Best practice international GSM setup
 

After reading a lot of threads I'm fully prepared for our Round-The-World trip to various countries in South America, Indonesia, Japan, China, and various countries in Africa.

I'll take with me 2 onesimcard.com SIMs, both with an additional US number.

For a couple of reasons:
- One for my wife and one for me, so we can call each other if needed for $0,25
- To "connect" both US numbers to my Google Voice number so both SIMs will ring during our trip; pretty convenient probably
- The Estonian prepaid SIMS are generally of a better quality then others: both for voice and number of roaming partners
- The rates of onesimcard are pretty simply structured and generally low. Offcouse xxsim and airbalticcard offers the same rates (but in euro which is actually my default currency); the support and website of onesimcard is however much better
- And a little bit to also be prepared if one of our phones gets stolen; we can than just switch airtime and order a replacement SIM.

Do you all agree? :)

Is this the best setup ever? I'm very curious...

There is only one wish left. I would like to also connect a extra SIM with an US number where I can receive SMS messages for free. Do you therefore have some suggestions for me? This extra provider can then directly also be our backup provider for voice. :cool:

;)
maybe check too England +447... series GSM offers

you should check out Piranha mobile, they give you US and UK numbers free with no charge for receiving SMS and they have the added extra of VoIP, if you have access to free WI-FI. The choice is yours :D

You did not mention the type of phone you have.
Will your phones work in Japan?
Onesimcard does not seem to have much traction in this forum. I do not know why. The Estonian number? [But you solve that with the US numbers.]

I would suggest at least one other brand SIM card, maybe two. There is bound to be some places Onesimcard should work but will not [might not be their fault either]. Also, a simple quadband phone as a spare & you can put one of your extra SIM
cards in that.
Your trip is not inexpensive and the extra SIMs and phones can be a kind of insurance to highten the possibility of communication in general and emergency communication if you needed. If money were no object, a satellite phone might be in order---but they are illegal in some countries.

Do report back on what you take and also your experience after the trip. Welcome to beta testing!

[After looking at the other responses, Piranha and Truphone would be good second choices for additional SIMs.]

ps No matter how hard you plan this aspect of your trip there will be shortcomings. That is why I suggest the extra SIMs.

Did you add this paragraph?
Truphone has free incoming SMS in the US for US number. I do not know if that works "overseas", but I think it might.

one Onesimcard advantage
 

One advantage of Onesimcard:

Yes, this is one of the features that makes Onesimcard better than the other SIMs using the same backend (XXSIM, etc... don't have this). Thanks to this and all of the features of the Travelsim EMT backend:

• 154 free incoming countries
• more roaming partners in the countries
• much more stable roaming that EKIT (i. ex: EKIT regularly loses network signal in France, Onesimcard doesn't - on the same network with the same phone)
• free call forwarding to 154 countries
• ability to completely disable voicemail (EKIT still charges incoming callers even when voicemail is disabled - the EKIT system still answers the phone to ask if you want to send and SMS)
• listen to voicemail in the web interface
• email to SMS for free on 372xxxxxxx@sms.onesimcard.com
• top notch 24/24 customer service
• concierge service with live translators in dozens of languages (they can translate and complete tasks for you if you need help - great if you are in trouble in a foreign country)
• etc...

All of this makes Onesimcard the best world roaming SIM imho. (I have tested many, but if anyone knows anything better please tell me).

Onesimcard is my primary number worldwide; the One number I give everyone, reachable for free in 154 countires. I then add a second SIM depending on the world part I am in (i.ex: Toggle Mobile UK for Europe - that's another outstanding service).

What the OP can do, is accept incoming SMS messages on his Google Voice number and forward them to email, as explained here:

support.google.com/voice/answer/160203 *

With proper email forwarding he will get the US SMS incoming on Google Voice free on his Onesimcard.

