Prepaid Sims

[MATHA531]

...no additional charge to call ycw...it's 3p/minute while on line with them so to speak so the only drawback, not a major one at 3p, is that you pay even if the call is not completed....T Mobile UK has also re-instated the ability to buy one of the £2 bundles for 50 minutes of call time to the USA and Canada for PAYG customers...see the T Mobile UK web site.

[thejinx0r]

So, I'll probably add the int'l bundle and use it for a few days then switch to YCW.

But can you also confirm that DialNow would still be considered like a "local" call?

Thanks

P.S.
Can I add that bundle while i'm in Canada by texting?
And is there a way to check my balance for free?
Is there a way to top up in Canada?

P.S. #2
How do I check how much it costs to use Enlinea?
Like for the country calling from, do I put where I am going to be? Or do I put the country code for the sim I'm using like UK for UM and Iceland for o9 / Yackie Mobile?
Cause if it's the country code, than I might just go for o9 + Enlinea if it's the actual country code as it appears to be the best solution right now.

[andy]

DialNow uses ordinary landline access numbers. I didn't necessarily intend to suggest it for use within the UK, as you'd still have the cost of the access number at the SIM's standard tariff for it, which is more expensive than some of those int'l tariff options.

When I suggested DialNow, I'd understood that you might be roaming Europe with a UK SIM and maybe Vodafone Passport, O2 My Europe Extra or 3. When roaming they don't have cheap calls to Canada and USA, but calls to UK (Vodafone) or within Europe (O2, 3) are cheaper, hence the suggestion. If you're likely to decide to get a global roaming SIM instead, then I'd overlook DialNow (it might be useful with some single country SIMs though, those with cheap local calls rather than those designed as an mvno for int'l calls)

I don't know if you can add the T-mobile bundle or top-up while abroad; I don't recall anyone saying they managed it, but I'll wait to be corrected. I don't think the UK networks accept foreign credit cards themselves, though a shop here would

Any callback service, or indeed any other phone call, will use the tariff applicable to the destination number, not to where that phone happens to be at the time.

[FBlack_111]

How does Dialnow work? I have a UK SIM. If I call the US with Dialnow, will it ring back and I have to pay the rate my SIM provider charges for incoming calls? Calls out cost me about 50 cents a minute. How is there a savings? Or do I need a special new SIM?

[petkow]

Originally Posted by FBlack_111

How does Dialnow work? I have a UK SIM. If I call the US with Dialnow, will it ring back and I have to pay the rate my SIM provider charges for incoming calls? Calls out cost me about 50 cents a minute. How is there a savings? Or do I need a special new SIM?

This has left me a bit confused... but I'll try...

Dialnow is not a callback service. You do not need a special SIM. It is just an account based callthrough provider. Think of it like a calling card. You buy some credit with them, dial a local access number (and get charged) to access their switch then dial your destination number. You will therefore pay 2 parties. Firstly your local airtime provider to access the Dialnow access number, and then secondly to Dialnow for placing the call to your destination.

OK.. you have a UK SIM. Who knows what it is, but lets assume you have some cheap deal to call local UK numbers whilst in the UK (let's just say 10p/min... or put it into euros that is about €0.14/min). You therefore dial the UK access number starting 0161. Let's say you want to call US. You then dial the US number. Dialnow charges you €0.05/min+19%tax for this destination. The total cost of the call is therefore around 15 euro cents/min.

Unfortunately I don't know who you pay 50cents a minute to and what cents those are (US cents, Euro cents?)?? Unfortunately I have no idea where you are calling from at that rate. I tust however you can figure it all out and figure out if you make savings.

[andy]

cross-posted, but I'll leave it

Originally Posted by FBlack_111

How does Dialnow work? I have a UK SIM. If I call the US with Dialnow, will it ring back and I have to pay the rate my SIM provider charges for incoming calls? Calls out cost me about 50 cents a minute. How is there a savings? Or do I need a special new SIM?

No, DialNow is a callthrough service, not callback at all (though there is a separate way to use it for that).

To call the USA from the UK, broadly speaking you'd have two options:

There are several mvno providers with cheap direct-dialled international calls, and the main networks also have some SIM options that are equivalent to these, either add-ons or separately branded. Rates are from 4 pence a minute upwards.

The other option is to use a callthrough access just like a calling card, so a local number then the destination will be dialled. Nowadays this isn't as likely to be worthwhile in the UK, as you'd pay for the local landline call at perhaps higher rates than the direct-dialled options in the first category.

An exception to this generalised callthrough description is the Yourcallworld arrangement with T-mobile, where the call comes off the SIM balance at the YCW tariff, and no separate account is needed. Although it's callthrough, it's more like the first group on tariff grounds

[petkow]

Incidentally, anyone who is making calls to Dialnow from a T-Mobile SIM whilst in the UK will be wiser to not dial the UK access code (01617002929) which will get charged at 15p/min. Instead, it makes more sense dialing first via YCW's 07755 to one of the foreign access numbers (e.g. Germany) where the access call will only cost 3p/min. Even calls to the UK work out cheaper through this rather long winded approach!

[andy]

For people who want to make absolutely loads of int'l calls from the UK, there is an add-on on 3 - £15 buys up to 3000 minutes in a month to 23 countries.

Or another option on 3 has free Skype calls, which could also sidestep the cost to some people calling you. SkypeIn and SkypeOut are not supported on this though, and not all phones

[FBlack_111]

Thanks for the input. I have a Passport SIM from Telestial (EKIT). Calls in are free in most of Europe. Calls out are about 50 cents U.S. per minute. I checked and the Passport costs 50 cents U.S. to call the UK toll free or other access numbers.

Obviously it's cheaper to just call the U.S. directly. I may get a T-Mobile UK SIM and use YCW or iDial365.

I thought Dialnow was a cheaper Callback service. That's essentially how the Passport SIM works but costs about $.50 a minute.. Anyone know of a cheaper callback service that works with Mobile phones?

[petkow]

There are some. I do not know the status of these but search the forums here (or Google) for Enlinea and Callbackworld.