Using Vonage in INDIA

Posts: 18 · Posted: Mon May 24, 2004 8:43 am Post subject: Using Vonage in INDIA

Hi,
I have been using Vonage for almost a year in the US. I plan to take the ATA to India and use it.
Not sure if anyone has actually tried this before. Please post your experiences and the ISP providers in India that you used as well as the City.
TIA
Cool

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Oct 18, 2003 Posts: 3

I think there may be some legal issues with using an ATA in India The phone system is owned by the socialist leaning government, and they have some tight restrictions in place to maintain their monopoly. I could be wrong, but if I were you, I'd check into the legal implications first.

Posts: 18 · Posted: Mon May 24, 2004 3:08 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the feedback. I will definitely check into that, but I found another thread where it says the only problem is if you are connected using the Telephone line, that is if you are using Dial-up and then using VOIP, it is a problem. I plan to use Broadband Cable so maybe there is no problem. This is the other thread where I saw it:

http://www.vonage-forum.com/ftopic210.html

Posts: 18 · Posted: Mon May 24, 2004 3:34 pm Post subject:

I looked somemore on the Internet and I found this link which I think will be useful for all those sceptical about using Vonage in India:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,9004023~mode=flat?hilite=india

People seem to have used it on a 128Kb DSL line without a problem for several months and it is legal.

Very Happy

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: May 29, 2004 Posts: 6

garner11 wrote:

I think there may be some legal issues with using an ATA in India The phone system is owned by the socialist leaning government, and they have some tight restrictions in place to maintain their monopoly. I could be wrong, but if I were you, I'd check into the legal implications first.

It is true that there was a socialist leaning system about 10 or more years back. Things have changed for the better now.

Privatization began in 1991 and accelerated in the last 5-6 years. There are quite a few private land line, WLL (Wireless Local Loop), and cell phone operators in India now, including all the big industrial houses such as Tata Telecom, Reliance etc. It used to take months/years to get a phone lin. This is now reduced to days, thanks to private sector entry and competition. Because of this, the remaining govt owned long distance companies have slashed the long distance and international calling rates. For example. calling US from India costs around 10 cents via govt owned VSNL, compared to 28 cents from US to India using AT&T. If you use SIFY and other ISP's voip, calls from India cost even less.

Another thing I noticed during my last visit a few months back: Monthly cell phone plans cost much less than the plans in U.S. Verizon, for example, charges $40 plus taxes for 400 minutes peak-time use package (their all Americal plan). Bharti telecom and others charge lot less than this. Also, only outgoing calls are charged and not incoming calls. So, there is a veritable revolution going on in telecom sector in India. One of the reasons that cell phone sales are booming in Asia is relative inexpensiveness of cell phone plans in India and the resulting popularity.

As another poster mentioned, cable is also in private sector, many cable companies are offering broadband internet service and Vonage can be used legally without any problem on DSL and cable lines.

Posts: 18 · Posted: Sat May 29, 2004 6:58 pm Post subject:

Thanks for posting your Feedback on the Telecom Sector and ISP's in India. It has been very useful. I am hoping to use Vonage once I move back to India and you have mentioned that calling the US from India is just 10 cents a minute. That is great news to hear. Looks like I may not even need Vonage once I move back, but I will see how it works out.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: May 29, 2004 Posts: 6

You are welcome. My friend's parents have broadband connection and they are going to subscribe to Vonage. Calls from a Vonage to another Vonage customer is free (including international calls). If you intend to get broadband connection in India and expect to communicate extensively with US based friends/relatives/busineses, you may want to a U.S phone number for your India connection. Then, not only you'll have inexpensive calls to US numbers (3.9 cents after 500 minutes ..... based on the plan you choose), people who call you will also not pay for international calls.

I am testing the stability of Vonage service for a month or so before saying good bye to AT&T and SBC.

Posts: 18 · Posted: Sun May 30, 2004 6:28 am Post subject:

I have used Vonage in the US for almost a year now. Had some initial problems, but now I am quite happy with their service. Actually I had transferred my land-line to Vonage so this is the only phone I have. I plan to just continue using the same telephone number in India. All I need to do is maintain a US address and Credit Card. I had emailed Vonage regarding this and it is based on their reply. I will be getting broadband in India (256Kb) so it should work pretty well.

Posts: 183 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: May 05, 2004 Posts: 183

Please let us know how it works out, Leo. It should be great.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: May 29, 2004 Posts: 6

Hi Leo,
Please keep us posted of your experience with vonage in India. Thanks!

Off the topic: Since today evening, my calls to India do not go through. I get an engaged tone or a recorded message saying " Please replenish your acct or some such"