* (I am not making a link because it seems all my message containing links are not getting published, awaiting moderation approval. I replied earlier to this thread with this information and it still wasn't approved. I registered here 8 months ago (I asked a question in another thread), and the message I posted 8 months ago still wasn't published either. I sent an email to the staff months ago, no one is replying. HELLO, IS ANYONE MODERATING THESE FORUMS?)

onesimcard needs a minimum recharge of at least $25 every 10months in order to maintain your credit balance and not loose it...If your balance does expire, it will not be refunded to you.
Piranha also offers free sms from their website: http://www.piranha-mobile.com/index....tegory&path=25

You can direct your Google Voice number to ring on your mobile, but don't expect it to work. I have done that and seldom can answer the GV call before it rolls over to Google's voicemail. GV seem to only allow about 3 rings before going to voicemail and it takes two of them just to connect to my mobile, in the US.

Yes, they should lower the min recharge requirement to 10$. On the other hand, even if you don't recharge it, the onesimcard stays active for 2 years. And it still accepts incoming calls for free in 154 countries with 0 credit (many other international SIMs cut the service when credit runs out, this can be bothersome if you are in the middle of a call, on the move). Imagine yourself in trouble in an urgent situation in a foreign country. This is top notch service IMHO.

If credit expiry is an issue, Travelsim is the same thing (same backend), also active for 2 years after the last recharge, but the credit doesn't expire. The SIM itself is more expensive to purchase though, and Travelsim doesn't have free email-to-SMS.

Only major downside is that it costs silly money for caller to call you on the free incoming +372 number, BT charge a one off £0.14 and £0.88 per minute thereafter and mobile operators charge anything between £0.50 and £1.00, which seems to defeat the object of free roaming, especially if its my family calling me, as i am picking up the callers bill :down:. Does anyone know of a cheaper way for the caller to call +372 numbers. All options welcome.

Hello all,

Thanks for all your replies!

@rfranzq: good questions. We'll take our two iphones (4S) for sure and are planning to buy an additional worldphone. Any suggestions?

And offcourse I'll report back end of 2015 ;-) ...and after my first experiences for sure!

@DRNewcomb: unfortunately you have a great point. I can solve this my using my home (VOIP) number instead which offers follow-me to multiple numbers. In this way I'm sure GV voicemail won't pick up my calls

@gkeeper: I love my family and friends. So this is why I ordered 2 xxsim.com sims (instead of onesimcard.com) this morning. The main reasons is thay they have a comparable offer, but offer an additional free US and european number! Because I'll setup my homenumber to forward to our two mobile numbers, we will be paying 17 eurocents per minute ourselves for the all calls received: 2 cpm for my voip provider, 15cpm for xxsim.com. If I get Google Voice to work this will only be 15 cpm.

Due to the issue of Google Voice, a new VOIP provider that offers SMS would be great. And an second provider for SMS; I'll give the providers mentioned a try. Who has great experiences with GT-SIM?

Yes, currently £0.06 with hotvoip.com

They allow several ways to call: hotvoip.com/ways_to_call

(Local access numbers, phone-to-phone (callback), computer, SIP, MobileVOIP application on iphone and android (direct & callback & local access numbers).

It also works beautifully with IP phones like the Gigaset C610 IP (which supports 1 analog phone line + 7 SIP providers).

You also get a SIP address you@sip.hotvoip.com , and in the windows Hotvoip desktop application settings you can setup auto incoming call forwarding to any number (i. ex: your +372). So anyone who is calling your sip address lands on your +372 and your are charged £0.06 per minute.

Possibilities are endless. For example, with callcentric.com you get a free US number. You setup all incoming calls on this US number to be forwarded to you@sip.hotvoip.com -> this lands on your +372, you pay only £0.06 per minute.

(Then if you want you can also setup callcentric to transfer the calls to your callcentric voicemail if you are not reachable on your +372 (assuming you are not using the +372 voicemail). And you can also setup callcentric to send an email to inform you of the new voicemails; so you have it send them to your 372xxxxxx@sms.onesimcard.com so you get an SMS on your +372 phone for free everytime someone leave a callcentric voicemail.)

