Today there are many ways to call family and friend abroad and it might be cheap or even be free. There are many phone plans to choose from, but making phone calls to Suriname is usually still very expensive. Suriname is often on the list of expensive countries. For example if you call to Suriname with a Dutch KPN BelBasis (Call Basic) plan, you pay € 1,04 a minute! Surinamese and Dutch people who live in The Netherlands and who have family and friends abroad are often familiar
with high phone bills. To avoid high calling costs, they try to avoid the standard rates and use other phone services. There are several possibilities, which will be explained below.
Rebtel
A relatively new, safe and fair way to make calls to Suriname at low rates and with your own cell phone is Rebtel.
Rebtel is a mobile VoIP (Voice over IP)
provider, founded in 2006 in Sweden. The Rebtel system already gets good reviews and appreciation worldwide.
How does it work?
1) You give Rebtel the phone number of a friend in Suriname
2) Rebtel gives you a local number in your own country
3) Save this number on your mobile so you can call your friend whenever you want, for a fraction of your normal international rate.
After registration, you only need an internet connection to add more credit to your pre-paid account. You don’t need software or adjustments to your cell phone. Rebtel is an international well known company, so there are no hidden tricks or other issues.
You pay prepaid with a credit card.
Pros:
You use your own phone and SIM-card to make very cheap calls. You don’t have to leave the house to buy pre-paid phone cards or to go to a call shop. You pay pre-paid wit a credit card and it’s up to you to decide how often you want to add credit to your account.
Cons:
You don’t have to leave the house to call your family and friends abroad and that might result into more frequent calling.
Rates:
ex. vat
incl. vat
Suriname
€ 0,14
€ 0,16
+
your normal local rates
Suriname Mobile €
0,14 € 0,16
+ your normal local rates
Skype-Skype
For numerous years it is possible to make completely free calls over the internet to Skype users in Suriname, using your own computer. And when you have a webcam connected to your PC, you can see each other too. Problem is that people in Suriname often can’t afford a PC and internet connection. Internet connections are still very expensive in Suriname and the speed you get is usually very low. People usually go to an internet Cafe or “Walk-Inn" to go online.
Tip (!)
Cheap US Dollar. internet rates in Suriname are based on the US Dollar. Due to the low Dollar at the moment internet connections become slightly more common in Suriname. Trough Latenhalen.com it is possible to buy a relatively cheap PC in Miami and have it shipped to Suriname. It is an investment, but when you have family in Suriname, and you live abroad, your phone bills will drop dramatically.
Skype works excellent with broadband connections. It will also work with dial-up accounts and with the low speed WiFi plans of CQ-Link, but you will usually get hitches. There is other software too for making free calls trough the internet. One of them is Gizmo, which might work better on low speeds.
Skype Out
If your friend or family in Suriname don’t have internet at home, you can still use Skype to make relatively cheap calls to landlines and cell phones in Suriname. Rates are higher then Rebtel rates, but you do not have local phone costs, because you use your own computer. You buy Skype credit in advance with your credit card
Especially in the big cities there are call shops from which you can make international calls at relatively low rates.
Pros:
The rates are relatively low. Costs will stay low because every time you want to call your family you have to leave your couch and go outside to make the call.
Cons:
you have to leave your house to make a simple phone call. In the past call shops have been suspected to be involved in fraud and criminal activities (applies to The Netherlands).
* Latest test by us: 2008
(Virtual) Calling Cards
Among Surinamese people in The Netherlands, this is a popular way of making long distance calls to Suriname. In so called
“tropische winkels” (tropical shops) in the cities of The Netherlands you can buy prepaid phone cards from several providers. With these cards,you can make cheap calls to Suriname from your own home.
When you live in the USA or elsewhere, you can order calling cards online. Often you will receive PIN codes and instructions to your email. You will also have access to your purchase history at all times with the option to print Card Templates with the PIN code on them.
If you prefer cards to be shipped to you, you pay a fee for shipping and handling. Cheap cards for calls to Suriname are: The Good Card, Global Papa, and Peanuts LD Service.
Pros:
You can make cheap calls to Suriname and you buy a limited number of minutes. So you can’t stay on the phone endlessly and get the bill afterwards.
Cons:
Sometimes minutes seem to vanish. In other words: you don’t always get the number of minutes promised (applies to The Netherlands).
Rates:
somewhere between USD 0.11 and USD 0.30
* Latest test by us: 2009
Other Plans
Check your local phone plans and the internet for other ways to make cheap calls to Suriname.
