Review of Truphone
 

Thanks to a member here - I learned that there were new unlocked quad-band phones with Truphone SIMS on Ebay going for about $24. There was $15 in prepaid credits on the SIM.
We spent two weeks touring Portugal and Spain via car. Strictly a personal trip. We only ran up 14.5 minutes. All calls were local within the country we were in. Only 4 calls.
Quality was excellent. We got no incoming calls. Their website is easy to use and we could have recharged easily. However, unless you are traveling in what they call "Tru Countries", the cost is quite high. Now they only have 3 countries (UK, US, Australia). They claim they will have 20 by the end of 2012 with 6 of those "coming soon".
Eg. Calls within the 2 countries were 51 cents/min. Incoming would have been 21. Calls to the US would have been a prohibitive 86 cents. I had a US number on the phone.

We did make moderate use of the free UMA calling to US numbers where we had wifi w. our TMobile BBerrys. We always try to pick a hotel with free wifi - which we were able to do just over half the time. There were a few restaurants with open wifi as well.

Bottom line - Truphone is not a "tru" international SIM when it comes to saving money in most of the 200 countries they do provide service. Their data rates, when compared with other SIMS, are good - $2.17/mb in many countries. However, if its mainly data you need via cell - Abroadband.com will be the way to go at 59 Euro cents/mb in about 55 countries. I see on their web site they do intend to make product available everywhere "soon".

...mike

If only you could have received some calls from the US to your american number. That would have been nice. 21 cents. Thanks for the report. Did you happen to see if Tru used more than one network in either country? Thanks for the report.

You are right - should have had a friend make a test call. Could have had wife call me from one of our BBerry phones. And, didn't make notice what systems it had logged in in either country.
I'll do better reporting next time. The main points I can make was that dialing and connecting was as quick as at home and voice quality was excellent.


...mike

We recently were in Australia for 2 weeks, and had no trouble with truphone sim cards using US and Australian numbers, as data was only 10c/MB compared to $30/day for hotel wifi!

here is something weird, though,
using an unlocked Samsung Vibrant on Froyo and I just put in the tru sim +1(857)362-7977 for my wife in her (identical) phone for a trip to Canada.
Testing it out while still in Boston, I found that it makes calls OK, picks up 3G data, but cannot receive calls while wifi is on! I switch wifi off, and it can receive calls, at least around 50% of the time.

When I call the phone, after about 5 rings, I get a man’s voice saying call cannot be connected, subscriber might be out of the service area.
========================
- just now tried to replicate this on my own Vibrant with a different tru sim (we have two), and no problems....


anyone had a similar problem receiving calls using truphone sim while connected to wifi?

I'm traveling to Europe tomorrow, and was checking out sim card options for my Samsung Vibrant...

Truphone has just reduced their rates, by taking away the monthly $15 "membership" fee, so the low rates are now standard in the US, UK, and Australia. see http://www.truphone.com/en-AU/Produc.../Rate-Checker/

You can also buy a local number in these 3 countries for $8 a month (and cancel as soon as you don't need it).


of course, it's still more than skype, but competitive with locally available sim cards - I've usually used Orange for UK trips.

Tru Rate Reduction
 

Good catch! I am a little disappointed I did not catch that first as I check their site almost daily. Of course, the two test SMSs I sent 12 hours ago and now still were charged at the old rate of 12cents instead of the new 10cents.

The PDF rate chart makes absolutely no sense to me.

The 12c had tax/fees included and the 10c does not. The rate is the same. Personally I like having the tax/fees included so you know the true rate. However adding 2c to all the rates seems to be what they are charging. The PDF does work but it's harder to read than the old rate listed on the web page.

My concerns is that with the elimination of the membership fee, there is some monthly fee to be charged for all. I will be pleased to be proven wrong, guess we have to wait a couple months and see what happens.

no monthly fee, as far I can see from the Truphone forum, but there is possibly a $3/month fee for inactive accounts (which a free balance-check call would avoid). They claim to be checking this, as their policies are unclear.

"unclear" is charitable
 

Especially since the dropping of the 'membership' concept, I suspect the rank and file CS representitives do not know with certainty what it takes to keep the SIM 'alive' without any inactivity fee. It was not all that clear before either. I fear that the is part of the great uncertainty. Rather than finding out if that is true or not I plan to make short phone calls on the first of the month [9cents instead of 12cents for SMSes] to do a monthly event. Of course some pesky months have 31 days and the last number I saw for activity was '30'. In earlier threads here the numbers 'floating' around were 90 and 120.

If anyone ever does get the inactivity fee could you please tell us the circumstances? I don't recall seeing here or in anyother forum anyone claiming to have been charged it. Perhaps Tru system is not yet programmed to charge it yet? Or correctly?

So far, Tru has proved to be a relatively inexpensive long life SIM for Americans. With the additional benefits of low cost use in UK and Oz; and moderate rates for Europe and the rest of the world when comparied to US carriers. The moderately 'high' initial price of $30 was offset for many of us here by getting a phone with the SIM for less on eBay a while back.