This was just one example.

Some other cheap providers to mobile +372 from the same group of companies are: cheapbuzzer.com , megavoip.com.

Oh, and I forgot the other Onesimcard options:

• Your friends/family can call you for free via the Toll free 0800 access numbers. It costs you $0.20 to receive the calls, see below
• In your onesimcard.com account you can order a local UK landline number (35 countries are available). People can call you on that landline number and it costs you $0.20 to receive the calls on your +372.
• They can also call your +372 with Skype (free for them, you are charged $0.20 to receive the calls - see the onesimcard.com FAQ for how to call you for free with skype)
• OneSimCard Connect, lets people call and text you for free from their Android device! (iOS app coming soon) onesimcard.com/faq/?text=onesimcard+connect<wbr>

A lot of operators do not even connect to those +372 numbers. And those that connect charge a hefty premium. Nevertheless, make sure you have a backup, as no one sim is guaranteed to work as stated on their website.

airbalticcard (travelsim backend) does NOT expire both the credit+number for 2years of last usage (not recharge!)... onesimcard expire the credit after of just 10months of the last recharge! they also require the ridicilus amount of $25 for minimum recharge

plus airbalticcard offer free uk mobile number prefix +4475207xxxx ,just eur.0,15per call (not per minute) surcharge when receive calls through this uk number.
plus they charge per second for EU-EU calls...onesimcard+xxsim charge EU-EU calls per minute..
also airbalticcard charge data within EU per just 1kb per data session...

all these years i have used all availiable travelsim backend simcards , for EU travellers airbalticcard is much better than both onesimcard & xxsim, but i still prefer Piranha-mobile even for EU roaming. my 2nd backup choice is Mysims2go http://www.mysims2go.com/tariffcalcu...iid=23&lang=en , very cheap and stable http://www.mysims2go.com/document.aspx?iid=1060&lang=en plus they now offer direct through calls (not callback!)

Agreed, my experience has been that the better deal an international SIM seems to be, the more likely it is that it will leave you high and dry. "09" is my prime example.

My previous reply (10 hours ago) needed to be reviewed before posting. So a small test to see if this works at all. Known issue?!

I went with Piranha Mobile and TruPhone as my two SIM cards for my trip to Europe. I also purchased a cheap dual SIM Samsung phone on Amazon for $28.

In addition I also am getting a Toggle Mobile SIM card as four of the countries in Europe that I am going to they offer "local numbers", which allows very low rates in those countries.

I decided to stay away from the SIM cards with Estonian or Isle of Man phone numbers, as I wanted people who called or texted me would have low rates.

Hello all,

Let me try to reformulate my last reply again. First of all thanks for all your replies.

rfranzq:
- Offcourse, i'll for sure let you all know my experiences both after the first leg and afterwards.
- I'm planning to take 2 iphones and buy an additional new multi-band phone with a large battery. Maybe a Nokia Asha model.

MBK:
- I really explored onesimcard in detail, but choose for xxsim at the end THIS morning. It's comparable (what costed be some additional questions by email to find out) and they offer both an free US and European number (except the 15 cpm offcourse) and have cheaper sms rates.

DRNewcomb:
- Good point. Thanks!!! In this case I'll setup my home VOIP number to simultaneously call both US mobile numbers. This will then effectively cost us 17 cpm euro in total to receive calls worldwide (2cpm VOIP, 15 cpm XXsim)
- Too bad my VOIP provider doens't allow SMS. I'll research Anveo as they seem to offer a kind of service to build your own Google Voice service. Or are they better ways around this issue?

In general I'm however curious why most of your are against the Estonian number, even if they offer a US number to hand out to friends en family.

At the end paying 17 cpm for a good global reach with one sim provider seems a good deal to me. But offcourse we'll also work with local prepaid sims.

