Anyone seen this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Global-SIM-Card-FREE...1QQcmdZViewItem

this is the same underlying SIM as the 0044 one, and sounds like similar prices

As he said - very new; just rolling out now, based on Manx Telecom (part of O2) ...

he hadn't heard of GT sim, so that tends to confirm these as probably separate from that one

... didn't have time for a long chat, but he has my phone number, and sounds like will get in touch ...

already posted in another thread its a product by 0044.co.uk , apparently, but somewhere they mentioned the number being +4477*** so im really confused :wacko:




see
http://www.geodesa.com/Sim_Cards/sim_cards.html

it puts you throught to 0044 online shop

The whole prepaid international SIM game begins to confuse me. I remember when your only choice was the Swiss easyRoam. :unsure:

I'm really surprised! Do you prefer "no choice" offer because it isn't confusing? :o

Sure, especially with that Icelandic one appearing the same week.

But the interesting thing for many people about this IOM-based one could be that the underlying network is part of O2, and should therefore (you'd hope) have the same roaming agreements and quality, perhaps making Mobal redundant for tariff differences.


It seems that this Geodesa and the 0044 products are the same, via different dealers with their own branding, and the GT SIM to have GT's own callback service overlaid on possibly the same SIM, a bit like Buytel was on UM.

An Icelandic prepaid international sim...I think I missed that one.

oops sorry I found the thread....

No. I'm just saying that once upon a time I thought I understood international prepaids. Right now, there are so many I'm not sure what I'd recommend or even how to pick one over the other.

IMHO you want something impossible.
In the matematical language, you would like introduce the linear order in the set of international prepaids :). I mean: for each two prepaids A,B there's a relation A<=B (A is worse or the same as B). And it's difficult to compare values of any two prepaids even for a specific person, nothing to say about comparison for any possible user.

Although Manx Telecom (fixed and mobile) is part of O2, the roaming agreements are different from 02 UK. For example Mexico is missing.

Maybe when (if) 02 is taken over by Telefonica, Mexico will be added - but Gibraltar deleted. :)

Oh sorry. I think the people selling these need to educate themselves a bit. UK number, call divert from mobile, now this ...

Hi

The Geodesa SIM is the same as the 0044 one, only it has ?10 inc. on the account.

Ed

Its not a 077 number its an 07624 and the 0044 product is the same as the GeoSIM, just diferrent dealers.

Dont be confused. Its a very simple product.

Andy

I think we spoke.

What do you mean "now this....."

May be I can clarify.

Ed

Whether we spoke or not, don't forget I've spoken to others.

Ok, some website statements have been modified, but it still says British number; this is probably splitting hairs as far as most foreign networks will be concerned, but for British customers, there are reasons to find out ...

It is (or was) ambiguous in some dealer statements whether it is a British network, and also whether it comes from cross-net minutes or not. The other dealer's materials suggested that people find out call diversion costs, but if it is counted as a foreign network then call diversion is actually impossible, except from O2.

To be fair though, even enquiries at Orange O2 and 3 have not been answered as clearly as possible. And I've since found one company that describes it as O2 and forwards to it at the same tariff (8.4p/min); their callback is interesting at 9.5p.

RTuesday points out that the roaming agreements are not identical to O2 - again unexpected differences with statements that it would be the same.

Other people here have pointed out that it looks expensive with a small amount of credit, which impression is not improved by having ?40 and ?50 prices on eBay for the same item. Now that there are more global SIMs appearing, a more competitive price might be helpful.

Perhaps 0700700's understanding of the similarities and differences between 0044 and Geodesa derives from the fact that Geodesa seems to an 0044 agent on some products, and a rival on others.

And to go back to whether it is counted as British or Isle of Man mobile, enquiries of a number of cheap call providers are met with the statement that their covered destinations are shown on their website, which doesn't actually answer the question. Perhaps you could tell UK readers whether 18866, 1899, Simply-Fone and other cheap providers can access these as UK numbers, and also comment on tariffs from UK mobile networks?

And whether an introductory offer might lower the price to ?25 or 30?

Andy

Of course, the user needs to confirm with theire respective operator - land line and mobile - what the costs and functionality they have when calling and Isle of Mann 07624 number.

RE your comment "To be fair though, even enquiries at Orange O2 and 3 have not been answered as clearly as possible. And I've since found one company that describes it as O2 and forwards to it at the same tariff (8.4p/min); their callback is interesting at 9.5p."

