Which card with IoM number to choose?
 

Hello,

I am looking for an international prepaid SIM with

- Isle of Man number
- free incoming calls in Western European countries
- unlimited validity of credit (one usage each 6 months is okay)
- low initial cost
- no "annual renewal fee"

optional:

- low rate for sending SMS
- better charge than 60/60

The rates for outgoing calls are less important.

Which SIM would you recommend?

I'd say freeglobalsim meets that spec. There is actually "no" initial cost. you only pay for the credit you get. It's free shipping.

FreeGlobalSim.com have the best prices, and very good www system.
but the best customer support is from Sim4TheWorld.com and they still offer +447624
freeglobalsim offer only +447924

There is one very important thing.
Good Prices can change in a moment when You pay money
When You TOP UP 55Ł it will only TOPUP 98/96$
but it should be about 103/105$
They exchenge TOPUP money with not good currency :)

What's the advantage of +447624 over +447924 ?
Both are Isle of Mans numbers, right ? Is it about the prices to reach them ?

Exactly. Some carriers consider 07624 as landline. In my country calls to 07924 calls are cheaper than calls to 07624 from some landline carriers

The question about cheaper 7924 is "how long?" :-P

OK thanks. I've been a United Mobile user since last August but it's quite expensive to reach this number and sometimes I can't send sms, it mostly works but impossible to send to a Swedish number and I got difficulties to an Estonian one also. So I'll surely buy a new international SIM and these IoM seem to be a good alternative.
So +447624 are very interesting since I can call UK landlines for free.
By the way, nice forum, thanks !

Przemolog, you mean that this "cheat" won't last ?

Let me explain - there are two issues
1) Cheap 7624 (billed as landlines) - it's valid for SkypeOut (and I don't know if there is anything more)
2) "Cheap" 7924. Prion means that some Greek operators bill 7624 more than UK mobile numbers and 7924 just like UK mobiles. I'm afraid that they will adjust 7924 rates to those of 7624 when they realise that they are "the same" :-P.

As to SMS interchange - usually you can send SMS internationally when the two networks involved have the roaming agreement. UM only recently has extended to its coverage to Estonia and, AFAIK, roams on one network only (Elisa). About Sweden, it roams on Telia and Telenor...

Correct! The main telecom operator in Greece (OTE) charges very high rates to reach both prefixes (07624 & 07924) since last year. Other carriers do not as I have mentioned.....

Well OK then I don't really care about 7624 or 7924.
What's about the roaming agreements, you seem to know them so do you also know which one have more agreements ? My guess is UM as they are the oldest but what's about GlobalSim for example ? I'm not asking for a precise comparative but let's limit it to Europe.

You can find the roaming agreements on the "original" operators' sites:
- FL1 for United Mobile
- Manx for IoM based sims
- EMT for Travelsim
- Siminn for 09 Mobile

Or you can look on GSMworld at the roaming page, looking for the above mentioned operators.
Anyway SMS interconnection will always have some problems, and considering that SMS usually are quite expensive too while roaming, I think it's not a great idea to use them if you want to be sure to communicate with someone else...