I'll give all mentioned alternatives a view. Anyone familiar with GT-SIM?

Kind Regards,

I didn't make it within the 60 minute time frame to edit my message. So I'll repost.

I went with Piranha Mobile and TruPhone as my two SIM cards for my trip to Europe. I also purchased a cheap dual SIM Samsung GT-E1182L phone (voice/text only) on Amazon for $28 that I will put these SIMs into. I will only be using the Piranha and TruPhone for voice and text. I will give out the US phone numbers to these SIM cards to friends and family.

I also am getting a Toggle Mobile SIM card as four of the countries in Europe that I am going to they offer "local numbers", which allows very low rates in those countries. Plus the data rates are pretty competitive.

I have a couple of unlocked Android phones. So the Toggle Mobile SIM will go in one of them. And then in the local countries I may be buying SIMs with data plans to go in the other Android phone, as I will be spending around two weeks in each country. Likely I will stick to using the Toggle Mobile SIM in the countries that they offer the "local number" service as the rate is about 15 UK pence ( $0.232 US ) per megabyte of data.

I decided to stay away from the SIM cards with Estonian or Isle of Man phone numbers, as I wanted people who called or texted me would have low rates.

Cost and ease of use
 

Cost and ease of use. [in this example onesimcard] If someone calls Estonia, it will cost them. If you pay for a US number it will cost you for the number and the time. If you have them call the provided numbers it will cost you money and them ease of use.[double dialing] If you are using it 'enough' it can be easily justified. but take the total cost of ownership and setup and usage to compare cost with other providers. And if it works and works well it will have been a good investment of your time for research and value for your money.
You will have other SIMs but too much dependence on one provider has burned many of the people in the forum.

Have a good trip.
 

I think you will be happy with these choices. Please remember to tell us how things went==what went wrong!

Have a good trip.

Why pay so much when, as posted above, it costs 7 cpm to forward to +372 (and there are several other alternatives that call/forward for 8 to 11 cpm).

Especially since you are talking about forwarding your home VOIP, this is so easy to do if you have a half decent VOIP provider (= that allows forwarding to sip addresses - for more flexibility and cheap providers in the chain).

-------

Regarding Anveo and SMS: It's nice with onesimcard as you can forward the SMS for free via email. If you don't use onesimcard you will have to pay for the SMS forwarding.


If you need voice + SMS forwarding for world travel on a single US incoming number this is what I would do:


Voice: Anveo incoming -> you@sip.hotvoip.com -> +372 (= 7 cpm)

SMS: Anveo incoming -> 372xxxxx@sms.onesimcard.com (= free)


OR with Google Voice (= free incoming number):

Voice: Google Voice -> callcentric -> you@sip.hotvoip.com -> +372 (= 7 cpm)

Quality will not be degraded as there is no audio transcoding between callcentric and hotvoip (of course hotvoip quality is lower than a direct call, but for friends and family calls it is more than enough considering the price).

SMS: Google Voice -> 372xxxxx@sms.onesimcard.com (= free)

What do you mean with "double dialing" in your reply above?

With xxsim the additional numbers are free; so no monthly cost like at onesimcard. And the rates are just a low as onesimcard, or lower.

For example: mysims2go, a provider that was suggested asks extreme high rates in Chili (just for example); 1,5 for receiving calls and almost 2 euro for calling, where xxsim costs 0,20 for receiving and 0,55 for calling.

But let me first give them a try, before judging completely.

I think what he means is when people call a toll free 0800 number to call you. They have to dial twice.

Onesimcard is free to receive calls in Chile. (outgoing is about the same as XXSIm charges in euros, Onesimcard in $).

I have been following them both (Onesimcard & XXSIM = same backend) for over a year. Onesimcard has lower rates overall. Every couple months Onesimcard is announcing lower rates in some countries and free incoming countries on their facebook. They are giving us new rates as soon as the backend (Travelsim) sets new rates; this happens very often.