I am not sure if you are comparing the same product here. There is no call back charge.


Please show links to the O2 staements. I would be interested to see if this is indeed they same product.

Other people here have pointed out that it looks expensive with a small amount of credit, which impression is not improved by having ?40 and ?50 prices on eBay for the same item. Now that there are more global SIMs appearing, a more competitive price might be helpful.

Point noted on price difference - I belive the other supplier has reduced the price. However. There a other "global SIMs" However there are non like this one (other than branding differencces). Given what the savings are with the free inbound calls and lower call out rates, this SIM will save way beyond the cost. I have made single calls when abroad that have cost more than the card, so it has the potentail to recoup it's cost in one call.

As you have found, acsertaing rates from various providers is a challenging. If users of services/carriers like 18866, 1899 etc wish to check on rates to call the 07624 IOM number, they can directly with their provider.

Do not loose sight of the fact that this SIM is a new unique product and the savings are significant. Given other functionality, like conference calling, online call initation, call recording (via web interface), realtim online billing and many others, it is a better product than other "foreign global SIMs"

Given the points above re savings and functionality and the fact that they are selling rapidly to business and consumer users, the curent price is exceptional value.

:lol: :D :thumbup: maybe its just me MrEd, but i am yet to see you sell one on your ebay auctions

I have other outlets and distributions networks.

In view of statements that it has a UK number, and remarks were made about call diversion, I didn't think it was too ambitious to ask for the SIM suppliers (who might have actually used one, it is to be hoped) to clarify what direct and diversion tariffs to call the SIM might be, but it appears that will have to wait.

There are other global SIMs and of course local SIM use is possible. This card certainly has cheaper indigenous tariffs then the other multi-country ones - roughly on a par with local SIM and callback, but when compared with other global SIMs used with independent callback the field is more level - 12 or 14c vs 15 or 18c vs 9.5p.

Most of the other facilities you mention, and call diversion, are available from other companies if not the SIM suppliers.

Just sold one! :clap:

How much does it cost to call the Global SIM card?

Since the Global SIM has a UK based (Isle of Mann) <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>+4472 </span>mobile number it will only cost 13.5p/min peak and 12.5p/min off peak to call the SIM from a BT landline.

We recommend that you check the cost to call from your UK mobile network since some classify the Isle of Mann as an international call destination.


from the 0044 site

They mean of course +44 7624, Isle of Man.

The card 0044 are selling is the same number range as gt-sim, mostly same technology including same voicemail scripts (one is prepaid, one postpaid, some differences in rates).

Both cards have the numbers, and some customer support provided by Callkey (a Castletown, Isle of Man, company that is working with Manx Telecom on these). In the case of 0044, it's not even rebadged, it's a Callkeyone sim pack.

The discussion isn't really about how much it calls to cost from a landline, rather whether it is possible to divert UK mobile to them at the same rate as diverting to a UK mobile, perhaps using inclusive minutes. In most cases, no.

http://www.orange.co.uk/cgi-bin/internatio...all&sp=&navSel=


free from orange i think :)

That page is intended to show the rates an Orange user would pay while in the Isle of Man, which is irrelevant. But it's broken anyway, the correct rates (20p in, 40p out, for contract) are found via the "using your phone abroad" pages.

What matters for diverting an Orange phone to an 0044/callkeyone/gt-sim phone is the rate FROM the UK to the Isle of Man. Which seems to be impossible to find online.

I do know that when I had Everyphone on an Orange contract phone a few years ago that would "divert to any 01 or 02 number in the UK" it would NOT divert to 01624 (IOM landline). In other words, at that time Orange (correctly) did not consider an IOM number to be part of the UK.

so what about the "calling the Isle of Man from the UK
(per minute)" box ? does that not answer your question.
Also this is the old format of the website, which is still accessible
for business users and gives both the information for roaming
and for calling the country

I assumed that would be as reliable as the other fields, i.e. a default when the data is missing. Last updated 2002, shows you can't text from the IOM etc, just doesn't look current.

