After breaking ground in the international calling space, Ringo, the low-cost calling app, has introduced local calling in India.
The latest version of the Ringo app allows users to call any landline or mobile in the country at a flat rate of 19paise/min (less than half a cent), without any additional charges like roaming, STD, or top-up cards. Unlike other VOIP apps in the market, Ringo uses carrier networks instead of phone data or the Internet for a phone call, thus offering a superior calling experience without any call drops.
Ringo can even make calls if the recipient of the call does not have the app installed. With Ringo's standard rate of 19 paise, it is 90% cheaper than most carriers and 25% cheaper than the most popular Internet calling apps.
Ringo is able to offer cheap rates by purchasing minutes in bulk at extremely low prices, and passing on the accrued savings to its customers. Ringo does not use your talktime, as the service uses a unique call-flow that connects both the initiator and the recipient of the call via a conference bridge.
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.
Ringo's service comes with transparent and easy-to-read itemized bills, and you can even earn free credits by downloading other apps from its Offers section. Additionally, the app 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.
Ringo is a pretty interesting calling app that uses traditional phone lines in lieu of a data connection. When the app launched for international calling few months ago, I tried it for a few international calls, and the experience was smooth. Call quality was decent, and it was definitely cheaper. Are you guys looking forward to calling local numbers via the service?
