international rates to israel

Fusion Voice service, features and help.
6 posts Page 1 of 1
by rperi » Thu Mar 23, 2017 7:46 pm
I'd like some clarification about the Fusion Global Calling rates to Israel.

https://www.sonic.com/fusion-global-calling-rates

The page indicates that rates to landlines (+011972) are free except those in outlying areas,
which are 32.6 cents/minute.

My question is whether Israel's second and third largest cities, (West) Jerusalem and Haifa,
are considered outlying areas or not.

The page shows the prefixes of +0119722, +0119724, +0119728, +0119729 as being outlying.

The domestic area codes these cover (02, 04, 08, and 09) cover both cities in Israel as
well as the entire West Bank and Gaza. For example, 04 covers both Haifa (Israel) and
Jenin (in the West Bank).

For many years, Israel's country code 972 has covered the entire region of the Israelis
and the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority have also recently obtained the 970
country code to reach the same numbers in Palestine. Some countries only allow
phone calls to 970 and not to 972, and others allow either one to be used.

So I'd like some clarity about whether "Outlying areas" includes large cities like Haifa
(for example +011-972-4-8xxxxxx) or West Jerusalem (for example +011-972-2-5xxxxxx).
by Hola » Sat Mar 25, 2017 10:34 am
Just check it out!

Call the number(s) you are interested in. Keep talk time to under a minute ("Hey, I am just calling to check out my new phone service. Hello to everybody! Talk to you later! Bye!").

Two (?four?) hours later, go online and look at your call history, which lists charges as well. You will know EXACTLY how much it costs.

If you had done that instead of posting the question, you'd have an answer already (although it may have cost you a WHOLE 65 CENTS!). It isn't rocket science.
by mike.perlas » Tue Mar 28, 2017 9:15 am
It can be confusing. The easiest way to figure out if it will be an outlier or not, is to literally type in the phone number you will be dialing in the box provided. It will filter out everything that isn't applicable and you will be able to see if there will be a charge or not!
Mikey P.
Technical Support Supervisor
Sonic
by rperi » Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:43 pm
Hi Mike,

Thanks for your reply.

I tried it with a landline in Haifa and it was indeed 32.6 cents/minute.

By comparison, mobile numbers like 01197252xxxxxxx (which cover
the entire country) are only 4.3 cents/minute.

My understanding is that international rates depend a lot on the phone company
jurisdictions they are passing through.

It looks like all numbers beginning in 0119724xxxxxxx are treated the same,
regardless of whether they are in Israel's third largest city (Haifa) or in
Palestine (Jenin).

The 32.6 cents/minute is nearly the same as the 32.7 cents/minute to
Palestinian landlines in 011970xxxxxxxx, so it could make sense that
"Israel outlying" might refer to areas in the West Bank and Gaza that are
reachable via 011972xxxxxxxx.

In fact, the only area code that is not considered "Israel outlying" is the
Tel Aviv one (0119723xxxxxxx), which does not cover any cities in the
West Bank or Gaza.

I wonder if it might be possible to have finer-grained rates based on the
local phone number. Do calls to Haifa cost Sonic more than calls
to Tel Aviv?

According to this link, the local service operator can always be
determined based on the first digits of the local number:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone ... area_codes

-rperi
by giladbu » Mon Jul 31, 2017 10:37 pm
Same issue here. Calling west Jerusalem number. Very surprising that the 2 biggest cities in israel are "OUTLYING"
Did not expect this from sonic which suppose to be open and transparent about these charges.
by jabenoit1059 » Sun Nov 19, 2017 7:23 am
Not sure if adding another reply in the forum will help get Sonic attention, but I agree - $0.326 a minute to call someone who lives outside of Tel Aviv is crazy. We're maintaining a separate long distance phone plan with another company (Comwave.net) where we dial into their local access number, enter a pin, and then the number in Israel, and it's only $0.039 a minute to non-Palestinian Authority areas. Maybe Sonic should sub-contract their Israel phone business to Comwave.
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