Ok, this week's competition is to find a new international SIM card every day of the week.

Here's my entry, on sale at Orate in UK, formerly a United Mobile agent. In a brief phone call, he told me that it is based in Iceland.

http://www.orate.co.uk/Roaming/Index.html

112 free incoming roaming countries, 170 countries in total.

Unless he's developed the whole product himself, the 09 may just be a rebrand, referring to the use of a call-through number in UK to enable cheaper calls to reach it from landlines. That access costs 20p/min from BT, whereas other call-through access to Iceland mobile starts from 8p or 10p/min via 0871 numbers

Orate also aren't necessarily cheap for SIMs ... so it is worth looking for other suppliers, just like the other one


We need to run a sweepstake for the next country to have an international SIM - favourite candidates so far - Andorra, Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Singapore

I found this from a Google search, not from an occasional revisit to Orate ... more searching needed ...

I found this 3 year old article, and wonder if there is any connection

http://worldcell.com/web/sectionid/1015/ty.../96/company.asp

When I spoke to Orate, I mentioned the roaming on ferries, provided by Siminn, but he didn't make any comment; perhaps I should have asked which network ...


edit - hmmm ....

http://www.worldcell.com/web/page/1022/sec.../technology.asp

This one looks like Riiing, looking at the rates...

certainly the rates look very similar, but ...

1. there are more countries in total - 170 vs UM about 110

2. free incoming roaming in 110 - UM's new product around 80

3. he said Iceland

I'm reading this

http://worldcell.com/pdf/RSB.pdf

it's got some interesting stuff, even if it turns out to have no connection with this operation

edit - having looked at Worldcell's tariffs, I rather suspect that they are not behind this ........ $2.29/min outgoing calls in Europe; $0.99 incoming

Especially those 49 cents for an SMS :P
But the coverage is much better. And this 20 cents surcharge to calls to mobile is rather like in the old UM :)

Jersey, Guernsey, Faeroe, Luxembourg....
I think that's a great way for telecoms in small countries to go outside the "natural" boundaries of their businesses :)

The offer is interesting.

There are some interesting countries on this list -- Mexico, UAE, Kuwait, Ecuador, and Pakistan. Many of these are expensive roams for many other countries. Mexico and the UAE is particularly interesting to me.

The offering also covers Oceania a little better than before (Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, French Polynesia,etc.

Callbackworld will give you a US 800 number which will connect to this number for $US0.15. I'm currently paying $US0.14 a minute for Riiing.

Has anyone figured out the expiration on this number.

Stu


List of Free incoming Calls With Orate

Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Balearic Islands, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Faeroes, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Guinea, Hercegovina, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Madeira, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia , Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.


Free Incoming Calls With Riiing
(Countries in ALL CAPS Are Not Free Incoming on Orate)

Aland Islands (Finland), Albania, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-hercegovina, Bosnia-hercegovina Srpske, Brazil, Bulgaria, CHINA, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, DOMINICA, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Kosovo (Serbia), Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldavia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, PUERTO RICO, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovac Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Sweden, Switzerland, TANZANIA, Turkey, United Kingdom, UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLAND

You missed Romania (Origination Zone 4, Orate's spelling is Rumania BTW) http://www.orate.co.uk/Roaming/09tariff.html

it's a pity for China... with Riiing is free, with "09 Mobile" no... :(

Also it's very interesting, I'd like to have another international sim card :P So I'll have more int.l cards that italian ones :lol:

I notice New Zealand is on the orate free roaming list which is conspicuously totally absent from riiing.

So what is it guys...is this a good deal...is this related to UM...are there places to beat the ?34.99 price...I trust you guys completely for the right info.

I suppose that "09 Mobile" is using for the service Siminn, already famous here for the satellite coverage on the greek fleets :P

It seems to me there are chances it will become available from other suppliers as well - the Isle of Man SIMs have appeared from 3 so far, with product variations.


It may well be Siminn, but I'm wondering what would happen if someone contacted that Viking/Worldcell operation, which obviously has global plans rather than 6 towns in Iceland.

I'm probably going to buy this SIM, but I'm still trying to pull some information off their website. I'd like to know what the costs of outgoing calls are beyond Group I. I'd like to know what the price of incoming calls are beyond Group III. I'd like to know expiratation dates, etc. Does the service have voicemail? Does it work better than Riings? Who else offers it.

