They need to add Germany

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: May 23, 2007 Posts: 6

We still have family & friends in Germany (husband and I are both military brats). So having Germany as part of the international calling would be GREAT. Or even being able to have a Germany virtual number, then at least they could call us! We know of other friends from there who have Vonage and would love to do that too, but they know less about how all of that works than I do!

Why don't they have Germany as an option?

Posts: 1320 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Nov 08, 2006 Posts: 1320

I would love Germany to be free also, I spend a lot of time there for work.

Posts: 153 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 11, 2007 Posts: 153

Telekom, the almost-monopoly in Germany, helps keep phone rates so high in Germany that the chances of Vonage adding it are pretty slim.

As for a virtual number, the German regulator has decided that you may not have a normal German number unless you actually live in the specific local exchange where you want the number. Otherwise, you can only have 0180x numbers, which tend to cost more to call than calling to the USA on a reasonable discount plan.

Telephony in Germany is just so unbelievably different. For example, here in the U.S. and Canada, we expect to have businesses (airlines, rental car companies, catalog sales companies, ISPs, phone companies, etc.) provide 800 numbers for customer service. Not so in Germany. They're almost always on 0180x numbers, with typical rates (they vary significantly) of 9-15 Euro cents per minute. Want to book a flight on Lufthansa? 14 cents per minute while you wait for a representative to come on the line.