New World Sim Company truphone.com
 

Website
truphone.com

News
Truphone Intros 'Local Anywhere SIM' (Phone Scoop)

Looks like there rates from the USA to UK are the only good rates. I think that I will keep an eye on them.

Check back in a couple of months on this one and see where they are at. I expected them to launch with more than two countries.

I sense another round of fund raising coming!!

This is only appealing for UK travelling to US or vice versa and is NOT a money saving roaming SIM card.

Using Economy Call back rate:

UAE

Receive £0.60
To UK landline and mobile £1.19.

EU

Receive £0.18
To UK landline and mobile £0.35.

US (No call back available)

Receive £0.50
To UK landline and mobile £0.75.

These figures are no cheaper than your normal MNO!

Based on the fact that Truphone announced this at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2009 you may want to check back in a little over two months. Getting such agreements in place with other Operators requires a lot of technical development, commercial negotiations and does take considerable time.

It was certainly my impression this was first rumoured about a year ago, about the same time they increased quite a few tariffs on their existing product.

I can't find one thing... is there a required top up (monthly, yearly?) or is there no expiry date?

I remember Awayphone tried the multi number thing a year or two ago - they closed down after they found it wasn't possible. United Mobile tried it too and failed. Sim4Travel said they would have it for sure two years ago, but didn't.

My Ekit Sim seems to be the first to have it, but only two numbers, a US and and a UK one, although unfortunately it doesn't work that well and not as cheap as the single number Sim

Would be cool if someone could figure it out... and actually have it running reliably before they send out "Coming soon" newsletters!

So far seems like Truphone is more interested in splashy announcements and events than delivering best prices and services. Was intrigued at first but as said above, seems like a lot of stuff done for sake of raising investment and not to provide world class service to customers ... hoping they improve once funding is secured (if it is).

I just read on another forum that they are now giving away free SIM's which come loaded with 5 GBP or 7.50 US$ of call credit.

See: Truphone Local Anywhere - Find out more

Apparantly the promo code to enter is F23T5J, though that may well be a referral code of the person who was mentioning it on that form.

Thanks for that information. Maybe they intended one promo code per user (like an "invite") so although I've ordered a card (US address) it'll be interesting to see if they get too many requests.

I can't find any information about validity and expiry either (but at a price of zero I'll take a chance on that). US prices (from the US, at the "local" rates) are fine, especially to international landlines.

But the roaming rates are weird - some are very high (Mexico), on some the "standard" rate is cheaper than callback (France, Spain, calling US) and some are just plain garbled (Cook Islands - I think it sort of implies texts and data only, no voice, probably an error).

(edit) in the T&C it has "We shall be offering the Truphone Local Anywhere SIM card and its services (the Product) to all Truphone customers and SIM4Travel customers (Customers) who have given Truphone prior consent to use their personal data for marketing purposes (Offer)." - so it's probably only valid for existing customers.

I've been more pleased with eKit than albino. Their second IMSI is handy for the US and Canada. Truphone's VOIP always priced themselves too high. It was a good product, but they were competing against British mainstream carriers. That was it.

Free SIM are for people they emailed.
 

I called them and they said the free SIM promo was for people they sent an email to with the promo code.

Ah OK. SO I presume I will not get that free SIM I ordered with that code above, as at least a 1000 people have probably used the same promo code! :(

hmmm, having just looked back through some emails (to last Wednesday), I think I can confirm that the codes ought to differ

I think you have to make one call a month to keep it active, though I find their site very confusing and vague. Rates go up and down (up, up, up, mostly, actually). At first Canada rates was $.75 per minute and $1 per 1mb data, which was quite good, now it's $1.05/m and almost $3/mb... not so attractive anymore. USA local has gone up from $.10/m to $.15/m as well... anybody got their card yet? Does it work with Google Voice?