The doubt/frustation of not knowing the 'real' cost is offset by the fact that we have not gotten to that river yet.

though to be honest I'm surprised their business has survived this long, given the excruciatingly slow rollout to more countries. I don't understand if its technical or contractual issues, Abroadband managed to launch with dozens of countries in February (data only).

My impression of Tru is that they are well capitalized for a company of their size. The 'slow rollout' is of great pain to them also. The no membership fee thing will be nice as more countries come online. As soon as they get some golden countries they will have an amazing product.

Who knows how long it took Abroadband to get their idea out to market?

Starting a telecom company is not for the faint of heart. Waiting for dozens of countries or two before starting is no doubt a terrifying choice when no money is coming in.

One minute minimum on all US calls.
 

Did not want to start a new thread so I have put this here.
A long while ago, Tru announced that they were charging 1 minute rates on all calls. My US to US experience was that US outbound calls were charged a minimum of 30 seconds ==9cents. Received calls were always 1 minute =17cents. In the last month or so that has changed. Outbound calls are now also charged the one minute rate of 17cents.
[This is all US$ and for US to US calls.]

I had been making short outbound calls to keep my [8] SIMs alive. I will be sending SMSs now.

Tru is still a decent option for PAYG in the US for a short trip, esp. if you need data - have lent a visiting friend a tru sim in an old samsung Vibrant. 15c/MB for data, Piranha wants 40c/MB.

Hi, are you sure it’s only 15 US cents per MB. I have used both Sims and I was charged £0.20 per MB with Truphone and £0.25 Per MB with Piranha, I prefer to use my Piranha Sim in the US as it has cheaper outgoing and incoming calling rates with same SMS rates, but that is a personal preference. I am UK based.

Two issues:
1. US rates are US rates 15cents is really 17cents.

2. You UK SIM rate is: UK rate _is_ £0.20/MB.

Everyone is right, kinda!

if i am reading this right you are saying, there is one rate for US citizens and one for UK citizens, this all seems a little confusing and if they are defining cost on which country you come from a bit disturbing. I take the same applies in reverse. If this is the case I think I will stick with my Piranha Sim.

That is my gripe about Truphone. They claim that we get local rates when we visit the other country but they find ways to ding us.

If I take my Truphone SIM to France explain why I don't get EU minimum rates (which any British prepaid SIM will give me) or EU Minimum rates + say eight cents a minute to cover the fact that the US doesn't have surcharged mobile rates.

Tru is cheaper on phone data than Piranha, but Piranha seems better in most respects.

OK, the answer[s]!
 

It's not who you know, but what you have. The two SIMs have different 'home country' phone numbers. UK & US. I am going to be charitable and say that the costs _are_ different for these SIMs. If the cost are different, it seems wise to me to charge differently. The main issue then seemsto me is the inability to buy the 'other' SIM that we really, really want.


I think this overarching system of price differences is more than just dinging us. Its the way their system works. I think long term survival of their system requires them to do it.

I am starting to understand how this works now, with my Piranha i get 2 numbers free one US one UK, if i want another number on my Truphone, say a US number, I have to pay an extra £5.00 per month, which seems very steep. As for Data Rates it depends where you are traveling, in Europe the Piranha rates are much cheaper than Truphones, £0.35 per mb to Truphones £0.60 per mb, outside of the EU some countries covered by Piranha are very cheap, but most are silly prices and i would definitely leave data off if i travelled to those countries. On the whole the voice prices inside and out of Europe are much cheaper on Piranha. Anyways thank you both for your explanations, you have opened my eyes and made my mind up for me.

Further advice/observations
 

Most of the 'old pros' seem to always have at least two different SIMs with them when they travel. One will have a better rate. [My motto for digital photography is "Take two photos---one will be better." Of course one will be better, not necessarily good, but better than the bad one.]

Also, and more crucially, sometimes one will not work at all. For many various reasons.

My comment about Truphone's data rates was focusing on Truphone 3.5 countries -- The US, UK, Australia, and Netherlands.

Piranha also throws in their VOIP service and you need to sign up for a seperate service with TruPhone with a seperate account from Tuphone. I subscribe to more than one roaming carrier right now, but am thinking of ditching Truphone. Earlier this year I gave away my Maxroam SIM, and am will probably cancel Telna. I may substitute an Air Baltic card (or the variant of it -- can't remember the name -- which gives you a US number tied to it).

An interesting data service for folks interested in the Truphone group of countries is:

Globalgig

My comment about Truphone's data rates was focusing on Truphone 3.5 countries -- The US, UK, Australia, and Netherlands.

Piranha also throws in their VOIP service and you need to sign up for a seperate service with TruPhone with a seperate account from Tuphone. I subscribe to more than one roaming carrier right now, but am thinking of ditching Truphone. Earlier this year I gave away my Maxroam SIM, and am will probably cancel Telna. I may substitute an Air Baltic card (or the variant of it -- can't remember the name -- which gives you a US number tied to it).

