Little Black Guidebook

I had a friend ask me to type up these instructions for staying in touch on the cheap for their boyfriend who is deploying to Iraq this week with no laptop, but just an iPhone. Basically it is the method I use for most of my international travel.  I don’t have an iPhone, but this method works for any unlocked wi-fi enabled phone. Hopefully someone else will find this useful. I’ll have to post a follow-up after they have been using this method for awhile.

For US to Iraq -
Method 1. Him computer, you computer
Simple enough. For folks back home to reach him in Iraq, they need to download and install Skype software and you can talk to each other as long as you both have an Internet connection and a computer with Skype installed. This allows him to cancel his cell-phone plan (early cancellation fees waived for military) and save that cost while he’s away.

Method 2. Him cell phone, you computer/cell phone with Skype installed
We want this to work without him needing a computer to receive calls.  The first thing he will need is an unlocked mobile phone. In the United States, some carriers will unlock your phone if you ask. I’m not sure if AT&T will unlock the iPhone, but there are ways to jailbreak it yourself. Whenever he arrives in Iraq he can buy a local SIM card (the tiny, interchangeable chip inside the phone that actually lets you connect to a particular carrier; they’re sold at mobile phone stores and kiosks for $2 to $25, depending on the country) and make local phone calls and send text messages without paying exorbitant international roaming fees. The best type of SIM card to get is the kind that allows unlimited incoming calls.

Every SIM card has its own local number associated with it. Fortunately Skype also lets you call out to mobile phones and land lines (with SkypeOut) so you can call him with SkypeOut and it will ring on his Iraq # on his iPhone. Iraq is inexpensive to call this way, but not free like the first method (calling computer to computer). It costs $ 0.372/minute from a US computer or a US cell phone with Skype installed on it to call an Iraq cell phone.

So, here’s how a call to him would work:

You dial his Iraq # using Skype, and it rings on his iPhone at his Iraqi cellphone number.

Cost to you: $0.372/minute. Cost to him: zero.

This system lets anyone with Skype, reach him, at a minimal cost to him (just the cost of the SIM card assuming he gets one with unlimited incoming calls). All he needs to receive a call is a cell phone signal.

Cost to you: zero, cost

Method 3. Him cell phone with Iraq SIM card or computer with Skype, you any US cell phone or landline
We also want this to work without you needing a computer as well so if you’re having that really bad day and need to give him a ring (assuming the 12 hour time difference and his military duties don’t have his phone turned off), you can. To do this he needs to purchase a SkypeIn number that has a U.S. area code so his friends and family can use normal phones to call him using a local number to reach his computer. ($60 a year or $18 for three months) He can also forward his American cell phone number to the new SkypeIn number by calling AT&T before he goes and giving them the new SkypeIn number. He can then go online and set the Skype software’s preferences to forward the new SkypeIn number to the new Iraq # associated with the new SIM card he buys in Iraq.

SkypeIn has a relatively low fee. ($60 a year or $18 for three months)

So, here’s how a call to him would work:

You dial his regular American cell phone number, which forwards to his SkypeIn number, which, in turn, forwards (via SkypeOut) to his Iraqi cellphone number.

Cost to you: zero. Cost to him: $0.372 miniute.This system lets anyone, anywhere, reach him, at a small cost to him. All he needs to receive a call is a cell phone signal.

Of course if this were another country than Iraq you would be paying like $0.021/minute to France for instance and this whole method becomes a lot cheaper and more attractive than the alternative (phone cards at pay phones).

Calling from Iraq to the US -
If he wants to call home, he’ll use a slightly different and far simpler system. Tell him to download Skype for the iPhone while in the states (and data is cheap), be in range of a wi-fi signal and make SkypeOut calls to anyone he wants to for $0.021/minute, or for free if the person is online and logged into skype.