International call

International telephone calls are those made between different countries. These

International direct dialling was introduced in the 1970s, so calls can be dialed by country code

International calls can be paid via

In the United Kingdom, there are various ways to make an international call.^[1] For users with access to a landline:

It can be made directly by dialling the country code together with the destination phone number. This is the most expensive way to call internationally, unless a special arrangement is made with the telephone operator. For example, with BT there is an option to add an international add-on to a standard calling plan.^[2]
Dial-around access numbers allow a landline user to call an 08 or 09 number to connect to a service that routes using LCR rather than direct routes. This allows the call to be carried cheaper as the user is getting "around" the expensive direct routing method.^[3]
It can also be made with the use of a telephone card.^[4] This way, international calls are made by first dialling to a local access telephone number and providing the PIN before dialling the country code together with the destination phone number. Some companies provide business solutions and accounts for businesses that are making high volumes of international calls.^[5]

For

mobile phone network operators roll out new pricing models and innovation in call routing

It can be made directly by dialling the country code together with the destination phone number. This is the most expensive way to call internationally.
It can be made by adding an add-on to an existing mobile phone tariff. A number of
mobile phone network operators describe their add-ons as giving 'unlimited' minutes for making international calls. However, the official Fair Usage Policy
tends to limit the maximum allowable talk time at 3,000 minutes per month.

It can be made with the use of a
newsagents or can be purchased from the user's mobile phone using reverse SMS billing^[7]

It can be made by using a
LycaMobile. Users of these networks make international calls by dialling the country code
together with the destination phone number.

It can be made through a call-forwarding service that allows mobile phone users to associate an international phone number with a landline number within the United Kingdom. Users would dial a landline number and the call is then forwarded internationally. This allows mobile phone users to take advantage of their free minutes when accessing the service. Since the provider identifies its users by their Caller ID's, there is no need to provide a PIN when accessing the service.
It can be made by first dialling a
mobile phone network operator, before entering the country code
together with the destination phone number.

It can also be made with the use of
smart phones. Such applications include Skype, Google Voice, Fring, and others. Some applications allow users to make free international calls, which are paid by sponsors. These applications make use of the Wi-Fi or 3G
connection on the phones to make calls. Alternatively, calls can also be routed by accessing a server through a local or regional phone number.

A Local Dialling Disparity exists where the originating number and the foreign number are on the same network, usually a

There are instances of

telephone country codes covering points in more than one country; the North American Numbering Plan is one example, as is nominally-sovereign Vatican City's use of Italian numbering. The term overseas call is used by the Bell System

References