Cheap Calls from Missouri to Saudi Arabia?

Good news, Marwan has arrived at the University of Missouri at Rolla. He is one of the first Fulbright Scholars from Saudi Arabia. God willing he will learn about the US and teach about his. Making friends and fighting ignorance is very critical.

He has written to me for advice about which telephone service provides the cheapest service between the US and Saudi Arabia. (We are talking mobile phones here.) I have told him the ideal solution will be one of those internet-telephony hookups. I expect some smart college kid will hook him up in less than a week.

Still, he needs some advice on US mobile providers. Some do not have international service, the plans are confusing. I have not lived in the US for a decade or more. Can anyone here give us some advice?

I have asked Marwan to check in on this thread. Perhaps he will even register and tell us of his adventures.

Might it be cheaper for him to get a phone card with good rates to the Middle East? In New York City, every deli has dozens of cards with cheap rates to every part of the globe. I don’t know what you can find in Missouri, but between the meat world and the internet, I bet you can find a pretty good card/plan.

Thank you Billdo I just chatted with him and passed your word along. He misses his family.

He also reports America is a very big country with a lot of people everywhere. He found Wal*Mart freakishly huge.

I wonder if Rolla will get snow? He has never seen it.

Any more ideas about phone calls?

Okay, a little digging reveals that both Verizon and Cingular have a $3.99 a month International Value Plan, that makes calling overseas way cheaper. So you get your regular cell plan, plus that fee, and then you pay per minute. Verizon’s rates seem cheaper, but they don’t list a seperate rate for calling international cellphones, which for most of the cards and even for Cingular is higher.

Ack, I magically posted by waving my hands over my laptop…I will add that YES, he should see snow. :slight_smile:

Rolla will, indeed, get snow – although not as much as the more northerly portions of Missouri. There’s even one or two weather systems “on the way” over the next week or so that might bring some snowfall to MO.

'Fraid I can’t help with the phonecall, though.

If he wants cheap calls, and not a mobile phone per se, and he has a computer with a high-speed connection, I’d recommend he get Skype or a something similar, and a headset.

Oh wait, you already said that.

Mobile providers? That’s a good question. Does he plan to travel out of the country a lot and he wants to keep the same number all the time? I’d go with a GSM provider, not CDMA. But roaming is always expensive.

If he just wants the mobile-phone service for in-country use, it may be that there is some provider with good international rates from the USA and no frills like roaming. It would be best for him not to get locked in to anything before he knows the general lay of the land.

I know a lot of kids that grew-up in Saudi and are now in the US. They all swear by T-Mobile. I don’t know if it is available in Missouri. The usual plans run from US $40 to US $80 / month and they can talk just about constantly in the US. I’d take a look at these.

Regards

Testy

Ahh, UMR. Nothing to do there but drink. Or study, I suppose. My best friend went there for two years, joined a sorority. I got tons of drunk dials during those two years. Visited there before. Really is nothing to the town. I thought Columbia was bad…nope. Lots of very smart kids there. But those frat boys know how to party.