VoiP provider Truphone makes every call local

If you’re a frequent border-hopper, you may want to check out Truphone. The company announced a service today called “Local Anywhere” that it says can slash up to 90 percent off cell phone bills by providing local voice, data and text rates when traveling abroad.

The service is made possible by a single “smart” SIM card that offers local rates in countries where Truphone operates (don’t worry, fellow Americans — SIM card explanation coming below). As of today the service is only available in the U.S. and the U.K., but the company plans to expand across Europe and to long-haul destinations like Australia, Hong Kong and South Africa in the coming year.

The solution is aimed at jet setters who tend to rack up big roaming charges traveling abroad. For example, an AT&T subscriber roaming in the U.K. can pay between 99 cents and $1.29 per minutes, depending on their calling plans, but Truphone says they’ll pay as low as 12 cents per minute with the Local Anywhere.

The service also provides local contact numbers for users, reducing the cost to acquaintances who call. The company says it offers roaming rates that are 40 percent cheaper than standard mobile operator charges and international call rates that are 90 percent cheaper than the standard.

SIM cards are unfamiliar to many in the United States, but that is bound to change soon, thanks in part to Google’s Nexus One. In most of the world, handsets are not married to a single carrier. Instead, consumers pre-purchase minutes from any carrier, and those minutes are tracked on a SIM card that can be transferred between mobile devices. The purchased minutes travel with the card, not the phone. The U.S. is being introduced to this model by Google, which is selling an “unlocked” version of the Nexus One that is not married to any carrier. Beginning in the spring, U.S. Nexus One owners will be able to purchase coverage on an ongoing basis from Verizon and, if Google’s negotiations go well, many others.

“Mainly the USA issue is there is no true understanding for what a SIM is or what it does,” Truphone’s President for the Americas said in an IM exchange. “Education and awareness need to be done. That is why Google helps. Many do not know what unlocked means.”

If Google succeeds in divorcing carriers from handsets, SIM will become a much more familiar term in the U.S. Then Truphone’s targeting of U.S.-based international travelers (the citizens most likely to know what they’re missing) could increase demand and accelerate adoption of the more open model.

Truphone, founded in 2006, is based in London and has raised £29M in two rounds of funding from Straub Ventures, Burda Digital Ventures, Eden Ventures, Independent New & Media and Wellington Partners.