Truphone new 07408 sim card
 

Truphone has released there new "LOCAL" sim card. The mobile number used for the UK is now 074088 xxxxx.
This has a FM5 charge band.:eek: This is a higher call rate than there original truphone 079788 number (FM3) :nono:

So if you intend to use there data service to logon to truphone or use there roaming service, Looking at there rates as this could work out very expensive. NO FREE ROAMING :flush:

BT PRICE PLAN

- -- - Day - Evening - Weekend
fm1 - 12.41 - 11.74 - 3.61
fm2 - 24.01 - 17.03 - 7.65
fm3 -14.53 - 7.84 - 6.97
fm4 -13.33 - 10.84 - 5.88
fm5 -15.44 - 8.03 - 5.01
fm6 -21.54 - 16.11 - 3.93
fm7 -14.91 - 8.41 - 7.15

Just to note that we www.travelsim.co.uk use a FM1 charge band

I received the local sim card a few days ago. I'm happy with it so far, at least you can call and be called :) It is roaming on Rogers. A few observations/questions:
- I haven't managed to get data to work. I set it to "use data when roaming", but it won't connect to the Internet at all. I'd like it to work for emergencies... any ideas?
- Google Voice does not work with it, or at least it won't accept the voicemail option. Not a big deal really. I have not tried to call using GV yet.

So far, so good. I always wanted a cellphone without any subscriptions or ties. Here in Canada even prepaid cards force you to top up your card once a month with at LEAST $10, and you get all kinds of extra fees such as 911 access (mandatory fee), and number recognition/voicemail/call waiting (optional).

Now, with these international roaming cards, With these you have only one obligation and that is make one call a month to have it stay active. Now, let's hope Truphone doesn't go belly-up like some others...

Would a Canadian local sim be a better choice ?
 

You do know you have a inbound call charge of $0.70 per minute and to call within Canada will be $1.25 per minute.

999, 112, 911 services or any other emergency service is not available

Would a Canadian local sim be a better choice ?

i'm wondering how this could not be available - i mean this even works if you toast your SIM card... :-)
Chris

No! :p

Even with the obligatory 1 call a month, in that case I only pay $1.05 per minute (not yet $1.25 thank goodness). It seems to calculate by the second as well, so it would probably be less than that.

Apart from that, I hate hate HATE the local companies here, period. I'm a spoiled European! I don't want to be FORCED to pay $10 top-up whether I need it or not, or lose my number! As WELL as pay $0.45 per month obligatory emergency fee, as WELL as tax, as WELL as pay seperately for call waiting, voicemail and call display, never seen such a rip off.

I cannot imagine why 911 would not work, though I have not tested it yet, for obvious reasons. However even without a simcard, it says "emergency calls only", I thought being able to make emergency calls was pretty much a given in any country.

Could be wrong, but i thot you could dial 112 or 911 even w.o. a SIM installed.

911 -999
 

Yes you can dial emergency services without the sim card, but I guess due to truphones call-back settings they may have blocked emergency services.


Sim card and credit will expire if not use !

To use truphones local anywhere you have to pay a monthly fee.

I said that, one phone call a month. Obviously you will need credit for that. It is normal for any company to have your card expire if you don't use it for a certain time period, 180 days short, but not entirely unreasonable.

Nope, you got that wrong actually, that is if you buy a LOCAL number.

"In order to receive these local call rates you must purchase a monthly local rate option."

Notice the difference?

As for 911, I cannot and will not try it, but I simply don't believe you... I can't believe any sim company would block it without getting in trouble with the law.

Look, I understand you are trying to sell your own sim, but please get your facts straight... ;) I'm not defending any company, Truphone means nothing to me, but I can't stand spreading half truths and slander...

Isn't Ekit's passport a better deal for Canada? Get a cheap Canadian DID or a free US one and forward it to their UK number for US $0.09 a minute from siptraffic.

US$100 will get you a year's service on TMobile USA which can be used in Canada for 45 US cents a minute.

Thanks, worth looking into I guess... :)

T-Mobile USA's roaming rates in Canada are 69 cents/minute, not 45.

