U.S. Beats Out France and Italy for Long-Distance Love on Valentine's Day, JAJAH Calling Service Ranks 99 Countries by Romance -- and Offers 2008 Callers a Chance to Win a Trip to Paris.

JAJAH, a leading global communications company and award-winning provider of affordable Internet-enabled local and international calling services, today released its 2007 annual report on Valentine’s Day call volumes by country. U.S. lovers called 30 percent more—both in frequency and in duration of calls—than those in Germany, the next most-calling country. Long-distance lovers in Italy and France earned these traditionally romantic countries ranks of only 8th and 10th respectively.

The Center for the Study of Long Distance Relationships found that roughly seven million couples in the U.S. consider themselves to be involved in long-distance relationships (LDRs). Among those involved, telephone calls occur as often as once a day, with the average being at least every 2.7 days, and last an average of 30 minutes. Another study indicated that almost 50 percent spent more than 10 hours per week on the telephone and emailing with their loved ones. Telephone costs for some long-distance couples can exceed a hundred dollars per month.

While calling may be costly, it’s critical to the health of romantic long-distance relationships. According to the University of California at Santa Barbara’s SexInfo site, couples should make telephone “dates” and respect them just as much as any physical date.

“Voice communication enhances any relationship, but especially long-distance ones—whether two people are across a city or across continents,” said Rebecca Weeks, Director of Business Development at Real Girls Media and consultant to Match.com and Social Fabric Corporation. “Fortunately, people today have convenient, inexpensive options for staying connected. JAJAH’s easy to use calling service is more affordable and practical than typical long-distance services.”

“Our mission is to save our users as much money as possible on calls they need and want to make,” said Trevor Healy, CEO at JAJAH. “And this year we decided to help our users celebrate the day. Our contest will give one of those long-distance pairs a chance to be together—if only for a weekend—in Paris, the City of Love.”