YOUR MONEY Change The Cost Of Long Distance—NotYour Life (NAPSA)—There is good news for consumers who have hang-ups about using the Internet to take advantage of low-cost long-distance phone calls. A new option has emerged allowing consumers to change long-distance calling and save money without changing their lives. For many consumers, it seems low-priced calling can only come at the expense of convenience. Traditional carrier plans are inflexible and fall short on savings. Calling cards often have fees buried in fine print and require consumers to run out to stores to buy additional “time” or repeatedly punch in PIN numbers. Even newer services that use cost-saving technology, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), require specialized equipment or chain consumers to computers instead of allowing them to use their homeandcell phones. However, Pingo—an online pre- paid calling option that utilizes VoIP to provide service to hundreds of worldwide destinations for pennies a minute—could finally provide consumers with the best of all calling worlds. Since consumers can use both fixed-line and mobile phones, no additional equipment or installation is required. Customers aren’t locked into confusing plans or blocks of minutes. And because it can be managed online, consumers enjoy a host of conveniencesinclud- ing automatic account recharge and the ability to bypass PIN signin from up to 10 different phones. The service can be purchased via credit card or PayPal at its multilingual Web site, which is presented in English, Spanish, French, Chinese and Portuguese. Billing is offered in multiple cur- INTERNET SAVINGS, REGULAR PHONES: With a new Internet service, cus- tomers can save money when calling worldwide—using existing homeandcell phones. rencies with rates viewable in more than 40 different currencies for easy cost comparison “For nearly a decade, leading carriers have used our VoIP network, making us one ofthe largest providers of international calling worldwide,” said Ofer Gneezy, CEO & President of iBasis, the company that operates Pingo. “We simply provide that ‘direct connection, enabling consumers to gain the cost savings of VoIP, while still being able to use regular phones.” The iBasis Network maybe the most extensive VoIP platform in existence. As a result, customers can call such popular locales as Mexico City, Sao Paulo, London, U.S. and Canada for about two cents a minute. Already, the service has proven popular among consumers with an “overseas connection,” including those with family in other countries, the military, travelers, executives, stu- dents abroad andindividuals looking to cut overhead. To learn more, visit the Web site at www.pingo.com.
