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First-Ever Report On U.S. Calling Habits To China Commissioned By Rebtel

San Francisco – October 8, 2008 - A new study issued this month shows several remarkable changes in the ways people in the U.S. are communicating with family, friends and business associates in China. The research provided by Rebtel, based on its calling volume in the first eight months of 2008, shows several key findings.

•    Saturday and Sunday are the most popular days for calls to China.
•    The largest number of calls are coming from Los Angeles, Washington D.C., New York, Sacramento – and of all places, Montgomery, Al.
•    Shanghai, Beijing, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Dalian and Shenyang, are the most popular calling destinations, in that order.

As of October 1, 2008, of those surveyed:

On average Rebtel users call three people every week and spend 145 minutes per month – 2 hours and 25 minutes – on their monthly calls to China.

And for the most part, they are calling friends and families more often on their landlines in China rather than mobile phones.

Top Chinese Receiving Calls from the U.S.:

1. Shanghai
2. Beijing
3. Fuzhou
4. Guangzhou
5. Dalian
6. Shenyang

Top U.S. Cities Calling China:

1. Los Angeles
2. Alexandria, VA
3. New York City
4. Sacramento/Stockton, California
5. Montgomery, Alabama

“Low rates combined with the most reliable and clear connections are what have been driving our increase in international calling to China,” said Rebtel CEO Hjalmar Winbladh.

Founded in 2006, Stockholm-based Rebtel was established to give people around the world an alternative to calling cards and mobile operators’ rip-off rates for making international calls. Now thousands of Americans use Rebtel to call China for less than 2 cents per minute to landlines or mobile phones. The company recently was ranked #1 in international calling by Technology Appraisals and has been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and The International Herald Tribune for its unique calling service.

By: Alex Drewniak, October 8th, 2008 Tags: china, international calling behaviour, rebtel, VoIP

廉价国际长话服务登陆北京香港

廉价国际长话服务登陆北京香港

瑞典斯德哥尔摩（2008 年 4 月 23 日讯） — 先是上海，现在是北京和香港。仅仅三个月的时间，全球性通信企业 Rebtel (http://www.rebtel.com) 便将其率先在中国上海推出的低话费和免费拨打国际长途电话优惠活动推广到了中国更多的城市。

从今天开始，北京和香港的居民可以使用其移动电话拨打世界任何地区的任何电话，而且话费非常便宜。此外，还可以免费与其在 40 个国家/地区的朋友、家庭成员及工作同事通话。

例如，通过 Rebtel Direct 从北京或是香港拨打美国和加拿大地区的电话，无论您是使用固定电话还是移动电话，话费均不超过每分钟 2 美分。对比中国移动 (China Mobile)，同样的通话，资费却高达每分钟 1.16 美元。

Rebtel 的创始人之一兼首席执行官 Hjalmar Winbladh 说：“如果您认为使用 Rebtel Direct 话费仍然偏高，您可以选择使用我们的 Smart Call 系统来免费拨打同样的电话。借助 Rebtel 推出的服务，您现在可以在北京或是香港与全球 40 个国家/地区的亲朋好友免费进行通话。”

只需几分钟的时间，用户便可完成 Rebtel 帐户设置。本服务适用于任何移动电话，无需改变移动电话的使用方式。此外，本服务已获得所有北京和香港的移动运营商的批准。
用户可免费设置 Rebtel 帐户。所有新用户均可享受 10 分钟的免费通话优惠，以测试该项服务。

帐号建立后，用户只需按通话时长付费。在有Rebtel服务支持的国家，Smart Calls通常是免费，并且通话双方只需要有一个是Rebtel 的用户。

Winbladh 进一步介绍到：“北京和香港作为中国重要的国际商务中心由来已久。并且，不久将在北京举行夏季奥运会，届时会有来自 200 多个国家/地区的 10,500名运动员和2万多家媒体出席此次盛会，对我们来说是在中国拓展业务的绝佳机会。”

By: Ola Sundqvist, April 14th, 2008 Tags: china, rebtel

One Million Minutes of Free Calls to US and Canada From Shanghai On Rebtel

Stockholm, Sweden – February 8, 2008 – Happy New Year!  For the next two weeks anyone living in Shanghai can use their mobile phone to call friends and family anywhere in the United States or Canada completely free.

“There’s no charge to set up an account. No monthly fees. No connection fees. No hidden costs,” said Hjalmar Winbladh, Rebtel co-founder and CEO.  “This is our gift to the residents of Shanghai – our way of spreading good fortune in celebration of the Year of the Rat.”