On the other hand, XXSIM is slower to lower the rates and add new free incoming countires. Onesimcard is more proactive.

To sum up:

XXSIM advantage: free US number (but, given the incoming rate, is this really an advantage as you can setup a US number with cheaper forwarding yourself AND you can keep the number you setup yourself should you ever move to another SIM card).

Onesimcard advantage: free email-to-SMS & more proactive = lower rates + free countries sooner. (+ I don't know if XXSIM also has online voicemail? And the 3 Android/Iphone applications, i.ex: cheap VOIP with free incoming when on WIFI/3G with autoswitch from WIFI/3G to your +372 when not reachable on WIFI/3G , etc...)


edit: as an alternative to Onesimcard I would prefer Airbaltic card to XXSIM, as someone posted above it's also the same backend but their credit doesn't expire during 2 years. Airbaltic is still less proactive than Onesimcard with the rates and free incoming countries though (but not much?) , and it doesn't offer free email-to-SMS (+ what about the 3 Android/iphone applications?).

Thank you MBK. I actually agree with you about proactivity of onesimcard vs xxsim. It also costed me multiple emails to get to all the required information.

But now I already order xxsim and its in euro; that is a plus for me. And offcourse I can setup a better rate myself, so 15 cpm is just the start

Piranha mobile btw seems also a good deal. I think I might consider them for my second pair of sims. I'll for sure research them; only too bad their rates tool is so complicated; the rates seem to be low but not as simply structured as xxsim

What do you mean with "double dialing" in your reply above?
 

Yes, MBK is right.
Further explanied:
Using 'Common Access Numbers' LA, Washington,DC, New York or toll free USA you callers would call the phone and then need to dial your number.
All these cost you $0.20/minute.

Apparently, they are now providing a 'free' US number for one month and $11.99 to keep it for a year [with no setup fee].
Calls direct to you cost $0.20/minute.

The 'Personal Extra Number' the 'PEN' can be a US area code or a toll free number [same price!] forwarding to you.
$4.99 setup fee. $19.99 for a year and $0.20/minute.

Everything is $0.20/minute.

If these terms are agreeable/flexible for someone, great!
If not there are other options. [This might be the easiest setup for technophobes.]
No SIP. No VOIP. No setting up other call forwarding through multiple entities.

I'm sure you will be happy with the XXSIM. It's still a very good sim, and the difference is not much as they all use the same backend.

Talking about this, could someone advise why not to go with Travelsim (the backend) directly?

Advantages:

• Travelsim has recently added worldwide WIFI access to the SIM (paid for with SIM credit): travelsim.com/trustive/
• With travelsim you get new rates and free countries the soonest (they are the backend).
• It is more expensive to purchase as you have to pay for 50€ credit, but credit never expires and the SIM remains active for 2 years with no recharge.

Disadvantages:

• no email-to-SMS compared to Onesimcard

I didn't go with piranha because they always charge for incoming and they are expensive in some countries. But to call out they are of course interesting in some countries. I would take EKIT Passport as 2nd world sim backup (80+ countries free incoming), but Piranha deserves some consideration too due to the cheap outgoing calls in some areas.

In Europe my 2nd SIM is Toggle Mobile and elsewhere local sims (coupled with the MobileVOIP android/iphone app and the dozens of voip providers it supports (all the betamax voip clones) you often get extremely cheap/free callback and the lowest outgoing calls worldwide (free calls to many countries landlines and mobiles). + you can set any callerid you want).

i.ex with this dual-sim setup: if you set +372 as caller id you have free incoming in 154 countries and the worldwide cheapest outgoing calls showing the same callerid.

Nothing can beat this.


edit: if you don't use the local sim for the data, the onesimcard charges data in 1k increments, so triggering the callback costs less than $0.01

Right.

