Clon Communications Review — Telephone & VOIP Comparison (2012)

Clon Communications sell international calling cards and prepaid wireless refills for your prepaid cell phone. Their website claims you can save up to 95% on international phone cards. They have a simple four-step process where you search for a phone card, pay online for it, receive your PIN and then can start calling from your cell or fixed phone. You do not need to enter a PIN every time you call, as registering the number you call from will allow you to use your international phone card. They also have a recharge option that automatically refills your card when you are out of credit, so you can keep calling at the best available rates.

Clon Communications allows you to buy virtual phone cards without even leaving your computer. Cloncom is is not a telecommunications service provider and does not offer phone call services by itself but is an authorized reseller of calling cards offered by multiple providers. It has a search feature on the website where you enter the country you are calling from and the country you wish to call and it will show you the best 3 or 4 calling cards for what you need. Each card shows you the cheapest rates per minute, how minutes are rounded (1 minute, 2 minute or  minute increments etc), if there is a maintenance fee and what it is, and any connection fee that is applicable. If you only make short calls it is best to pick a card with no connection fee.

There are a growing number of phone card providers and Startec and Rebtel compete with Clon Communications.

Startec provides worldwide services using a network of owned and leased facilities, operating and termination agreements, and resale arrangements. They have ownership in IP gateways, switches and underseas fibre optic cables, which means they have assets of their own, unlike Cloncom which is solely a reseller of the services of others. They do not offer a choice of different rates to different countries like Cloncom, which makes them simpler but you can’t choose what suits you best.

Rebtel offer low calling rates to about 200 countries and have no maintenance fees or connection fees. You can enter your calling and destination country on their website to see their set cost. This is the charge for the international part of the call. You will also have to pay your mobile operator’s local rate per minute. This is a different concept to Clon Communications and users have to do a bit of research to see what will actually work out cheapest for them when deciding between companies.

At Clon Communications the price depends on the country you call and the card you choose. Here are some comparisons between Cloncom, Statec and Rebtel as at June 2011.

USA to India

Cloncom offer 4 cards:

• AsiaTiger 1.9c/min, 3 minute rounding and maintenance fee of 99c/week
• SonicoRed 2.4c/min, 2 minute rounding and maintenance fee of 69c/week
• SonicoGreen 2.9c/min, 1 minute rounding and no fees
• SonicoBlue 3.4c/min, 1 second rounding and no fees

Startec rates are 1.9c/min

Rebtel rates are 1.79c plus your mobile operator’s local rate per minute.

USA to Australia

Cloncom offer 4 cards:

• SuperSaver 1c/min, 3 minute rounding and maintenance fee of 99c/week
• SonicoRed 1.3c/min, 2 minute rounding and maintenance fee of 69c/week
• Espelho 1.75c/min, 6 minute rounding and no fees
• SonicoGreen 1.8c/min, 1 minute rounding and no fees

Startec rates are 2.9c/min for landline and 14.9c/min for cellular

Rebtel rates are 2c for landline and 16c for mobiles plus your mobile operator’s local rate per minute.

The way to work out which is cheapest is to know your average call length and how often you will call.

There is mixed feedback from customers of Clon Communications to be found on the web. On the positive side most people report that the call quality is good with both parties being able to hear each other clearly. Most of the negative feedback is to do with the automatic recharge which you have to untick if you don’t want it. Many people get angry when they see something charged that they did not specifically ask fo,r so be careful to untick this box when you order. Other people felt robbed by the connection fees and weekly or monthly service fees for the lower rate cards. The charges are clearly stated on the website so you need to be aware of what you are choosing.

Here is a typical customer review:

“I use Clon phone cards every week to call my parents in Ireland. I pay around 5 cents/min (calling from Canada). I try to always call them on their landline because calls to cellular cost much more from what I understand. It's a good service, I haven't had any big issue with call quality.” - Marta - 01/20/2011 - 05:28