After a reportedly successful launch in 16 countries, Ringo is now available in India, offering 90% savings on international calling by converting international calls to local calls.

Ringo is an international calling app that uses a unique call flow to provide best-in-class call quality at costs lower than other popular calling apps. Ringo calls do not use the Internet or Wi-fi, but regular phone lines instead, making it a perfect fit for anyone looking to save big on high-quality international calls. From families to travellers to international businesses, all can save money, since Ringo supports calls to pretty much every mobile and landline destination worldwide.

"We believe our app will change the way India communicates with the world," said Bhavin Turakhia, CEO of Ringo. "In this country, reliable Internet connectivity that can support VoIP calling is still far away. Ringo provides the perfect solution for Indian consumers who want to stay in touch with their family, friends and colleagues abroad, reliably and at a low-cost."

According to Telegeography, 20 billion international voice minutes in 2012 originated from India (not counting OTT apps), representing 4% of the global international subscriber dialing (ISD) traffic and making India the 4th largest originator of ISD calls in the world, after USA, UK and Germany. Consumers in India spend well over $2 billion annually in making international calls. Ringo, whose prices are said to be 70% cheaper than, for instance, those of Vodafone or Airtel, and 20% cheaper than those of Skype or Viber for most destinations, will result in huge cost savings for Indian consumers.

"The app is a result of significant technology investments, global carrier partnerships and strategic relationships," says Bhavin. "We believe that communication should be easy and inexpensive. We envision a world where cost is not even a criterion for communications with anyone anywhere around the globe."

As mentioned, unlike other OTT voice apps, Ringo calls do not use the Internet, Wi-fi, data or carrier minutes.  Using Ringo is identical to making a call through your carrier in terms of quality, and yet costs 70% less than standard rates offered by most telcos. Ringo instead uses a unique call flow to convert international calls into local calls, which means when a Ringo user from India contacts someone in the United Kingdom, Ringo will automatically dial out a local call to the Indian user and another local call to the UK user and connect the two over reliable carrier circuits.

Actually, Ringo's launch in India could not have been timed better, considering recent debates by carriers and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) about to start charging consumers over to VoIP. Amidst this controversy, Ringo provides a unique international calling solution that does not use VoIP and hence will never incur these additional costs.

As a disruptive technology, set within a $95 billion dollar industry, Ringo of course expects to ruffle some feathers. However, based on user feedback, the company is convinced to gain success and significant traction in a short while.

It is available for download on iOS, Android and Windows smartphones as well as at Ringo.co. –  feel free to check it out.

By Daniela La Marca