2 things to add:

• With the Onesimcard VOIP app ( play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.onesimvoip ) incoming calls to a PEN are free when on WIFI (or 3G on your local dual-SIM). Free for you and free for the caller. When not available on WIFI/3G it automatically switches to ring on your +372 number.
• And with OneSimCard Connect ( play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onesimcard.connect ) people call and SMS you for free (SMS free but calls are charged 0.20$ to you).

The link is hidden?

'Travelsim platform'
 

OK, I can't help myself. I almost started a new thread but decided not to. I am curious about the SIMs on the 'Travelsim platform'.
TravelSim
airbalticcard
xxsim.com
OneSimCard
Is this all of them?

OK. What are the differences? Only Onesimcard is in US dollars[& based in the US], everything else in Euros?
They all seem to have a way to get decent US rates.
Do all use both AT&T and T-Mobile for US networks?

What have been your experience if you are a user?
Any one that should be avoided at all cost??--what happened?

How well do they work in Europe?
Where do they not work?

Sorry. No link. I used the color to highlight the most important thing for those who want a simple solution.

I think, yes.

Yes.

XXSIM is based in Switzerland, but charges in Euros.

Validity:

• Travelsim: no credit expiry, active 2 years after last recharge
• Airbaltic: no credit expiry, active 2 years after last recharge
• Onesimcard: credit expires if not recharged after 10 months, the SIM remains active for 2 years even if not recharged. Accepts incoming calls for free even with 0 credit.
• XXSIM: expires 12 months after last reload (credit and number is lost).

So, the worst regarding validity seems to be XXSIM.


There are several other differences (too many to list?). Example:

• I think XXSIM is the only one of the bunch to offer a 0800 toll free access number in Switzerland.
• onesimcard is the only one with US based support.
• email-to-SMS is onesimcard only (You can send SMS for free to a onsimcard by email at 372xxxx@sms.onesimcard.com)
• XXSIM offers the US PEN for free (the others charge a yearly fee, not sure if Travelsim and airbalic charge for it or not)
• Onesimcard offers 3 android/iphone apps (VOIP, etc...). Travelsim does too (they are the ones that make them in the 1st place). Not sure about airbaltic and XXSIM.
• Travelsim as the backend sets the new rates and new free incoming countries first. Onsimcard is the 2nd to get them right behind (usually on the same day as Travelsim as they announce them in advance). XXSIM and airbaltic are slower to activate new rates / free countires.
• Travelsim has worldwide WIFI support (charged from SIM credit)

This is what I can remember right now, there's probably more...

I think yes, as they are using the same backend.


My worldwide roaming experience has been excellent with onesimcard ( Europe, Asia, Middle East). Network roaming switching is seamless when crossing borders (compared to EKIT which can sometimes take 30 minutes) and stable (compared to EKIT which sometimes loses the signal on the same networks using the same phone - this was also tested driving on highways with the 2 SIMs side by side in a dual-sim phone).

Other than the above differences, I think you should expect the same network quality from all of them, considering they are all using the same backend.


Excellent seamless roaming for 2 years now.

travelsim.com/cost-and-coverage/

Click on the continents to see where they don't have coverage.

Roaming in Europe, Asia and the Middle East I never had any issues with the Onesimcard (It works a lot better than EKIT). Network stability is as good as the local SIMs (I have local SIMs next to the Onesimcard in a dual-SIM phone), with the added benefit of complete seamless roaming / network switching.

Actually, with the Onesimcard I have better availability than the local SIMs, as it is most of the time roaming on several of the networks that are available within a given country (vs the local SIMs only having access to 1 network).

Wow! This thread seems to have more mention of onesimcard than all the other onesimcard related threads combined. It seems onesimcard works well for you. However, their sim is just not attractive to most folks here. Mainly due to the already mentioned reason.

Anybody who has been on this forum for more than two years probably knows more about international SIM cards than 98% of international SIM card purchasers. I suspect that more than half of the international SIM cards bought are done by people at the first website they come across when they need one. Sometimes they are lucky and find an appropriate one. Many time they do not and end up here if they are lucky.

