o2 UK international friends and family with free DID for incoming calls
 

I just saw this interesting service posted elsewhere, and forgive me that I do not have time at the moment to read into it a bit more yet.
See: O2 - International Friends and Family

Apart from the obvious features of being able to make upto 5000 minutes of calls to a chosen international number for 5 GBP a month whilst visting the UK, what took my interest is that you get to pick an inward number in a selection of countries, though I cannot see yet where. People calling this number will ring through to your o2 UK phone (I presume for free). This is all available on ordinary o2 Prepaid cards.

Now, the other interesting thing is that if you have an o2 contract phone (fairly easy to get a hold of), you can divert your calls to other most +447 UK mobile numbers out of your inclusive minutes. Something to think about! I know this part is of not much relevance to prepaidgsm though.

Inbound DID's are provided in: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, USA.

Calls can be made to a destination in the following:
Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, USA, Vietnam.

I also see that this is a BETA trial, and the service is provided by o2 and jajah.com

The service uniquely allows you to call a mobile number in most destinations. (e.g. I know Spain mobile is OK). The incoming DID is a landline number, which you can select from most big cities.

Obviously this can all get quite interesting on the incoming side of things as it is a landline, so for example it can be called via most Betamax providers for free! Also, as I said (on contract) your handset can also be diverted to most +447! ;)

I can confirm the following DID's are available:

Aus:
Canberra
Melbourne
Sydney

Belgium:
Anttwerp
Brussels
Mechelin

Brazil:
Brasilia
Rio
Salvador
Sao Paulo

Bulgaria:
Sofia

Canada:
Montreal
Quebec
Vancouver
Toronto

Cyprus:
Nicoisa

CZ Republic
Brno
Ostravia
Prague

France:
Marceille
Paris
Toulouse

Germany:
Berlin
Munich

Hungary:
Budapest
Limerick?? (Mistake.. should be in Ireland)

Ireland:
Cork
Dublin
Galway

Italy:
Milan
Rome

Latvia
National (presume it is a NGN)

Lithuania:
Vilnius

Netherlands:
Amsterdam
Maastricht
Rotterdam

NZ:
Auckland
Wellington

Poland:
Krackow
Lodz
Wroclaw
Warsaw

Portugal:
Nomadic (NGN)

Slovakia:
Bratislava
Kosice

Spain
Barcelona
Madrid
Valencia
Sevilla

Sweden:
Goteburg
Malmo
Stockholm

USA
Chicago
Denver
Dallas
LA
Detroit
Miami
New Orleans
Boston
Washington
San Fransisco
New Orleans
Philadelphia

Not much interest in this I presume? Anyhow, I have been testing this service now! I have succesfully used it with a callback coming to the DID. There is a small problem with using it via a Betamax web or client triggered callback, as the DID picks up incoming calls straight away, then answers them with a voice prompt, but then takes a while to actually connect through to the handset. This results in the situation that the called party gets called before you (the caller) have even picked up the callback. As a resulty they need to wait, and may even hearing rings while they wait for me to pick up.

However, there are massive financial incentives for setting up a callback using this method as the DID is a landline, and yet it comes through to the mobile at no extra charge. Couple this with o2 MyExtra Europe and you have a robust and nice mobile roaming solution for high volume use. i.e. consider a 1 hour call from your mobile from anywhere in Europe to a landline in USA for just 5c! About as cheap as it gets. It is worth noting that calls are limited to 1 hour, but can be redialled again straight after. However, Betamax will charge you a further 5c fee to do this.

It does sound good for use in the countries where the O2 can be used affordably (which is most of Europe?).

However, they may have realised it's too good, the site now says: "We’ve had enormous excitement about this great offer. We are making a few changes to the offer, so we’re not accepting new customers at the moment."

Rob

This offer is back on again as of today. However they have changed a crucial aspect of the outgoing calls, as with the exception of USA and Canada, calls can no longer be mapped to a mobile number.

However, as a roaming product, the product can still be useful for high volume roaming users within Europe. On a prepaid SIM if you couple this offer with o2 MyEurope Extra, you can get free incoming calls from your chosen DID in an impressive list of countries. The total outlay will be £5 for o2 IFF and £10 for MyEurope Extra.

Would this work in Croatia / Bosnia?

No unfortunately those countries are not covered by My Europe Extra.

My Europe Extra includes the following countries: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France (including Guadeloupe, Martinique , French Guiana, and La Réunion), Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira), Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (including the Canaries), Sweden, Switzerland.
From: My Europe Extra - Calling from overseas - International - O2

This service has now been relaunched with DID's now available from 42 countries. The service is now called "International Favourites" and the URL has changed a bit http://if.o2.co.uk
Unfortunately, the lowest price £5 offer is no longer available.