PrePaidGSM.net Forum (Archived) - View Single Post - Advice Need On Sim For Traveling Companion

MATHA531 · 25-05-2006, 08:27

10 days in the UK...calls to the US...here is what you might consider.

You might consider a dirt cheap for the one time a British sim for both of you..

You might want to look into Mobile World (available from Carphone Warehouse)..

Mobile World sims cost something like 5 quid and then have to be topped up as they come with no credit.

Advantages of mobile world...

1. Calls to the US are dirt cheap....5p/minute except for a brief period early in the evenings..I believe from 1900 to 2100 when it rises "dramatically" to 7.5p/minute.

2. Calls to other UK mobiles is 15p/minute (mobal in the UK is basically O2 at least as far as receiving.

Downside of Mobile World

1. Limited shelf life (I think it has increased from 60 days to 4 months)...can't be gotten around as it allows no roaming whatsoever...requires 1 use every 4 months; at least we haven't figured out a way around this.

2. As noted no roaming...useless outside of UK but so what....it is dirt cheap to get and you can thorw it away or try to give it to somebody else.

3. Since no roaming, cannot set up voicemail from outside UK.

Bear in mind there is a move going on to reduce or dump European roaming charges so the situation might dramatically change in the future regarding travel in other countries.

Right now, UK sim prices are dirt cheap as the companies are literally giving the sims away because of the competition.

Also since Mobal has the free incoming in the UK, bear in mind you can set up callback accounts with either enlinea or callbackworld to make cheap calls back to the US and other places.

So this is probably the direction I would look into as you will be in the UK for 10 days....there's also virgin mobile with its 20p calls to the USA but it charges I believe 40p to call other mobiles (Mobal for example) in the UK but again stince the sims right now are dirt cheap, it wouldn't be out of the question or break your budget for the 10 days in the UK to get 2 for each of you...I know a merchant called L8shop (L8shop.net) that is currently selling virgin mobile sims for ?3.95 with 5 quid of credit and they do ship to the USA (?6.95 a little stiff) but you would have your numbers in advance and for ?3.95 how can you go wrong...you could set up voice mail from the USA in advance and they charge something like 3p to text message from virgin to virgin.

Virgin mobile roaming, however, is expensive (but with the eu poking its nose into roaming rates, who knows what the near future holds)

You can also get O2 sims from them too (for the O2 to mobal) for the same ?3.95 and O2 has all sorts of bolt ons for long distance (to the USA).

Hope this gives you a couple of things to mull over...

	(#2)
MATHA531 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 869 Join Date: 15 Oct 2004 Country:	25-05-2006, 08:27 10 days in the UK...calls to the US...here is what you might consider. You might consider a dirt cheap for the one time a British sim for both of you.. You might want to look into Mobile World (available from Carphone Warehouse).. Mobile World sims cost something like 5 quid and then have to be topped up as they come with no credit. Advantages of mobile world... 1. Calls to the US are dirt cheap....5p/minute except for a brief period early in the evenings..I believe from 1900 to 2100 when it rises "dramatically" to 7.5p/minute. 2. Calls to other UK mobiles is 15p/minute (mobal in the UK is basically O2 at least as far as receiving. Downside of Mobile World 1. Limited shelf life (I think it has increased from 60 days to 4 months)...can't be gotten around as it allows no roaming whatsoever...requires 1 use every 4 months; at least we haven't figured out a way around this. 2. As noted no roaming...useless outside of UK but so what....it is dirt cheap to get and you can thorw it away or try to give it to somebody else. 3. Since no roaming, cannot set up voicemail from outside UK. Bear in mind there is a move going on to reduce or dump European roaming charges so the situation might dramatically change in the future regarding travel in other countries. Right now, UK sim prices are dirt cheap as the companies are literally giving the sims away because of the competition. Also since Mobal has the free incoming in the UK, bear in mind you can set up callback accounts with either enlinea or callbackworld to make cheap calls back to the US and other places. So this is probably the direction I would look into as you will be in the UK for 10 days....there's also virgin mobile with its 20p calls to the USA but it charges I believe 40p to call other mobiles (Mobal for example) in the UK but again stince the sims right now are dirt cheap, it wouldn't be out of the question or break your budget for the 10 days in the UK to get 2 for each of you...I know a merchant called L8shop (L8shop.net) that is currently selling virgin mobile sims for ?3.95 with 5 quid of credit and they do ship to the USA (?6.95 a little stiff) but you would have your numbers in advance and for ?3.95 how can you go wrong...you could set up voice mail from the USA in advance and they charge something like 3p to text message from virgin to virgin. Virgin mobile roaming, however, is expensive (but with the eu poking its nose into roaming rates, who knows what the near future holds) You can also get O2 sims from them too (for the O2 to mobal) for the same ?3.95 and O2 has all sorts of bolt ons for long distance (to the USA). Hope this gives you a couple of things to mull over...