Frequently Asked Questions

Here are answers to some commonly asked questions about our service.

Is it really free?

It is free to make an international call using our service, but you are responsible for the cost of calling our access numbers. This means if you make a call to the United Kingdom for 30 minutes, you are responsible for the cost of calling our access numbers in South Africa.

If you are calling from a mobile phone, then calling our access number will be a standard cross network call that is included in your mobile calling minutes or a VAS rated call. If you are calling from Telkom, then you will be charged a per minute fee by Telkom directly to your phone bill. Please check with your operator BEFORE calling if you have any questions about the cost to call.

In most cases, you will save significantly by calling our access number and then placing your international call than by direct dialing that number or using a calling card. Your phone plan may already include a set number of monthly minutes that you can use to call us with and not incur any additional cost.

How Do I Make A Call?

We’ve have an entire page that tells you how. Click here for detailed instructions.

What Countries Can I Call For Free?

We offer free international calling to 75 countries. The full list of them can be found on our Home Page.

Can I Call Your Access Numbers From Any South African Phone Service?

Yes. There are no restrictions on where you can call us from. You can use your Telekom landline or you can call us from one of the major mobile networks like Cell C, Vodacom, or MTN.

Do I Need To Register To Use Your Service?

No. This is a free service that requires no registration, no personal information, no pin numbers, and no payments made to us. Simply dial the access number that is best for you, then follow the instructions on our prompt.

Can I use same network minutes to call your access number?

Same network minutes typically cannot be used for calling our access number.

Do you have access numbers outside of South Africa?

Yes. We offer similar free calling services under other brand names in Australia and New Zealand.

Who Should Use Us?

Our service works best for people who are on mobile phone plans where the cost of calling our access numbers is cheaper than the cost of direct dialing an international phone number. There may be some cases like with prepaid mobile plans where it is more expensive to call our access numbers. You should always check with your phone provider if you have any questions about the cost of calling our access numbers.

How does it work?

We have developed a VOIP (Voice Over IP) network that allows you to place internet calls from your mobile phone instead of through your computer.

When you dial the access numbers above, you are connecting to Voice Over IP International Gateway. From there your call is placed over the internet in the same way as Skype and other VOIP services. When your call reaches the country you are dialing, we convert it back over to the local phone system, and it rings the dialed number just like a regular phone call.

Why don’t you include calling to more countries?

We would love to offer free calling to every country, but we can’t because of costs. The countries on this list are where the local phone systems offer extremely cheap network access to VOIP delivered calls. If additional countries lower costs for VOIP accessibility we will add them.

How do you make money?

Call Star is paid a marketing fee by phone networks for calls that come into our access numbers.