Ringo, a popular international calling app was launched in India earlier this year. Today it has launched local and STD calling in India that lets you call any landline or mobile in the country at a flat rate of 19 p/min, without any additional charges like roaming or top-up cards. “Unlike other VOIP apps in the market, Ringo uses telephone networks instead of phone data or the Internet for a phone call, and thus offers superior calling experience, without any call drops,” said the company.
“At standard rate of 19 paise, it is 90% cheaper than most carriers and 25% cheaper than the most popular calling apps that are Internet based,” said Ringo. It also offers 50 minutes of free talk time to every user who installs the app for the first time, and 50 additional minutes for every friend a user refers to Ringo. You can also earn free credits by downloading other apps from the offers section.
At the launch, Bhavin Turakhia, CEO and Founder of Ringo, said:Our vision has been to make calling across the globe simple, seamless and low-cost for the masses. Our local calling service is not only the cheapest in India right now, but it is also free of typical telecom-related hassles such as STD charges and differential pricing. In a country where 3G penetration is not fairly high throughout, we also have a strong edge over Internet telephony apps, as Ringo calls do not use data, and are comparable in price.Our aim is to become a smart, one-stop calling solution for people across the globe, and local calling in India is certainly our biggest step in that direction.
Ringo says that it is able to offer the unprecedented price of 19 p/min by purchasing minutes in bulk at extremely low prices, and passing on the accrued savings to its customers by leveraging top-end technology. This doesn’t use your talktime, by using a unique call flow that connects both the initiator and the recipient of a call via a conference bridge.