The standard cost of a three minute call to the United States from Australia is one of the lowest in the Asia Pacific. International call costs for businesses from Australia to the United States are between two and a half to five times cheaper than from Japan, Thailand, China and Indonesia, and about half the cost of calls made from Hong Kong SAR and New Zealand.

Australia's deregulated telecommunications market has delivered significant price reductions for local calls, national long distance calls, fixed-to-mobile calls and international calls since the introduction of full competition in 1997. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Telecommunications Reports 2006-07, released in May 2008, found that the average cost of international calls for residential and business customers fell by 5.4% in real terms in 2006-07, and by 70.2% between 1997-98 and 2006-07. Although international call costs for larger firms rose by 9.9% in 2006-07, prices have fallen 79% over the past 10 years. Small businesses have also enjoyed cost savings for international calls, saving 14.3% in 2006-07 and 73% over the last decade.

The lower cost of international calls for business customers has added to the competitiveness of Australian-based companies with global and regional operations.