I want to buy a UK prepaid card that:

1) Has roaming capabilities

2) Has the most validity without the need to make a call

3) Can be topped easily from abroad (credit card, vouchers etc)


Any suggestions; :help:

It appears the simplest solution would be a Vodafone UK card.

1. Vodafone (as well as all other UK prepaid) offer roaming capabilities.

2. All UK prepaid (except 3) require 'activity' every 6 months to keep the card active. Make/recieve a call or send an sms is the simplest way to do this.

3. Are you actually in Greece? If so, you can recharge a Vodafone UK account using the prepaid vouchers of Vodafone Greece.

I don't know if Orange still does it or not but they used to match other carrier's plans. I was told that you could get an Orange SIM matching a Virgin Mobile plan so it never expired as long as you had credit.

Thank you both for your answers!

I am normally in Greece. I know this about vodafone. The think that interests me the most is to have a uk mobile number active for the most period possible, without recharge

I will probably buy the card via the internet so I suppose it is not possible to have orange match their plan with Virgin....

If I buy a Uk sim which is unregistered, from ebay, what do I need to do to register it;

Virgin is the easiest to get. The sims are all over ebay and they come already activated, with roaming capabilities, GPRS, etc. Just put it in your phone. AFAIK, virgin has the longest validity (12 months) without the need to make a call. I have even heard of people that have not used their virgin sims in 2 years and the thing is still active.

Bossmman thanks. Will I be able to top it up from abroad;

Do I need identification documents to use it;

I have a Vodaphone UK card. It is now every 90 days you have to have activity. Sending a SMS will do the trick. You have to have a UK address to use in the address area. At least I had to be in the UK to get this done. I had to call CS to get my credit card regestered. Online regester didn't seem to work from the states. Now I am online with a Americian credt card. I can top up anytime. :D I got my sim from www.freedom-mobiles.co.uk/ they shipped it to me in the states with no problem. I hope this helps.

No Identification docs to use it. Yes, you can top it up from abroad for free. Just dial 789. Unless you have a UK issued credit card, you will have to use vouchers from abroad. I bought all my topup vouchers on ebay UK. You can usually get them for about 20% or more discount there. The seller will just email you the voucher #.

Bossman thanks.

What I need is to buy a UK mobile prepaid. This will first be used abroad and ostly used abroad.
IS VIRGIN ok for that;

See what I have found:

Full international roaming is available, for this Virgin Mobile will credit check you, and take diect debit details, you will then be billed monthly for your calls and will no longer have to pay for your call credit in advance.[B]

Yes. They will do a credit check for that. I only use my Virgin sim for voice and data when I am in the UK. Outside the UK, I use it only for data because they charge the same for GPRS usage regardless of roaming or not. On my recent trip to UK, Amsterdan, and Nigeria, I used my virgin card extensively for data. BTW, Nigeria is not even on the list of prepaid roaming countries. It is listed for direct debit though.

Roaming with the virgin sim for voice, even with direct debit, is somewhat expensive though. You may want to look into the international sim such as the IOM sims, that give you a UK number.