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petkow (Offline)
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Prepaid Pioneer
 
Posts: 696
Join Date: 01 Aug 2006
Location: Madrid

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Default 16-12-2010, 13:30

Orange UK allows UMA but you need a compatible phone. Personally, I wouldn't bother with UMA for most roaming needs for the reasons I described in this thread:
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/inte...as-travel.html

If I were in the OP's shoes I would first get a virtual UK Voip number (also known as DID). There are hundreds of providers in the UK, some are even free. Make sure its number starts with either 01,02 or 03. Don't bother with the virtualglobalphone one that has been spammed by Ross above. Then get your normal mobile to divert to that number. I presume you have inclusive minutes on your contract, so incoming calls that are forwarded will effectively come out of these.

Then get a dedicated roaming SIM from whatever provider you want. You will probably only need this for your few days in Singapore and then later in the USA/Hawaii. You may also need it as a backup for Australia and NZ (in case you cannot get a local SIM). Note down the telephone number of that roaming SIM and then either get your newly acquired DID to forward to this number, or via another provider. You can also get your local mobile to directly forward to a roaming SIM but be careful as it may not be considered as inclusive minutes even though it appears like a normal UK mobile number. To be safer, you can get a provider like Voipgain to forward to UK 00447 for just 3c/min. In Australia and NZ you can easily pick up a cheap local SIM on the day you arrive. During this time, you can get your DID provider to forward to the local number.

In short, your friends back in the UK can either call you on your normal mobile or via the new 01/02/03 number that you have bought. They do not need to know the number of each local SIM that you are using as the call will always effectively 'find you'. Of course the forwarding will be at your cost but most of these Voip providers work on a prepaid basis, and forwarding to your special roaming SIM can be as little as 3c/min or even a local SIM in Australia and NZ is all fairly cheap at under 10c/min in most cases. Ideally, look for a roaming SIM that offers free (or cheap) incoming in Singapore, NZ and Australia via the 00447 number and perhaps cheap incoming in the USA via the dual number (001).

This all sounds a bit complicated, but probably the best option these days. Feel free to ask more questions.

Last edited by petkow; 16-12-2010 at 14:13..
   
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