What doesn't make sense to me is that they purport to offer free incoming calls in countries where incoming calls are not generally free, (e.g. Mexico and Kuwait), but charges for some countries where incoming calls are free (e.g. Tanzania and Kenya). I thought for a minute about whether they subsidize the costs of incoming calls in really cheap countries, but Hong Kong should make that list in a heart beat.

Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted to get the UAE. My wife's biggest clients are there and I go there all the time.

Orate's website doesn't give enough information. I think we might need to make an informal Wiki to 09.

To Effendi and AndreA. I've build a Excel Spreadsheet comparing country by country Riiing and Hop. I'm thinking of updating this to include 09 as well. If we do this, I do this, do you think we can put it into some country searchable database. With Riiing and 09 I'm rethinking when I buy a prepaid in a country. It used to be that I would buy a prepaid if I was there more than two days. It has been drifting upward quickly. Between Skype and Riiing, I've skipped many countries. My wife worked for two weeks in Turkey and just used Riiing.

Stu

I'd be real curious about multiple vendors. My wife is transferring to Dubai in April of 06. I'm going to be in the UAE three quarter time. Her office is in Knowledge Village (next to Internet City). Think how many of those SIMs I could resell there.

In response to Andy's post, I found this link:

http://www.worldcell.com/web/page/1067/sec...5/solutions.asp

Maybe the 09 brand does go a bit deeper. I only just noticed the short code speed dials I hadn't seen before - 090, 091, 092, 093,** and the alternate CS number for calling from a landlline +354 585 0909. So is that a landline or mobile? How to look up Iceland's area codes?


** another idea borrowed from UM


edit 2 - according to my bill for speaking to them just now, it's a landline number

I do agree that riiing has changed what I do when touring too...two years ago I did a tour through Scandanavia with 3 or 4 day stops in Norway, Sweden and Denmark and didn't both with local sims. I relied on my T Mobile US roaming with its obnoxeous 99?/minute rounded up for both making and receiving calls and while I didn't get all that many calls nor make all that many calls, judt didn't feel it worth the time to start fooling with Swedish, Norwegian and Danish prepaids.

Riiing has been very very good to me. I think I related my trip through Eastern Europe this past June where it functioned flawlessly in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Austria. Incoming calls were all as clear as a mobile can be and using callbackworld and enlinea I had no difficulty with the outgoing calls. Foolishly I set up my voicemail from riiing using riiing and so the ?15 was reduced to ?12 and change but since then have sent one sms to keep the account active within the 9 month restriction but for the rest callbackworld and enlinea for outgoing.

Now there were admited problems with cbw and enlinea in July but my latest experience with cbw and enlinea was in August in the UK where it functioned almost perfectly.

That being said, I am always on the lookout for other cards and if this card include Mexico, so much the better although of course I won't get the US 12? rate on enlinea for the Liechtenstein mobile.

Incidentally, recently the riiing voicemail system is no longer giving the annoucement in German and English that the subscriber is not available if the phone is off. Calls seem to be going right into riiing voicemail with the phone off as I know somebody on this board had complained bitterly about that and considered riiing voice mail unusable...this seems to be working okay.

My next European tour is in January to Germany (have a local sim), Italy (no local sim), Switzerland (no local sim), Paris (Orange FR yes) and finally to London (several local sims)....will be in London for a week visiting friends at the end and I do prefer the British local sims (thanks to Andy for giving me suggestions to undercut even riiing and cbw for outgoing) so we'll see.

But I have this technology sickness too that likes to collect sims and be able to have all sorts of phone numbers..itis a sickness I know but what the heck....

another seller on eBay (in Oxford; Orate in Ipswich)

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Interactive-Phone...storeviewQQtZkm

same firm on eBay Ireland

that's all the Google results for > "09 mobile" roaming sim < at the moment; I can remember when Riiing was nearly that rare - PPGSM doesn't show yet, but this will be in there soon

ok, I take back my speculation - it is called 09 Mobile

it's been going about 2 months - the man I spoke to hadn't heard of Riiing/UM - he agreed the tariffs look remarkably similar - I said I suspected the people setting up his company might have seen Riiing

hmmmm, something very odd about Google then - why couldn't it find the company's own website - maybe it can't be arsed with domains in .is

http://www.09.is/here.php


I hope it will answer most of Stu's (and other) questions ...