We, here, are so able to fine tune what it is that we want that some solutions are just not seen by us as a 'good' one. Some people can actually afford to roam with their american cell company. --and don't realize the options they are missing. Most of us here are not in that category.

I was basically unaware of these other options other than onesimcard of which I got one in exchange for a United Mobile SIM and was quite thankful for that. Unfortunately, I lent it to someone and it was lost.

I use Onesimcard due to the options that fit my use better, but all of the Travelsim +372 options are good as they are almost the same.

This thread is about international worldwide roaming. Most other mentioned SIMs (Piranha, etc...) are only good regionally (due to the high incoming rate, min is €0.05 in some EU countries) or as backups, and eventually as 2nd SIM for cheaper outgoing calls (but also regionally). Of course you need a dual-SIM setup, but seriously, nothing beats (not even talking about the other features):

• Free incoming in 154 countires
• Free call forwarding to 154 countries

Then to this you add a 2nd SIM to your dual-SIM phone depending on the region you are in, mainly for cheaper outgoing calls or data. (with some SIMs - i.ex. Maxrom - you can even set the caller id you want in the web interface, so you can use them to call cheaper in Europe while maintaining your +372 caller id. The same goes for callback services of course.)

As shown, with a proper callback (and dual-SIM) setup your +372 also gives you the cheapest outgoing calls worldwide (even free to many landlines and mobiles) while always showing the same caller ID and maintaining free incoming calls in 154 countires. --> 1 number worldwide.


---------

The 2 reasons you are referring to where:

1. +372 is expensive to call

I don't agree, as I have shown you can call +372 travelsims for between €0.07 and €0.11 depending on the providers.

(and I also give the close family & friends the 2nd sim number, so for example they call me in Europe on Toggle Mobile for €0.005 - yes half a cent. Those with an EU package even call me for free. Anyone who is not close friends & family gets only the +372, so I am reachable worldwide on 1 number and never pay for incoming calls.)

In many countries +372 mobile is charged at the same rate as EU mobile. For example the no 1 and most expensive national operator in Switzerland (Swisscom) charges +372 at the EU rate (= same rate as UK, France, Germany, etc...). Even the cheap prepaid local SIMs (M-Budget Mobile,...) charge +372 at the local rate (EU rate = same rate as local domestic calls).

If people still prefer to rely on companies that charge them more ( and you are saying some aren't even able to terminate calls properly for those prices? ) it is their choice, so they shouldn't complain. Some people just love to pay more for less service; it makes them feel safe. :)

If you use the cheap operators mentioned in this thread, in most countries it is cheaper to call +372 than it is to receive calls on Piranha (the cheapest to receive calls with Piranha is Europe, and they charge in Europe €0.05 to €0.10 Switzerland).


2. Some networks don't call +372

In my experience this was an issue a few years ago. Not anymore.

It happened to me 1 year ago; since then that company has corrected the issue they had (it was because they hadn't adapted their systems to some newly released Estonian mobile area codes).

In the rare cases when people couldn't call my +372 we discovered that they had international calls disabled on their service.

Seriously, are some people still relying on some lousy Telecom operators that aren't even capable of terminating calls properly - even more so to an EU member country (charging the sky while they are at it), and complaining?

---------

Anyway, to each their preferences and individual use cases. I am just sharing with you guys what has been working great, stable and cheap for me for the past 2 years (after testing several other more expensive, less convenient or less reliable services).

As far as I can see, this setup with callback (dual-SIM or not) is the only option giving proper and cheap worldwide coverage. With all the other options you have to juggle with too many SIMs and hand out several different numbers, and they aren't even cheaper.

This thread seems more like a onesimcard promotion page from some new registered users!