One thing I must say about Truphone: their data rates are not bad at all. I played with that yesterday, looked up a few web pages, checked email, logged into Nimbuzz, and total cost was $0.22. For emergency emails and web surfing, this will certainly do :)

Sophia

What kind of speed do you get in data downloading with
The sim in Canada. Is it 3g speed or much lower?

911
 

Have a look at truphones terms and conditions. They clearly state that you cannot use 911, 112, 999 emergency services on there sim card. :o

911
 

Stu

How do you forward the did number to Ekit I'm number using
SIPTraffic? Can you explain how you to this.

Much lower, it's only EDGE, but then again I don't think where I am right now there is any 3g available at all, it's rather out in the bush and I was surprised to get a signal at all, but in a few weeks I'll be traveling to Europe and will post an update then :)

Easyroam, I'm truly not sure what you are trying to prove here... :nono: Are you that desperate for customers that you need to badmouth the competition?

Here: Cheap Calls using VoIP with Truphone - Your Mobile VoIP Provider

In particular:

Now, where exactly does it clearly state that you cannot use emergency calls on their sim card?

You MUST be joking... :-x

not really. at least here in germany no emergeny dispatcher will argue with you if you simply tell them that you wanted to make sure that the 911 service will work with this phone.
Better than finding out that it doesnt work when you will eventually (hopefully never) need it...

Chris

Haha, well it's a bit of a silly "argument" really... point is Truphone does NOT say it doesn't work, and I see no reason to take 'm to task just for the sake of proving some dealer wrong who is trying to spread untruths... :)
But by all means, somebody take 'm to task if it's that important, me, I have lived without a cell phone most of my life and still consider it a decadent luxury to some degree, not to mention it stops working 5 minutes out of town where we live due to no cell towers, no emergency can compete with THAT :D

I am willing to bet you can connect to 911, 112 etc with ANY SIM card - even one long dead. I know you can here (US). Also, don't at least some phones allow you to connect w.o. any SIM?

I think they all do, snidely, and that is why I call BS on that statement, as well as a few other lies in this thread that were easily proven wrong. I really don't understand why some people feel the need to kick others in order to promote their own products... it sure makes the choice easy whose SIMs I shall never buy!

This varies quite a bit between countries. In some, making emergency calls without a SIM card is not possible.

This includes the UK, where in addition it has only fairly recently (last October) been made possible for the phone to roam to a different network to make an emergency call.

Germany recently made it necessary to have a SIM card in the phone, to reduce prank calls

It is said that in some other countries, credit is needed on a valid SIM, though the call is free.

Some good news: TRUPHONE SIM CARD
 

There are some TRUPHONE LOCAL ANYWHERE CALL SIM CARD being sold for $3.99 on eBay. No shipping. And $7.50 credit.

Great :) I saw Australia got added too as local place, so the ones heading there are in a bit of luck then :D

Just so you know.......
 

Since there might be some here who have now bought more than one SIM card: I asked the seller if, "Is there a time limit for activating the SIM?"

I've just received the free sim, with $7.50 in calling credit on it (sent to a US address). (thanks for mentioning the offer).

Activated it OK on the website. I could choose a US number for it at activation time. Pick a state and you're given a number to either accept or roll the dice again. After a few tries I got a reasonable 213 Los Angeles number (appears to be from a T-mobile block).

Prices look excellent in the US, but in Mexico it only roams on Movistar (not Telcel) and the prices are too high for any use (as I knew, it's for other countries). Roaming doesn't seem to be seamless, had to manually select a network each time, wasn't picked up on an automatic search. Received a test SMS from Google Voice OK (free), sent a reply OK - but the outgoing sms was billed 15% higher than the website prices. (they do say the prices exclude tax, but it is unclear what taxes if any would apply in this case).

I noticed there was no email address, online chat, or web form ticket system when I went to the web site to ask about the rate difference. Seems it's phone calls only (which is a bit tricky if your support request involves not being able to phone!). I haven't tried a support call as it's unclear whether that is chargable.

Next time I'm in the US I'll test it properly. That's if sending one sms a month will avoid the (undefined) inactivity fee, the terms do say it has to be a "call" each month.

Rob