Going all Skype on my iPhone for an international trip in two weeks

[aphex]

Headed down to Costa Rica in about two weeks to visit the family. Rather than pay AT&T the usual $1.99/minute that we always pay, I'm give Skype a go and see how well it works as my primary means of calling for the trip. AT&T recently changed their international billing to include calls that you don't even pick up (if it rings you get charged), complete BS if you ask me.

Their house has halfway decent DSL as well as Wifi so I'm good to go for the time were in the house. The one night in a hotel will be a different story, as most Costa Rican hotels don't have internet (let alone Wifi), but i'll live.

Gonna use SBSettings to turn off all Cell Access while i'm down there, keep it strictly on Wifi. and backgrounder will keep Skype running all the time so I can receive calls with my Skype-In number.

I'll report back how well it works while i'm down there.

 

[mmntech]

Good luck. I know Skype's rates are second to none.

Any word on when Skype iPhone is coming to Canada, or are the idiots at the CRTC still holding it up to keep Ma Bell happy.

 

[little elvis]

Originally posted by: mmntech
Good luck. I know Skype's rates are second to none.

Any word on when Skype iPhone is coming to Canada, or are the idiots at the CRTC still holding it up to keep Ma Bell happy.

I'm confused, from what I've read, it appears to be patent dispute that's preventing Canadians from getting skype....

I'm in Canada, and I've been using skype on my Nokia N800 for almost 2 years now, so, why is it allowed on the N800 and not the iPhone?

And wouldn't any patent dispute also include the desktop version?

 

[silverpig]

Hey guys, I'd love to get all your input on these things.

I'm working on a website for this type of thing - wifi based phones, and would love to get a few people looking at it.

wifitalk.ca

Aphex: I'd love to use your experiences as a blog entry on the main page if you'd be so willing.

mmntech and little elvis: I'm Canadian too and have a special Canada section (or will when I get the site all set up), which will have news on the whole skype in Canada deal.

FYI: There are 2 reasons why skype can't operate in Canada right now. First is as little elvis said: there is a codec related patent problem and skype can't get it's mobile client into the iTunes Canada store (but there are ways around this). The second issue is that no Canadian can get a Canadian skype-in number (I have a US number though). This is because the CRTC says that all companies that provide phone numbers must have e-911 which means they have to be able to tell the 911 operator where a call is coming from. Skype can't tell 911 where an ip address is located so they can't offer phone numbers. I have a few blog posts about this.

I'm trying to keep up a repository of information, and I have a lot of work to do on the site yet, but I'd really love it if some ATers would chime in from time to time for the benefit of everyone else 🙂

 

[mmntech]

Originally posted by: silverpig
Hey guys, I'd love to get all your input on these things.

I'm working on a website for this type of thing - wifi based phones, and would love to get a few people looking at it.

wifitalk.ca

Aphex: I'd love to use your experiences as a blog entry on the main page if you'd be so willing.

mmntech and little elvis: I'm Canadian too and have a special Canada section (or will when I get the site all set up), which will have news on the whole skype in Canada deal.

FYI: There are 2 reasons why skype can't operate in Canada right now. First is as little elvis said: there is a codec related patent problem and skype can't get it's mobile client into the iTunes Canada store (but there are ways around this). The second issue is that no Canadian can get a Canadian skype-in number (I have a US number though). This is because the CRTC says that all companies that provide phone numbers must have e-911 which means they have to be able to tell the 911 operator where a call is coming from. Skype can't tell 911 where an ip address is located so they can't offer phone numbers. I have a few blog posts about this.

I'm trying to keep up a repository of information, and I have a lot of work to do on the site yet, but I'd really love it if some ATers would chime in from time to time for the benefit of everyone else 🙂

Yet the CRTC allows Vonage and cable companies to offer VOIP and they lack the e-911 tracking service as well AFAIK, unless that's changed. That's what I can't understand. I still hold that it's because one of the big telecom firms complained. There already is a VOIP service for iPhone in Canada called Truphon but it costs significantly more than Skype does to call landlines. Where as Skype offers unlimited Canada & US for $2.95/mo, Truphone wants $17.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: mmntech

Yet the CRTC allows Vonage and cable companies to offer VOIP and they lack the e-911 tracking service as well AFAIK, unless that's changed. That's what I can't understand. I still hold that it's because one of the big telecom firms complained. There already is a VOIP service for iPhone in Canada called Truphon but it costs significantly more than Skype does to call landlines. Where as Skype offers unlimited Canada & US for $2.95/mo, Truphone wants $17.

The reason why the cable companies can offer VOIP is because they have a billing address can can look up the IP and cross-reference it with the billing address. I know that doesn't mean that's where the call is coming from, but that's how they can operate.

The CRTC is forcing updates to the 911 system here now because of a case where a family who lived in Ontario, had a VOIP plan with a company, had an emergency address and a billing address with them, then moved to Calgary and updated their billing address but not their emergency address had their daughter die because the 911 operators sent an ambulance to an Ontario house instead of their Calgary house. The billing address was updated, but not the emergency address.

The globe and mail had an article (latest post on the blog there has more info) about this and about how there are updates coming to the 911 system. What those updates will be is up in the air still, but they think it'll be some kind of database. They're asking people to give suggestions, so I linked to the CRTC "contact us" page so you can write them. I did.

The thing that really gets me though, is why can't skype just use the built in "this application wants to know your location" thing that the iPhone (via GPS) and the iPod Touch (via wifi) have. Even my iPod touch gets me to within 50 feet of my actual location in the city.

 

[silverpig]

Ha, and wouldn't you know it? Right when I submitted that post I got an email response from the CRTC. I'll write it up later today 🙂

 

[aphex]

Happy to report that Skype is working beautifully down here. Calls are crisp and clear and for $0.50 more than a SINGLE international call through the roaming cell network, I get unlimited calls to the US as well as $0.08/min local calls to Costa Rica.

 

[zacharace]

Originally posted by: aphex
Happy to report that Skype is working beautifully down here. Calls are crisp and clear and for $0.50 more than a SINGLE international call through the roaming cell network, I get unlimited calls to the US as well as $0.08/min local calls to Costa Rica.

Glad to hear it. Although I just got my iPhone, I might give Skype a go one of these days. It is most useful when traveling internationally, though...but you already knew that aphex 😉

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: aphex
Happy to report that Skype is working beautifully down here. Calls are crisp and clear and for $0.50 more than a SINGLE international call through the roaming cell network, I get unlimited calls to the US as well as $0.08/min local calls to Costa Rica.

wish this was available when I was on Europe...

 

[HopJokey]

Yep Skype is beautiful. So aphex I figure you ended up getting Skype as your primary home phone service? I remember that thread a while back.

 

[Need4Speed]

Used it today for the first time. Got rid of my land line a while back but I still need to make calls to germany to talk to family. Call was as clear as my day to day cell calls ... talked for about 20 min and it cost me about $.36 ... im sold.

 

[Goosemaster]

Good to hear. I would've recommended a simple forward to your skype number but good to see that you took care of it.