You have a number of choices when choosing telephone service in Austria. The two top contenders are:

Telekom Austria
You can apply online for a fixed phone line. You can also visit their shops, which are located im most post offices. Most apartments already have the analogue line installed and Telekom will only have to assign a number and release it.  When ordering your line, you should have a clear idea of what you want to do with it. Just a Telephone? VoIP, or Internet as well? They a

Priority Teleco
They offer telephone and internet access over a cable connection. This offer can be combined with a mobile phone from the provider One. The offer is economical but you will not be able to change to another ISP or mobile service provider. You also cannot use call-by-call services with a Priority fixed line.

Analogue or ISDN? 
With ISDN there are some advantages and extra services, but most likely you will not really need them. The base fee for ISDN is higher, and you cannot easily connect all peripheral devices as extra phones or fax machines. The only compelling reason to choose ISDN today is if you want two phone lines with separate numbers. The analogue lines today serve not only for making phone calls, but also carries the DSL signals, ISDN cannot.

Telephone Directoy
If you have a telephone service from Telekom Austria, you will get your Telephone Directory when your telephone is installed and then by post annually, Their is a small charge which will be added to your bill. Or you can use the Online version free of charge.

Paying Your bill
It is important to pay the bill by the due date (Fälligkeit) on the bill. If you don’t, you may have pay late fees. If you do not agree with the bill, you have fourteen days after receiving the bill contact the phone company to protest the bill, (send the letter certified (eingeschrieben) and the bill is not due until you receive an answer to your protest.

To Cancel:
To cancel your service, notify them at least 6 working days in advance. The forms to do this can be found at your local post office.

Rates:
The changes constantly and everyone has different calling habits, it is impossible to suggest the cheapest option. In general, calls within the same mobile network are very cheap, sometimes even free depending on your contract type. Calls from fixed line to fixed line are quite cheap. However, there are now several fixed line providers, so you should check the rates before spending hours on the phone.

Calls from fixed line to mobile (and vice versa) are expensive. There are packages which combine a certain mobile network with a fixed network, which can make calls cheaper. To make it even more confusing, there are additional rates for calling to and from VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phones. The website www.tarif.at offers a good comparison table for actual tariffs.

Making a Phone Call:
Calling from Austria to foreign countries is much the same as your home country. Almost all foreign countries can be direct-dialled.

To call a local number within your own area, dial the number only. 

To call to another area, dial the respective area code first. When calling within Austria, you have to dial "0" followed by the area code (i.e. 01 for Vienna). Area codes and phone numbers in Austria are variable length: for some big cities you have just a 2 digit code (Vienna = 01), for most of the rest it is a 4 digit prefix code.

To call from abroad to a number in Austria, dial your international access number (usually 00), followed by the country code of Austria and then the area code without the 0 (i.e. 0043-1 for Vienna) International Dialing Codes

Austria has opted to utilize the GSM standard for their mobile/cellular service. GSM offers digital service that is so crystal clear that it is difficult to discern if you are on a cellphone or not. Unless you are in a very remote area, you will most likely have coverage. In Austria, as in many other countries nowadays, many people rely exclusively on cell phones for communication and do not even have a landline at home.

Mobile phones in Austria are usually called Handys and there are numerous providers in Austria.

Mobilkom (A1) Dial: 0664

The formerly state owned mobile provider. It is said that they still offer the best coverage and good quality service.

ONE Dial: 0699

The second largest mobile network provider. One claims to offer best voice quality and has a partnership with Priority for fixed phone lines.

Telering Dial: 0650

Discount provider

T-Mobile Dial: 0676 

Formerly max.mobil has good network coverage and cheap prices

So which provider? Ask friends and acquaintances, word of mouth in this case is probably your best bet.

Handys here are inexpensive and some are even for free depending in the contract.

To make a call from a mobile phone to a fixed line number, you always have to add the area prefix code. To call from a mobile to another mobile phone, you must add the prefix code of the mobile service provider of the person you are calling (0664 for A1, 0699 for ONE, 0676 for T-mobile, 0650 for Tele-ring and 0660 for 3). This is less complicated because people will always give their mobile number with the code.