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Call for free with Futurephone
Have you heard about Futurephone? It sounds sketchy to me, but everything I've read so far makes it sound like it's legit. Futurephone is a service that allows you to make free international calls on a regular phone. It works by channeling you through an access number in Iowa, of all random places. You call the access number, and then dial the international number you're trying to call, and voila! Free international phone call! (Caveat: calling international mobile phones doesn't work yet.)Unfortunately, I don't know anybody in another country whom I can call. So I haven't personally tried it. I'm still not exactly clear on how it works, or why it's not illegal in some way or another. On the other hand, I'm always a proponent of free services and Sticking It To The Man™, so I figured Futurephone deserved a mention.
[Via Pogue's Posts]
Comments
12
Subscribe to commentsjoshjOct 13th 2006 7:34AM
I'm going to call the Netherlands in the morning. I'll let you know how it goes :)
Jean-Marie VUICHARDOct 13th 2006 4:13AM
You can try to phone me in France with Futurephone.
My phone number is (33) 4 90 55 23 34
FredOct 13th 2006 12:13PM
Calls to Israel are not working today.
DannyOct 13th 2006 9:00PM
it is really free?
does it work correctly?
MaxOct 13th 2006 9:00PM
I tried to call to Russia. The system does not work. It’s just a big hoax. I am not sure what exactly they are trying to do.
KseniaOct 13th 2006 9:01PM
I just tried to call Russia using this service and it seems working fine.
rajOct 13th 2006 9:01PM
See Alec Saunders post (http://saunderslog.com/2006/10/11/whats-with-the-712-area-code/)
Iowa gets USF and other tax subsidies for telecom because of their population size (3Mln). Futurephone and others use the 712 area code, and terminate calls on a long distance carrier. They make a fraction of a cent per minute, so they do profit. However, because of the area code, you probably have to make a long distance call first to get that free international call.
RobOct 20th 2006 6:31PM
The cost of the call to Iowa can be circumvented by using Skype to call Iowa. Skype has made domestic calls free until the end of this year. The last press release I saw indicated they may continue the free domestic service past Dec. 31st.
hector shedroOct 20th 2006 2:01PM
We call Argentina all the time without any problems.
and it's free !!!
martin cruzOct 23rd 2006 7:24AM
I TRIED CALLING MEXICO TODAY (10-22-2006) IT DOESN 'T WORK
JaimeOct 24th 2006 1:55PM
I used it to call Saltillo in Mexico and it worked fine. Good quality sound and did not get disconnected or anything like that. And it was free. I am glad to have found this site -telephone number.
jeromeOct 26th 2006 2:46PM
works fine on fixed line. confirmed they block mobile termination.
calling them through Skype ensures free origination
them through tax subsidy, they actually get a few cents per min of calls.
I am not sure how come they wouldn't pay the fixed termination though (fact they block mobile termination is showing they DO pay termination).i don't think their subsidy is enough to cover country B termination though. the business model is weird to say the least, but they might have found a little loophole based on the arbitrage between subsidies and fixed country B termination rates...