I'll have a browse now and may ring them again later if anything needs clarification

the life of the card might be tricky for some - it needs topping up ... or does it?
I think we need a semantic or logic expert ... 'not or or', not 'not and' ...

the FAQ says -

The O9 web site has an order form...but it asks for your O9 number which you don't have nor does it have a price listed before asking for credit card details. Did anybody sign up with them on that site...I wonder if it is cheaper than the ?35 listed at the site Andy first suggested.......

I think it said somewhere ?43, but I'd didn't see postage - it's a bit cheaper if it's included

I think Stu ordered one - was that another thread?

I tried to contact 09.is and orate.co.uk 2 days ago... I'm still waiting for a reply

any luck so far?

no... :(

i write them again... :help:

the telephone works, but yes, it's nice to have written replies

I can call 09 for 2p/min; what do you want to ask?

care to elaborate andy :beer:

I just thought - sometimes a phone call gets more response than an email

i got that mate, i was just wondering what service do you use to call 09 mobiles for 2p/min?

I was talking of calling their (landline) customer service number, using Call18866.

agent in NJ, USA -- $65 though (cheaper direct from 09)

http://www.pharosint.com/09_international_roam_sim.html

I have not had any luck either. I generated a one-off credit card number with a credit limit set at a little more than the purchase price and attempted a purchase. No response. This is a screwy company.

Add on: After hanging up, I called Telestial. They have been granted dealer status and expect their first shipment in two weeks. Knowing Telestial, they won't be the cheapest offering in town, but they will be reliable.

Stu

I also tried ordering one nearly three weeks ago (free incoming in Mexico is good).

Heard nothing from o9 till yesterday, when they replied to my question about rates with a PDF information file. So I asked them what had happended to my order - next thing, I get an email from Orate telling me my order was passed on to them (but they don't take Amex cards yet so can't handle the order).

I haven't yet decided whether to bother calling Orate with another card number or cancel. If it's like this for ordering, what will delivery be like... The prices for outgoing calls in the US are really incredibly high also.

Can you post it? :)

Also you can use our official email: info@prepaidgsm.net

Thanks in advance : :D

It's similar to what is shown on the Orate site, except the Orate site includes a few extra destinations for clarity, such as Jersey etc, and has Singapore in two zones by mistake,adds Colombia, etc.

I can't think of a practical way to attach a PDF, so here's the text extracted from the information pack, minus formatting.
Note that Orate add 17.5% vat to the 25 euro recharge, so if you use an EU billing address you'd need to add 17.5% to the quoted per-minute prices. It's not clear if this applies to phone/online top-ups (or even if such top-ups exist yet).

Just a couple of observations on that ...

The number of countries is slightly indeterminate at the moment - somewhere between 150 and 170

On the life of the SIM - the man at CS told me this 9 months top-up version, but the FAQ on the site mentions to keep it valid, either top up or make a call in 9 months.
__
The vague question of VAT added again in UK seems to apply to Riiing as well; either that or the dealers here like charging more (so a ?15 Riiing top-up costs ?12.80 from Oneroam).

<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>I spoke to the Customs and Excise about this months ago, when I was thinking of buying 20 to 40 for friends; because Switzerland (and Iceland now) is not in the EU, VAT gets added, but can you buy at source for export without Swiss or Iceland VAT, and why doesn't something similar apply to Germany? - so it's cheaper (or it was) for UK users to buy from a German dealer.

The whole thing is a grey area anyway - where are the phone calls supplied (choice of up to 5 countries?); is the credit imported, or used in the country of origin or use? My guess is that one interpretation is that the SIM is exported, but not the credit, but that the various countries' tax authorities differ. Maybe UM are supplying from within the EU now? .... Yeah, I know .... yawn!</span>

So, like Riiing, it will be better for UK users to top up direct from the 09 site, if/when this becomes possible.

Perhaps the same tax ambiguities (for some buyers) will apply to the IoM SIMs as well ...