Good point pschi, you are totally right, I really forgot to take a look at Manx roaming agreements... now I saw they have roaming with Tele2 only in FL, no FL1 (United Mobile)...

And welcome to PrePaidGSM Pschi, nice to see someone from Luxembourg, keep us informed about offers there too! :beer:

I didn't know roaming agreements affected the exchange of SMS between networks. Would explain some of the problems I've had texting to/from Mexico.

I've tried out GPRS on gt-sim. Doesn't work for me. However I'm not a heavy user of gprs and may have set something up wrong, I'll let others with more knowledge test that properly.

But did you write for the GPRS?

Read it in the GT's FAQ:


Can I connect to data services with GT-SIM?
Yes, please contact our service team. The service team will then activate the GPRS service.


I suppose that you have to activate it... also I already ordered the sim with GPRS and visible ID (your phone number don't appear, right?), I'm simply waiting for the item :)

I called the "service team" (one guy in Germany by the sounds of it) and requested the GPRS settings from him (same as http://www.manxpronto.net/default.asp?id=45 ), he sms'd them to me so you would think he would also enable it...........

Probably closed till monday now though, and as I'm travelling soon I'll let others play with that. The 24 hour support is also something that is "coming soon".

Yes, my number is withheld. Didn't really notice that as I have it on my landline phones anyway, nice that it is the default.

And, of course, you shouldn't be able to send an SMS from your "regular" Manx Telecom mobile phone to Riiing either :(.

Technically, possibility of SMS interchange doesn't depend on existence of the roaming agreement. Otherwise, there would be no SMS interchange between operators within any country, in which there's no national roaming :). However, AFAIK usually the possibility of international GSM interchange is just a "direct result" of the roaming agreement.

But, of course, operators might make it possible to interchange SMSes without roaming agreements. The example is the Non-GSM SMS service in Plus GSM, Poland. It's possible to send SMSes from Plus to some CDMA, TDMA and AMPS networks in USA and Canada.

OT - It's damn bright :P. The only cheap international SMSes remained in Plus prepaids. Even is Plus postpaid plans it's standard 0,61 PLN (0,50 + 22% VAT) :(

What are the settings you got? I wanna try on my gtsim..

Same as Manx Pronto.

I've confirmed with gt-sim that GPRS is supposed to have been enabled for me and those settings are what I'm supposed to use, but I get "not authorized". It's been passed on to the gt-sim technical people.

I just sent GT-SIM and inquiry regarding the use of their SIM by USA based customers. I want to see what they say about "free national incoming" vs. "60cts/min USA roaming". (I think I know what the answer will be, but it should be clearer on the webiste.)

I did get a quick response which cleared things up:

I got a telephone call this morning (7 am.....) from GT, Peter Eggli.. He asked me if I already got the sim and if I had any problems.. I said I got it last week and that I had no problems for the moment!

Has anyone else been called up from GT after buying a sim from them?

It's interesting that they call, that means they didn't check my call log before, because if they did, they should have seen that I have made some test calls, that means, got the sim already, so no need to ask!

Just to follow up on a few things, now I've been travelling with gt-sim.

There is (correctly) no longer an sms with a rate in $US after each call, the billing is only online.

GPRS works OK, on tuesday I tried it in the Isle of Man, and Ireland (works on O2 and Vodaphone but not Meteor). Also works in the USA (AT&T part of Cingular, T-Mobile, but didn't seem to work on Cingular).

Phone calls and SMS work on all the networks I've tried so far, quick callbacks. The 60c supplement on US calls is charged (i.e. rate shown on bill as 0.86c/min instead of 0.26c/min). That is the biggest downside of gt-sim for me (apart from the lack of Mexico coverage), but when I was talking to Peter a while back it was mentioned they were working on a way to reduce that.

SMS and GPRS are not visible on the online billing yet, but I'm assuming I'll be charged for them eventually.

And they do listen to feedback - "unkown caller" on the English version of the online billing has had its spelling corrected.

@flodis79

I got a phonecall too, I think the name was NOT Peter Eggli. He also asked me if I got the SIM-Card. I thought they may have called me, because I had no time until now (last week) to test the SIM and did no calls with it.

But yes, I agree, they realy care for their customers. I asked during that call for the GPRS settings, wondering if they realy will work....

BK :bye2:

In answer to an email ? tonight here is the reply:

"we have a shipping free worldwide policy.

Yes, if your home network is the US you will be charged Euro 0,60/min on
incomming calls.

This will be reduced in Feb. 2006 to approx Euro 0,15/min. You will then also
receive a local US phone number attached to your +447624...