Rebtel’s Million Minute Giveaway www.rebtel.com/china runs during the Chinese New Year festivities between the 7th and 21st of February. Each person may make up to five hours of free calls.
Rebtel is registered and authorized to work with all Shanghai mobile operators, and works with all mobile phones without modification or software downloads.

“Call your friends in the US or Canada to wish them luck and prosperity for the New Year,” said Winbladh.

After the Million Minute Giveaway

All Rebtel Direct calls from Shanghai to the United States, for example, will cost just 元0.13 ($0.018) per minute.  Calls from Shanghai to Canada will cost only 元0.11 ($0.015). And calls from Shanghai to U.K. landlines will cost 元0.14 ($0.019), and 元1.31 ($0.18) to U.K. mobile phones.
Rebtel Smart Calls between Shanghai and the other 39 countries served by Rebtel are always free and only one of the two people on a call needs to be a Rebtel customer.
To start using Rebtel services, go to www.rebtel.com

By: Ola Sundqvist, February 8th, 2008 Tags: china, chinese new year, rebtel, year of the rat

One Million Minutes of Free International Calls to China Starts Today from Rebtel

Stockholm, Sweden – February 7, 2008 – Happy Chinese New Year!  Starting today, the first day of the Chinese New Year, anyone living in 39 countries served by Rebtel can use their mobile phone to call friends and family anywhere in China completely free.

“There’s no charge to set up an account. No monthly fees. No connection fees. No hidden costs,” said Hjalmar Winbladh, Rebtel co-founder and CEO.  “This is our gift to Chinese community around the world – our way of spreading good fortune in celebration of the Year of the Rat.”

Rebtel’s Million Minute Giveaway www.rebtel.com/china runs during the Chinese New Year festivities between the 7th and 21st of February. Each person may make up to five hours of free calls to China.
Rebtel works with all mobile carriers, all mobile phones without modification, and does not require any change to the user’s current mobile service.

“Call your friends in China to wish them luck and prosperity for the New Year,” said Winbladh.  “Gong xi fa cai.”

By: Ola Sundqvist, February 7th, 2008 Tags: china, rebtel

Rebtel Opens Mobile VoIP Services In China

Stockholm, Sweden – December 20, 2007 – Rebtel, the people’s global communications company, today announced low cost and free international calling to and from China.
Starting Friday, December 21, residents of Shanghai can use their mobile phones to call any phone, anywhere in the world for just pennies per minute, and make free calls to friends, family, and work colleagues in 39 countries.

“Entering the Chinese market was not easy, but we’re finally in – just in time for ex-pats to call home for the holidays – and we plan to open service in more Chinese cities in the New Year,” said Hjalmar Winbladh, Rebtel’s co-founder and CEO.

More than 18 million people live in Shanghai.  And that doesn’t include the city’s 6 million migrant workers, making Shanghai one of the most populous cities in the world.
Rebtel’s low-cost calls from Shanghai to the United States, for example, will cost just $0.018 per minute; $0.019 per minute from the U.S. to Shanghai.  By comparison, AT&T charges $3.50 per minute to call a mobile phone in China from a mobile phone in the U.S.
Rebtel calls from Shanghai will cost $0.019 to U.K. landlines, and $0.18 to U.K. mobile phones. Using Rebtel to call Shanghai from London will be the same as from the U.S.: $0.019 per minute. In contrast, Vodafone charges $3.33 per minute to call Shanghai from the U.K.
“There are more than 10 million mobile phone subscribers in Shanghai alone, so serving just a small percentage of that market should be a good test for rolling out service to the rest of the country,” said Winbladh.

Rebtel services can be used with any mobile phone without modification or software downloads.  There is no charge to set up a Rebtel account.  All new comers get a free 10 minute call to test the service.   Thereafter, subscribers only pay for the minutes they use.  Smart Calls between the 40 counties served by Rebtel are always free and only one of the two people on a call must be a Rebtel subscriber.
About Rebtel

Rebtel is a global voice services company for individuals, small business professionals and cord-cutters inside large companies, who regularly call international suppliers, customers, partners, their workforce, or friends and family abroad. Unlike the large mobile telecom carriers that charge exorbitant rates to recoup their high costs, Rebtel offers consumers ultra-low rates for global calling by making all calls local and leveraging VoIP technologies. For more information, or to start using Rebtel services, go to www.rebtel.com.

By: Ola Sundqvist, December 20th, 2007 Tags: china, hjalmar winbladh, rebtel, VoIP