U.K. landlines cost $0.019 per minute, and $0.018 per minute to U.K. mobile phones.  Using Rebtel to call Shanghai from London is the same as from the U.S.: $0.019 per minute.  Again — Rebtel is the low-price leader among internet calling services.  And Vodafone doesn’t come close, with $3.33 per minute to call Shanghai from the U.K.

Shanghai is just the start.  We plan to expand Rebtel service to the rest of China in the New Year.  So, stand by.  We’ll keep you posted.

In the mean time — happy calling.  All of us at Rebtel wish you the happiest of holidays.  To our cusomers: Thank you!  It’s been a terrific year.  May 2008 bring everyone happiness and good fortune.  But most of all may it bring peace and freedom on earth for all.

By: alexander drewniak