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How to Reduce Your Monthly MobiTel Bill:

With its large market share and changes to government charges MobiTel has experienced tremendous reductions in its per call costs, it does not have to pay interconnection fees on calls to two-thirds of all handphones, however these savings have not been shared with customers.  The interconnection fee has been reduced from $0.14 per minute to $0.07 and then to $0.01 per minute on calls to the remaining one-third of all handphones, but MobiTel has not shared this savings with customers.  Customers still pay MobiTel's high charges and fees, among the highest in the industry.  MobiTel's recent introduction of the $5 CellCard raises the cost of calls even higher.  MobiTel also offers a confusing array of pricing plans and promotions that are changed or ended at the will of MobiTel.   

The result of the increased number of MobiTel subscribers and the high costs of MobiTel service is that MobiTel customers continue to receive and pay high monthly telephone bills for a service that can no longer be described as a premium service.  This page cannot improve MobiTel's services, but does offer suggestions on how you can reduce your MobiTel bill through better understanding of MobiTel's charges and through the use of other service providers for some of your telephone calls.  This web site supports better value for customers.  Therefore, use of other providers is suggested when this will lower your overall telephone costs. 

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There are five ways to reduce your MobiTel costs:

1. Buy the right CellCard
2. Don't "Top-Up" your CellCard balance
3. Select the right credit account
4. Use other telephone networks when less expensive for the same call
5. Don't make several short calls when one long call will suffice

Here are the details:

If you are a Cell Card user, Buy the Right CellCard:

Cell Card Per Minute before VAT Relative Costs $50 0.24 +0% $10 & $20 0.26 +8% $5 0.28 +17% Buy $50 CellCards.  Calls made with a $50 CellCard are the least expensive, $0.24 a minute vs. $0.24 for $5 card.

MobiTel has reduced the price difference between CellCards, but if you call more than 1 minute per day you will pay less with a $50 card.  

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Don't "Top-Up" your CellCard Balance

MobiTel determines the per minute rate you pay from the value of the last CellCard credited to your balance.  If you credit a $50 CellCard to your account you will be charged $0.24 a minute for most calls.  If you then credit a $5 CellCard to your account, you will start to pay $0.28 a minute for the whole $55.  You will also start to pay the higher daily rate of the $5 CellCard.  So, if you last used a $50 card and then add another $10, you will pay the higher rate.  If you are crediting your account with a lower value card, wait until the credit of the higher value card us finished.  

What is real difference?  Look at $55 credited to you account with a $5 and $50 CellCard and then with a $50 and $5 CellCard.  For how many days can you call?

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If you have a Credit Account with MobiTel, Select the Right Credit Account:

Notice that of five different important rates only the per minute and monthly charges change between the three plans (also the Personal Plan and Standard Plan offer a small discount for night calls).  The cost of "MobiTel to other phone systems" calls and "MobiTel to other phones in provinces" calls do not change if you change from one plan to another.  This means that we can look only at the number of "MobiTel to MobiTel" call minutes you make to find when it is cheaper to change to another plan.  The chart below shows the costs for " MobiTel to MobiTel" calls using each monthly credit plan:

If you call " MobiTel to MobiTel" for five minutes a day, on average, most plans have the same cost.  Therefore, if you usually call more than 5 minutes a day you should be on the Hub 2 Plan.  If you call less than 5 minutes a day you should be on the Personal Plan.   Note that the Standard Plan never offers customers the best price.

The Hub 1 plan can be a good compromise if you call around 5 minutes everyday.   You should use this plan only if your usage fluctuates regularly and equally above and below 150 minutes/month (5min/day x 30d). 