An interesting data service for folks interested in the Truphone group of countries is:

Globalgig

For the moment, my ATT phone is still grandfathered on their unlimited international plan. For US$64.99 a month, I get unlimited on phone data everywhere in the world which has changed my focus somewhat. For example, in Panama I was able to make hour long VOIP Over 3g calls using my unlimited US VOIP plan. I could also use it to trigger callbacks. This SIM has also changed the balance for me on short trips in favor of roaming SIMs. I can set inbound calls to first (or simultaneously ring VOIP and then to the roaming SIM). If ATT pulls the plug on this plan, I will have to rethink things. Right now I am carrying an iPhone 4S and a Nokia Asha 311 quadband GSM/Pentaband HSPA phone with a Piranha SIM in it.

Thanks Stu
 

I really appreciate your insights as you seem to keep moving around and 'testing' a lot of different things. Thanks, also, for bringing Globalgig to our attention.

Same here - for the countries that I need these roaming sims for, maxroam is insanely expensive. So, I used up my credit and moved on a year ago or so. Same thing with truphone. Telna is just too unreliable for me, so I stopped using that too. I now just have Piranha, and Ekit. Have not traveled with piranha yet, but ekit has served me well. When I am in UK/France, I just use my UK sim card.

I moved the posts talking about Piranha Mobile into Piranha Mobile thread.
Please here talk about truphone.
Thanks.

Effendi, just a note about International Cards: Truphone issues true UK numbers, not Jersey/IoM/etc. numbers :)

Effendi,

I politely disagree with your position. We were comparing Piranha with Truphone. Severing the threads divorces the meaning. For example, Tux just posted that Truphone differs from most roaming SIMs because the number issue is a true UK number (versus a Jersey, Guernsey, or Isle of Mann number range). I was going to answer that Piranha also issue genuine UK numbers, but you were forced to use callback in the UK? Am I violating the spirit of your decision by doing this?

Truphone continually keeps me intrigued with their hints about where they intend to go, but lets me down in many of their day-to-day things. Their rates for their U.S. prepaid service are more expensive than most U.S. prepaid providers and their rates for the UK or Australia aren't wonderful.

There are a number of things they could do to increase their sales and keep their rates competitive ATT for example will sell me 125 megs of British/Australian/Dutch (or French, German, Italian, or most EU places) for US$30. (I don't need it because of my previously described grandfathered plan). Tru could offer similar bundles.

Why doesn't Tru offer these kind of bucket offers or something akin to TMobile US discount by the day rates? E.g. $3 a day gives you unlimited calls to US, UK, and Australian landlines, and a discounted rate to UK/Australian mobiles plus 100 megs of local data for the country you are in for that day?

They could tinker somewhat with the rates and make it a text to activate plan. They could offer discounts if you reach gold status (spend $100 with them not counting the price of the SIM).

Maybe the thread should have been retitled, "Comparison of Tru and Piranha".

you are correct Tru and Piranha do issue true UK numbers (if anyone knows of any others please add to thread), which is a big plus for UK customers as they come within bundled UK contracts, however if we are still allowed to compare Sims for the benefit of all, Piranhas outgoing calls/data in the EU are much cheaper via call-back versus direct and incoming rates are lower in many countries in and outside of the EU. I would have to say both companies seem to be the most competitive on the market at present. I do use my Piranha more but this is only due to some of the very high costs Tru charge outside of the EU.

I think Telna also issues real UK Mobile numbers. I'm not one hundred percent positive. Maxroam has some available as well but be careful because everyone gets a Jersey number as well, at least they didn't when I used them.

Did you notice that Truphone charges 0.34€/min instead of the 0.31€/min published on their website?

piranha mobile, maxroam, ekit uk simple plus simcard and telna ONLY offer real UK mobile numbers

I am not aware that Telna also gives UK numbers. My sim only has a US number.

I am sorry. I don't know to what you are referring? I have never seen Tru rates in Euros before.

Since I live in Italy, Truphone charges me in €. In the rate checker, try to put "Italy" in the field "I live in", and put another country in EU. They say the cost is 0.31€, but they still charge 0.34€.

OK. Thank you. Have you asked them? I suspect they know the answer.

Had this issue with them for voice and text while in the UK... Sent them a spreadsheet with the call details and corrections and they refunded me the difference with no issue. Would like to think that they would have fixed this in their billing system. Not all that professional when you have to keep them honest...

Truphone offers real UK numbers...

Truphone GSM SIM | TruTower

I tried to make some other calls and they've been billed correctly (I haven't told them anything).

Anyway, another thing I noticed: reduced rates for Netherlands. Are them true? :D

Calling: 0.20€/min
Receiving: 0.06€/min
SMS: 0.12€
Data: 0.13€/MB

Roman Abramovich took about the 23% of Truphone :D

Truphone completes planned funding round of £75m