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We’ve been really getting into MVNOs lately. We love the idea — unused bandwidth going to benefit more consumers. It doesn’t hurt that the majority of them are on a prepaid basis. In the course of our research, we noticed that there are quite a few MVNOs that we don’t feature in our provider reviews for one reason or another. The blog, though, is a perfect forum to explore these MVNOs. And hey, if we see enough of a positive response, maybe we’ll go and add some to the provider reviews. This week, we’re discussing an MVNO trying to capture the international calling market: Total Call Mobile.

SInce the focus of this MVNO is international calling, you’d think it’d have significantly lower rates than at least its parent company. That is Sprint in this case, so we’ll compare rates to Boost, Sprint’s prepaid company.

Venezuela
Boost: $0.45
Total Call: $0.06

Dominican Republic
Boost: $0.20
Total Call: $0.18

Germany
Boost: $0.31
Total Call: $0.05

France
Boost: $0.31
Total Call: $0.05

Mexico:
Boost: $0.10
Total Call: $0.02

So it appears that while a normal international calling plan with a major provider can give you comparable rates in some instances, in others there are vast differences. If you call France, you bet not be doing it through Sprint/Boost.

Ah, but remember, these rates are in addition to normal airtime charges. Boost charges 20 cents per minute, but 10 cents to other Boost and Sprint customers, and 10 cents on nights and weekends. Total Call, however, is 10 cents per minute, all the time. This helps especially when there is a large time gap between countries. In those cases, it might not be possible to place the calls with Boost while your rate is 10 cents per minute. With Total Call, you’re always talking for 10 cents more than the advertised rate.

Wait, wait, wait. Yes, we just said it: Total Call has a lower domestic calling rate than Boost. Well, then, we suppose there’s something to talk about, then. Basically, the Total Call prepaid plan is exactly like Net10. Ten cents per minute, all day, every day. Also like Net10, there are five cent text messages. Furthermore, they’re both under the Sprint Network. So now we’re looking at two carriers that Total Call compares with favorably.

So why wouldn’t you go with Total Call, even if you’re not calling internationally?

The phones, for starters. Like many low-end prepaid services, they’re outdated models that don’t serve you much good beyond calling and texting. That’s fine for some people, but for anyone who values ringtones and other mobile content, Total Call doesn’t pass muster.

The next problem, and we think this is the biggest one, is the issue of accessibility. Yes, you can browse everything they have to offer online, and from the looks of their site they do a decent job updating it. However, no transactions can be performed online. You can shop and buy online with Net10 and Boost Mobile, which gives them a significant leg up.

Finally, we have network coverage. There is no roaming with Total Call Mobile prepaid. It’s a shame, but unless you subscribe to their monthly plans, roaming is not an option. So you get the basic Sprint network, but none of its roaming partnerships. Of course, that might not be an issue for you.

On the plus side, they supposedly offer customer service in a number of languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, and Tagalong. We say “supposedly,” though, because we didn’t see how to access these languages via their customer service web page. But they do advertise the multilingual customer service right on their main page, so there has to be some truth to it. Problem is, a call to customer service left us on hold for 30 minutes, at which point we hung up. And when we called, we were presented with two options: English or Spanish.

The upside of the service remains with its low, low international rates. We’re not quite sure how they can do this, though Total Call has been known for international calling cards before it got into the mobile business. The 10 cents per minute rate would make the service attractive to even a casual user, except the support behind the service seems to be lacking greatly. While no customer data exists for them at this point, we can’t imagine then coming close to even 500,000 subscribers. Why, then, were were on hold for 30 minutes?

But, if you have family abroad and want to keep in touch, you won’t find rates better than Total Call Mobile. Check them out at http://www.totalcallmobile.com.

Posted By : Stuart
Posted at : October 25th, 2007 - 12:00 pm
Filed under : Prepaid Services