If you are not sure how many minutes a day you call MobiTel to MobiTel, or if you make a lot of MobiTel to MobiTel calls at night, see How to determine number of  "MobiTel to MobiTel" minutes for credit accounts:

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What MobiTel Plan to Use at High Usage Rates

If you use a MobiTel credit account for over 20 minutes a day your choices change again.  particularly as the per minute rates for Hub 1, 2 & 3 increase after about 25, 40 and 80 minutes respectively.  The "bend" for each Hub plan is seen at the left.  The chart also shows that the Hub 2 plan is cheapest between 10 and 60 minutes of use per day, while the Hub 3 plan becomes less expensive above 60 minutes of use per day.

Note that the MobiTel rate structure is difficult to understand as it penalizes customers who use the service more frequently with higher prices.

For all MobiTel customers, Use other networks when less expensive

For calls to non-MobiTel telephones in other provinces, for calls to other handphones in the same province, and for calls to fixed line telephones in your province, MPTC (023 21xxxx, 7xxxxx, & 4xxxxx) and Camintel fixed lines offer much lower rates for calls.   You can save as much as 55% by using fixed line telephones to call a phone in another province instead of a CellCard ($0.15 vs. $1.00).  

Calls to non-MobiTel telephones registered in a province other than the province where your MobiTel telephone is registered.  
MobiTel charges customers $1 for each minute, or part of a minute, for calls from MobiTel CellCard to phones registered in another province.  For example, if you have a Phnom Penh registered MobiTel handphone and use it to call to a Siem Reap Camintel phone, or to a Samart handphone registered outside Phnom Penh, regardless of the actual location of the handphone, you will pay MobiTel $1 per minute.  The same call on an MPTC telephone will cost you $0.15 per minute, a savings of 85%.  See column 1 below.

Calls to Other Handphone Service Providers
MobiTel charges $0.23 for calls to other handphones registered in the same province.  For example, a PNH MobiTel to a PNH Samart.  The same call on an MPTC telephone will cost you $0.15 per minute, a savings of 35%.  See column 2 above.

Calls to Fixed Line Telephones
MobiTel charges $0.23 for calls to fixed line telephones registered in the same province.  For example, a PNH MobiTel to a PNH fixed line, or a SRP MobiTel to a SRP fixed line.  The same call on an MPTC or Camintel telephone will cost you $0.01 or $0.02 per minute, a savings of 92% to 96%.  See column 3 above.  

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For all MobiTel customers, Don't make several short calls when one long call will suffice:

MobiTel charges calls by full minutes.  Talk for only part of a minute and you are still billed for a full minute.  If you use a CellCard to make a $1 per minute call, but talk for only .25 minutes, MobiTel charges you $1.  Make 4 short calls and MobiTel will charge you $4 for a minute of connection time.  For a call of exactly 1 minute you pay $1, but when you call for 1.25 minutes you pay $2, or $1.60 a minute.  As the call gets longer the cost per minute stabilizes towards the advertised cost per minute.

There are two ways to avoid this high cost: 1. When possible make a single longer telephone call instead of several shorter calls, 2. Use other telephone services (MPTC, Shinawatra, Samart) which charge for telephone calls by 15 seconds instead of by the full minute.  

MobiTel Hub Plan can offer the cheapest rates for calls between provinces

Remember also that when it is used properly the MobiTel Hub Plan can offer one of the cheapest rates for calls to other MobiTel users and for calls between provinces.  If you are trying to control your telephone costs, but still call for 5 minutes a day, you can change to hub plan and have substantially more minutes of calling for only a few more Dollars per month. See the Chart

The MobiTel Hub 2 Plan allows MobiTel to MobiTel telephone calls between provinces for only $0.06 per minute.  This rate offers an 60% savings over the MPTC rate of $0.15 per minute.  Given the higher cost of MobiTel monthly service ($45 vs. $8) what is the breakeven point when it is cheaper to have and use the Mobitel Hub 2 Plan?  The chart on the right shows that above an average of 15 minutes of calls a day to the provinces it is cheaper to use the Hub Plan than an MPTC telephone to call between provinces.

