CallArc, RingPlus promise free international calling

Many years ago, when long distance calls used to be a fortune, there was a phone service called Freeway that offered two free hours of long distance calling per month in return for listening to ads.

As you can imagine, Clark was a power user of this service. But Freeway went under after new visitors and non-members were asked to make some type of purchase before gaining access to the free long distance service. In addition, cell phone plans came along and made long distance calling much cheaper.

Today, however, we're still left with the question of how to make international calls for free. There are now a couple of new websites called CallArc.com and RingPlus.net that have stepped in to (hopefully) meet that need. Clark jokingly likes to call them "the sons of Freeway."

Both services require you to listen to ads in exchange for free talk time. We'll see how these services play out over time. Let's hope they don't end up in Clark's graveyard!

Meanwhile, if you have a smart phone, you can download a free app called Pingo EZ Dial that will automatically route any international number you dial over Pingo's network, rather than over your cell phone carrier's network. The effective cost with Pingo is about 2 cents per minute.

Meanwhile, call quality for all cell calls is poised to greatly improve over the next couple of years. When you place a call, it will be as clear as if you're sitting across from someone talking to them. No more excuses where you pretend you can't hear the person to end an uncomfortable call!