With best regards

GT-SIM Service Team
Peter Eggli (HKG)"

BTW: items seems to be offered on Ebay.de

SIM Karte weltweit telef. f?r 26 cent D1 D2 E-Plus Artikelnummer: 6452375533

http://cgi.ebay.de/SIM-Karte-weltweit-tele...1QQcmdZViewItem

for 35 Euros however -- shipping is extra.

It would be interesting. I don't know what the wholesale is on terminating in the US. But they use what appears to be a UK mobile number which means that they should be collect a decent termination rate.

skimmed and cant find any info... do they give you any promotional credit (i.e. for new customers ) or not ? thanks

Hello,

I have a GT-SIM card since two weeks, and it works pretty well. I used it in several European countries. Outgoing calls are working reliable and they are of course pretty cheap. Although, last week I made several calls, which did not appear in my web-login till now. Strange. Outgoing SMS are working very well (not like with Riiing, trying to send, does not work, charged nevertheless). The price for outgoing SMS is really great, I do like SMS again since I have my GT-SIM :thumbup: The phone can be used again as Two-Way-Pager, even when travelling internationally, without getting poor. WAP over GPRS is working fine - but unfortunately, GPRS-roaming seems only to be available in very few countries. Only for incoming calls, I like more my Riiing. But all in all, good deal, this GT-SIM :clap:

Due to customer care, they have big plans for the future (additonal roaming partners, listening to voice-mail online).

Cheers,
Klaus

Do you really have free incoming calls on gt-sim in Germany (or maybe any other country of your selection)?

AndreA has free incoming calls in Italy... so I think it will be the same for a German in Germany...

I got my GT-sim last week and I can confirm that I have free incoming calls in Italy.

It's a pity for sms... after a week i can't yet find them in my online details :(

About incoming calls I have a question for RTuesday and the new german friend.

Did you try to call your number? And if you tried it, did you note that you pay for the call while you're waiting for the answer? :ranting2:

It's incredibile but calling a GT number you don't have a normal tone, but you have a voice "We're connecting to..." that you pay before the answer :thumbdown:

So you have to pay for every outgoing call to a GT customer :sad:

That's nice. But who the hell pays for this? :D

I don't think if you should worry with missing SMSes. Thanks to the delayed billing you may pay for them a month (or even more) later :).

the not answered calls :devil:

This is true, too... also I have problems with H3G Italy: I can send/receive with Tim, vodafone and Wind, but not with 3 ITA.

Arrrgh, so we know who pays for these free incoming calls... :P

Yes, I agree, just tried it, if the caller gets to the "please wait while we try to connect your call" it gets charged (from Skype Out at least). Does seem like a way to make extra revenue, but since in most cases when I don't answer it's going to go to voicemail anyway, the caller would still get charged.

Note it's just the caller who gets charged, even when roaming in a pay country I don't get charged for not answering a call.

BTW, what type of ringing tone do you hear when you call a gt-sim? I get a UK-style ring, which is my normal ring and the normal ring for a +44 7. I was wondering if it was different for other "home" countries, i.e. an Italian ring for an gt-sim with a "free incoming Italy" account?

My account doesn't have any charges on it for SMS or GPRS yet either.

Hello,

yes, incoming calls are free for me in Germany. I think it works like this: when subscribing to GT-SIM, you give your address, which is your home-country. In this country, incoming calls are free.

Question is, which countries can be chosen? For example, my girl-friend is in the Philippines. If she also subscribes to GT-SIM, I will call an English number, and she answers the call, and wont be charged? This would be quite cheap for me, as calling an English (mobile) number, for me is cheaper than calling a philippine mobile number (and the quality should be better).

I never tried to call myself, but regarding the question, what happens if you call a GT-SIM number: you are charged from the moment you call, even when the person does not answer. I don't know, what the story behind this could be. But a guess is, that they do this, to avoid the subscriber working with callback-services like Enlinea.

Or it has real technical reason. As I heard from customer care, GT-SIM has (belong others?) two switches: one at MCI in London, one at MCI in Hamburg. The german customers are routed via the Switch in Hamburg, the British customers are routed via the switch in London. The switch in Hamburg is not ready for CLI yet, means, a German subscriber will never see the number of a caller. An SS7-upgrade is planned for February of next year.

I don't know yet, which switches are used for other customers, outside UK and Germany. Do you see number of an incoming caller? (As here are subscriber from Poland, Italy and other countries).