If you have already decided to change to the hub plan (you make more than 5 minutes of MobiTel to MobiTel calls a day) then it is cheaper for you to call inter-province on MobiTel (to another MobiTel). 

Caution: MobiTel offers a $0.06 rate to call a MobiTel phone, but still charges $0.23 to other phones in the same province and $0.33/min to any other telephone system in another province.  

Be careful that if you use any MobiTel plan you call only to other MobiTel telephones in the provinces. 

Use any other telephone to call non Mobitel phones in the provinces.  

Calling with MPTC offers you the flexibility of the $0.15 rate for calls to all handphones, and telephone systems in other provinces.  MPTC also offers improved reliability. 

If you start to make some of your MobiTel telephone calls on a fixed line telephone you should be able to reduce your monthly telephone costs.  For a rough estimate of the savings look at Using a Handphone and Fixed Line Phone to Reduce Costs

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How to determine the number of  "MobiTel to MobiTel" minutes for credit accounts:

On the first page of you phone bill you should look at the cost for "Local Airtime."  Compare this amount, which includes "MobiTel to MobiTel" and "MobiTel to other phone systems," to the RED column in the chart below.  

If you are on the Personal plan and your "Local Airtime" is less than this then you are OK.  
If you are on the Standard plan and your "Local Airtime" is less, switch to the Personal Plan.    

If you local Airtime is higher than the amount in the RED column above then you need to look at how much of the "Local Airtime" is for MobiTel to MobiTel calls; you need to separate out charges for calls to other systems.  There are a few ways to do this.  Choose the method below that is easiest for you .  Get a copy of the itemized portion of your MobiTel bill (If you don't get an itemized bill you will have to ask them for it at the office, they will give it to you for free if you tell them you want to check if they are billing you the correct rate for calls).

Method 1 - Estimating costs:   In the third column (Called Number) of the itemized portion find the first call to an 012 number.  In the Duration column look at the number of minutes.  Add one more minute if there are any seconds (MobiTel charges for a full minute for any portion of a minute you call) and write this number to the right of the Charge column.  Continue down the list looking at each 012 call and calculating the number of minutes for each call.  Total the number of minutes for 012 calls.  

If you are on the Personal or Standard Plans look in the first column look for 012 calls made "Off Peak," before 08:00 or after 20:00 (These calls should be billed at $ 0.16 per minute).  What percentage of all 012 calls are the "Off Peak?"

Most calls between 8 am and 8 pm: 

• If you are on the Personal Plan and have less than 150 minutes of 012 calls you are OK.  
• If you are on the Standard Plan and regularly have less than 150 minutes of 012 calls you should change to the Personal plan. 
• If you have more than 150 minutes of 012 calls you should change to the Hub Plan. 
• If you are on the Hub plan and your "Local Airtime" is less than 150 minutes you should switch to the Personal Plan. 

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Many calls between 8 at night and 8 in the morning:

• If you use the Personal Plan and all of your calls are during "Off Peak" hours use 240 minutes a month for evaluation.  If half of your calls are "Off Peak" use 195 minutes.  One quarter of calls "Off Peak" use 170 minutes.  
• If you use the Hub Plan and all of your calls are during "Off Peak" hours and your "Local Airtime" is less than 240 minutes Change to the personal plan.  If half of your calls are "Off Peak" and your "Local Airtime" is less than 195 minutes change to the Personal Plan.  

Method 2 - Calculating costs exactly:   

• In the Itemized bill cross out the calls not to 012 numbers.  
• Mark the calls made in Off Peak hours.  
• Calculate separately the total charges for 012 calls during the Peak and Off Peak hours.  
• Divide the cost for Peak and Off Peak hours by the per minute rate for each to determine the number of minutes you have used during each period.  See MobiTel rates here.
• Multiply the number of minutes that you have used by the per minute rates for other plans for comparison.  
• Add the monthly charges for each plan to see total costs for MobiTel to MobiTel calls.
• Determine if other plans offer you the same number of minutes at a lower cost.  

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