Looking further, it seems that the Isle of Man IS included in the "Republic of Ireland and Channel Islands" international group: http://www.orange.co.uk/business/small/ser...nalpricing.html (click on "145 countries" to define countries in groups). Costs 12p/min from UK. Not a lot, but is international. Of course, this could be wrong as well, who knows (or cares, at this stage...).

it says - calling Isle of Man is the same charge as UK; mobiles are not mentioned, and the adjacent boxes are blank

none of these supports "free from orange i think"

Orange told me 15p per minute, and someone else told me otherwise ...

well RTuesday's link shows 12p without vat , so once youve added it on time, it pretty much works out to 15p...

On another note orange charge the same for landlines and mobiles, they have never had different prices, so if calling landlines is part of your minutes then i would assume that calling mobiles is also included :D

Sorry, but this is untrue. On most networks, contract tariffs with bundled x-net minutes were only introduced from maybe three or four years ago, and with fewer minutes, and on payg Orange have only introduced this tariff option in the last year.

i meant for international calling the orange network unlike o2 does not distinquish
between international landlines and mobiles and charges the same rate !


i thus assumed that if its free to call Isle of man landline from your orange phone (ill see when i get the bill) then calling mobiles would also be free

apologies, I should have realised you meant for international calls - and rather oddly O2 seems to have much cheaper international landline calls from payg (from 5p/min) than from contracts

yes i know and am rather impressed ... would definitely recommend the 02
online sim to anyone visting :)

for ?15 top up you get 300 UK texts, 150evening anyone minutes, +the ?15 to spend on calling home !

and it's even more than that at the moment - Joining Treats offer free bolt-on for 3 months

and from the credit, make cheaper calls to UK landlines (or USA) by calling Ireland and use a calling card, thus paying 6.3p/min instead of some at 25p, thus saving the x-net minutes for mobiles

FOR 02 call 2211 for treats...
anyways




JUST SOME NEW INFOs here


<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>http://www.globalsimcard.co.uk/</span>


the site is up, the rates are also up ! i dont know if its quite like the 0044 offer but have a look nonetheless. They quote sms as being 6p


The only thing that worries me is the introduction of a SERVICE fee every year for using the geodesa sim, although it is PAYG only ?


send them an email to ask for a full pricelist

The landline rates are the same as on the CallKey site, but the mobile rates do appear to be higher.

It appears that the card needs to be topped up once a year, but it is true the choice of words could be clearer.

It looks rather like CallKey intend to provide the SIM and let its agents do much of the support, and possibly the final tariffs, which is something to wonder about for the future. Although the 0044 site shows some higher tariffs - France and Spain - at the moment the charges are according to the CallKey site.

http://www.globalsimcard.co.uk/coverage.htm

It seems that it may be the first international SIM with free incoming calls in Ukraine ("under test" status now) :) but incoming in Russia are for 0.20 GBP :(.

TBA stands for "to be announced", I guess?

And it has roaming on more networks in Europe in general - Riiing has 2 German and 3 Dutch networks - CallKey has 4 and 5.

It will be interesting to see how the different agents, GTsim, 0044 Geodesa and others, develop this SIM in different ways. We could stand them increasing outgoing call charges, by using independent callback, but changing the free incoming, as GTsim already have, could change the picture rather more.



<span style='font-size:7pt;line-height:100%'>[I'm posting this using gprs connection for the first time, on O2 at the moment, practising for setting up Wind]</span>

But UM/Riiing is missing less countries in Europe: Estonia + some small island territories: Faeroe, Jersey and Man.

OTOH, Callkey-based SIMs cover Estonia and the above islands, but they are missing many countries in non-EU Eastern Europe: Ukraine (to be "fixed" soon :)), Belarus, Moldova, Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania.

So how Callkey "Manx" sims do we have at the moment:
GTsim, 0044, Geodesa, and (possibly on the way) GlobalSIM.net Holiday and Business... Will there be next one? :) .

What do you mean by "changing the free incoming, as GTsim already have"? What has changed about incoming calls in GT? I've just checked their site and still seen 38 cents/min + one selected country free...

He probably was comparing it to the UM offer -- it has free incoming in MULTIPLE countries as opposed to only ONE HOME country where inbound is free.

If one travels much in various countries and is primarily CALLED or uses a callback service, then the free inbound to ONE phone number in many countries is both less expensive and more convenient.

Slightly OT.... The dealer kanne_mv42 on ebay.de has not sold a single GT-SIM. I believe the items have been RELISTED from an earlier attempt so this is the second time around for them. The GT-SIM does not seem to be what you would call a hot topic.

Stan