Concerning the number-range, GT-SIM has agreements with Manx Telecom, O2 UK and Orange UK. They have number ranges from these operators. Seems that currently, they only use Manx. As far as I understood, the issue with GT is, that they are terminating the calls themselves (therefore "Global Termination") and they can offer reasonable prices therefore. In my eyes, this means that calls to English subscribers are terminated in MCI London and calls to German subscribers in MCI Hamburg (and not in Manx Telecom). But I am not 100% sure, if I understood this correctly.

Bye for now and regards,
Klaus

Yes, I hear this "UK-style" ringing-tone, while a female voice announces, that I will be connected. I am charged meanwhile. By the way, you hear the same ringing tone and announcement, if you call customer care using the callback-functionality on their homepage.

By the way: has somebody tested voicemailbox? When I call 121 to listen to my messages, I get the callback, I answer, but I don't hear anything. Well, I am not charged either, but I wonder, if listening to voicemail works. Changing voicemail-settings (ON/OFF) and asking for the status, is free of charge. Does listening to voice-mail cost?

Has someone tested call-forward, which should be possible due to instructions on the SIM package?

Regards,
Klaus

I tried the voicemail (see earlier in this thread) - worked at that time, but just tried it again. Dead air when trying to pick it up, so looks like something broke. Got an SMS to notify me of a message (in fact got three). Still no way to hear the message online, which is an advertised feature that's not working yet. Even from the US a call to 121 seems to be not charged (which would be nice, if it worked).

The last time I tried it (last week) call forwarding was still not working. It's also a "coming soon" feature - might be worth mentioning it again to them though so they know there are people that need it.

Looks like gt-sim is still very much in beta-test if voicemail breaks and they don't notice. I'll be using it very little in the next few months as I'm now in the US (too expensive) and Mexico (no roaming partner).

If you mean me, I'm not a GT-sim subscriber from Poland, I'm just curious about it :).

BTW, this unusual charging of the calling party makes me think that whereas GT seems to be a good SIM for outgoing calls (except USA, Canada and India of course), for incoming calls UM, 09 or 0044 are better for both parties of a call.

Yes, exact.

No, I have the usual Uk-style ring in Italy too.

Me neither.

I think that too!

I suppose every country where they can post and where you can use the sim, Philippines too.

Yes, she wont be charged. But this trick is already usual thanks to Riiing... for calling a my friend in China it's better (and cheaper!) to call him on FL number than on a chinese one! :) For FL I can pay only 9.5 ?/ct for minute :thumbup:

Yes, you are charged from the moment you call :ranting2: , event the other person doesn't answer...

Sure a technical reason, but imho not so "real"...

Yes, I can see the number... also I have aciteved my GT-sim for outgoing ID but it's not working yet :(

Not yet

Just a short question:

Since GT-Sim has GPRS roaming, has anyone tried to set up MMS service like explained on manxpronto? Wondering if that will work!

:ranting2: depends on the country where you are calling from andrea!!!
for me it costs 17pence a minute to call RIING and only 0.9pence to call a chinese number, so this doesnt add up for me !

I never tried because italian networks don't have international MMS.. so I can't test it :cold:

Yes, you're right :)

Also it's very expensive your tariff for FL mobile numbers! :(

technically its the cheapest possible tarriff from any mobile operator in the uk AFAIK ! (02) , if you now cheaper please let me know :bye2:

Then how is China 0.9p? - with inclusive minutes and calling card? - then why not compare like with like?

In fact both Liechtenstein and China mobiles can be reached from inclusive minutes on O2

calling cards are very reliable for calling china, thats not a problem.

The big problem is trying to find a calling card that can dial +423....


So far i have had no luck whatsoever, with the cards i tried there was
a really big lag in getting the signals through

Tried to send MMS from and to my GT-SIM.

When sending, the phone tells me ok, on the other phone (my LUXGSM-number) the download begins, but then en error message "unknown format" is displayed.

Just the same for the other way around.

On the Manxpronto pages:
"Currently picture messaging is only available to and from mobiles on the Pronto Connect network"

So, seems to be for Manxpronto customers for the moment, perhaps some day it will work.

I used GT-sim in Lausanne and Geneva last week. No problem with sms and incoming calls (honestly I received only one call and i didn't pay for it! :) )

<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'> 08-12-2005 20:23 roaming in SWITZERLAND |<- incoming call 417869***** 0:00 0.38 0.00 </span>

Also I had lot of troubles for outgoing calls... I tried with Orange CH, Sunrise and Swisscom but I had the same problems. 1,2,3,10 times before to be connected! :( I hope that this was only a swiss problem.