As for O9, rates to Iceland Mobile are in the .59 Euro range -- the sticky says there is a .25 Euro setup charge but I can't find mention of that on their website. That would make it way more expensive than UM.

0044 (IOM) is on the order of .55 Euro to a UK Mobile, similar to TravelSIM

So far, it looks like only UM has a special subscriber to subscriber rate.

As for the high termination rates for Lichtenstein, Iceland, Estonia, etc -- I don't view it as a conspiracy, but rather somebody has to pay for the free incoming calls (i.e. TANSTAAFL). I see people here bragging how they've had a UM (or other) SIMs for years and still have the original credit. How is UM (or others) to recoup their costs? When (if?) there is a EU wide agreement on roaming charges I think the need for these international SIMs will decrease (assuming its a good agreement). I do realize that they are used lots of places outside the EU but I would hazard that the EU (or EU + EFTA) is a big chunk of their business.

Yeah, I spoke without thinking. I've known it doesn't work in New Zealand 'cause they don't have an agreement with Vodafone.

They get a proportion of the incoming call fees, but I really don't think they are behind the increases in the tariffs to these numbers

The increase is obvious in the case of UM. Why do you say you do not think they are behind? Is it more rational that most carriers targeted UM for some reason and increased their rates?

Frankly, I think that's one of the reasons. The existance of UM and the ability to make reasonably priced calls to it was an early stage in the fight against high roaming fees which was the bread and butter for many operators.

IMHO and in all due respect.

Cheap Calls to +423
 

Just a note, my wife calls me on my UM number via 3uTelecom. It's $.109 US and is oddly cheaper then calling to a Travelsim # ($.169). Much better then using the regular land line, and even cheaper then Vonage. Go figure.

Can someone subscribe to their service from outside US?

I'm not sure, but you can probably ask them from their website, 3utelecom. I think you have to call a US Number and then input your number from there. Not sure if that would be any cheaper if you were outside the US. Good luck!