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ripit · 07-05-2007, 16:45

Stu, I am not familar with Mobishark. How would that work?

Thanks to all the great suggestions. I think my 2 best options are as follows:

1 - Get a global sim with free incoming calls (United Mobile? - suggestions?) and use CBW for voice. Buy local SIMs in France, Switzerland & Italy to pop in when I check email or go online.

Advantages
- Free incoming calls makes it pretty cheap for voice with CBW
- Local SIMs offer lowest cost for data.
- If I have trouble connecting with CBW, outgoing calls will still be pretty cheap on local SIM, especially local calls

Disadvantages
- Have to buy SIM in each country is not convenient. Not sure when I will be back to use again.
- Cost of buying separate SIM's may offset data costs savings.
- Hassle to change cards each time I need to use data services. Need to keep track of all the different SIMs. etc.

2 - Get a Vodafone SIM with Passport activated. Voice calls are 75p connect fee and then local UK rates when roaming on partner networks (incoming calls would be flat 75p). Data runs 10 GBP per MB (about $20).

Advantages
- Only 1 card to manage
- Incoming calls nearly free (flat fee of ~$1.75).
- UK based phone number

Disadvantages
- Not as cheap for voice as using a global sim with totally free incoming calls.
- Calls to UK mobile phones are more expensive than mobile phones based in other countries.
- High cost for data usage (~$20 per MB)

I really would like to have just one card for everything and be done with it, so I am leaning towards the Vodafone option. However I am not sure how much data I will be using but at $20 per MB, one could easily run up a high bill pretty quickly. How much cheaper is data with a local pre-paid SIM? If it is much cheaper, it may be worth the hassle if I end up using a lot of data.

	(#12)
ripit (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 7 Join Date: 04 May 2007 Country:	07-05-2007, 16:45 Stu, I am not familar with Mobishark. How would that work? Thanks to all the great suggestions. I think my 2 best options are as follows: 1 - Get a global sim with free incoming calls (United Mobile? - suggestions?) and use CBW for voice. Buy local SIMs in France, Switzerland & Italy to pop in when I check email or go online. Advantages - Free incoming calls makes it pretty cheap for voice with CBW - Local SIMs offer lowest cost for data. - If I have trouble connecting with CBW, outgoing calls will still be pretty cheap on local SIM, especially local calls Disadvantages - Have to buy SIM in each country is not convenient. Not sure when I will be back to use again. - Cost of buying separate SIM's may offset data costs savings. - Hassle to change cards each time I need to use data services. Need to keep track of all the different SIMs. etc. 2 - Get a Vodafone SIM with Passport activated. Voice calls are 75p connect fee and then local UK rates when roaming on partner networks (incoming calls would be flat 75p). Data runs 10 GBP per MB (about $20). Advantages - Only 1 card to manage - Incoming calls nearly free (flat fee of ~$1.75). - UK based phone number Disadvantages - Not as cheap for voice as using a global sim with totally free incoming calls. - Calls to UK mobile phones are more expensive than mobile phones based in other countries. - High cost for data usage (~$20 per MB) I really would like to have just one card for everything and be done with it, so I am leaning towards the Vodafone option. However I am not sure how much data I will be using but at $20 per MB, one could easily run up a high bill pretty quickly. How much cheaper is data with a local pre-paid SIM? If it is much cheaper, it may be worth the hassle if I end up using a lot of data.