Airbalticcard: NO credit expiry, active 2 years after last usage (JUST 1 chargable call or sms)... is the best +372 simcard for EU travellers.
they also have per second billing for outgoing calls within EU... both xxsim and onesimacard charge per minute.
airbalticcard simcard costs just 10euro... a lot cheaper than onesimcard.

ATTENTION: onesimcard expire the credit after of just 10months of the last recharge! they also require the ridicilus amount of $25 for minimum recharge. lost credit is NOT refundable!

Somebody pays: Just not you! Why Estonia phone numbers put us off.
 

A former user and a 2 year user apparently. I am curious about an area that I am not familiar with. And this forum is an excellent place to find out and also real life experiences.
Your observation [recommendation?] is what direction I hoped to steer the thread. Thanks.
This is a serious fault of onesimcard, I agree. It would not be so bad if the $25/10 month refill paid for a US phone number instead of the current fees.[Hint to anyone from onesimcard reading this thread.] Of course, we all want more for free.
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Somebody pays: Just not you! Why Estonia phone numbers put us off.
'Free incoming calls' are just free to you, not your callers.
One objection about Estonian numbers has been their cost. They can and have been expensive.
You even use it to discourage people you would rather not call you.
Some users here do not think it right to put the burden of the call cost on the caller in this way.
Things are now changing in the EU and certain call costs are going down and if that includes calls to Estonian mobile, great.
There are still those outside the EU who will pay more.
That calls to Estonia are trending downward make these options more attractive than they have been in the past.

The ones who frequent here prefer intricate and cheap solutions over simple solutions which tend to cost more. I understand and appreciate that.
More choices give us more options and that is why knowing about this niche is helpful for those of us here.

Yes, thanks for your feedback.

I have already agreed with you in a post above that airbaltic could be the better one of the +372 travelsims thanks to this credit expiry, lower price and 1sec increments in Europe.

I'll take another look at it. My Onesimcard will be arriving at credit renewal time, but perhaps I'll order an Airbaltic instead.

Of course, if you use them to call out normally they are much too expensive (but very convenient).

But there is nothing cheaper and more convenient if you use them with a good callback and dual-sim system.

This is why I also give close friends and family the number of the other regional/local sim I have in my dual-sim setup.

Everyone else gets only the +372 number. The advantage is that I can give only 1 number where I am reachable worldwide. I don't need to give X different numbers to my contacts and I don't need to update them with new numbers every time I land in a new country.

This is why I went with the +372 SIM: it has both advantages you are referring to:

1. it works out cheaper than anything else if you take the time to learn how to use it properly (callback + dual SIM).

For example, Piranha (one of the other SIMs suggested here) is useless to me as it charges for incoming calls and outgoing calls are much more expensive than what I pay with my +372 SIM with callback + dual-Sim setup. Piranha is even less recommended in my case as its rates are only good regionally, so I would have to juggle with X number of SIMs.

2. and for those who don't want callback (+ eventually dual SIM) the +372 SIM can also be very simple, but then it will cost more.

Absolutely. I started with international SIMs thanks to this site and I am still learning new things every day thanks to you guys. :)

I use Piranha, Tru and Toggle (Toggle only in Toggle countries) and have compared prices with Onesimcard and Airbaliticard and the maths works out, that overall the Onesimcard and Airbaliticard are more expensive, not only for outgoing calls but especially for the caller. You mentioned calls to +372 numbers are $0.06, but only from certain VoIP providers, therefore all of my friends and family would have to sign up and download a sip client and no doubt pay a minimum top up when signing up, if they did not they would have to pay anything between £0.50 and £1.00 to call me on a +372 number.

I personally have about 50 very important contacts from family to friends and business, and i do not think many would sign up and pay maybe £10.00 for top up only to ring me:eek:. So overall my assessment is not so simple or cheap to use. And if the Estonian call rates fall in line with EU regulations, then there will be no free roaming, unless both companies are willing to subsidise incoming calls. I have been following the thread and this is only my observation and research, hopefully with valid points.