Global Prepaid Overview

[Effendi]

From the idea of AdmiralAK on HowardForums, we try to do something very similar here too on PrePaidGMS.net.

The goal of this thread is to make a global overview of all the International GSM and Satellite prepaid offers (such as Riiing, Hop...) we have tried throughout the World.

Here below I personally will add a list, with shortcuts, to all the reviews we are going to write.

Thanks to AdmiralAK I attach a template rtf document to use for the reviews, so we have a similar look for all of them which is easy to read. So I kindly ask you to download the template before writing any review, compile it and just copy/paste here on the Forum; it's very easy, so I think there's no need for further instructions.

Please write here only the reviews, for discussions about prepaid offers we can always open new threads, but I'd like to keep this one "clean" and with reviews only.

Thank you in advance and good reviewing!

[Effendi]

Quick Facts

Prepaid Card Name: United Mobile
Home Network Name: FL1 (Liechtenstein)
Country Code: +423
Prepaid Package Cost (Just SIM): ? 39.00, including ? 15.00
Prepaid Package Validity: 1 call/sms every 9 months
CSD access: No
GPRS/EDGE access: No (should be implemented soon)
SIM applications: calling menu
Manual included: Yes, several languages
Refill amounts: ? 10, 25, 50 and 100
Availability: online shop
Competitors: Travelsim, Hop, Callkey...

More In-Depth Information

Buying:

The Good:
It was once quite complicated to buy the old Riiing card, but now the online shop works well, several payment methods are supported and shipping is quite fast. You need registration (not compulsory in the past with Riiing), but everything is simple.

The Bad:
Starting kit price plus shipping is not so cheap, but similar to other international offers.

Usage:

The Good:
United Mobile service is probably the best among international GMS prepaid cards. Callback works fine and there are free incoming calls in most of Europe and some other countries as well. I used it in several countries and never had big issues, just sometimes I had to dial twice to get connected. SMS work well and had no interconnection problems. UM to UM rates are cheap. Great if you have Swiss friends which can call FL numbers like national ones.

The Bad:
Overall rates are not so cheap, expecially for short calls the set-up fee is really high, rates for SMS are really too high.
Calling a Liechtenstein mobile number is not always cheap.
No coverage in NZ, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and some other countries covered by the competitors

TIPS:
There are tons of tips to use other callback systems with UM, but I'm not an expert about it, just ask Andy on the forum!

FINAL THOUGHTS:
I think United Mobile offer is still probably the best at least for mainly European travellers. Good coverage, decent rates and very good service. I think it's the most reliable service, so of course I can suggest it to anyone.

[Effendi]

Quick Facts

Prepaid Card Name: Travelsim
Home Network Name: EMT (Estonia)
Country Code: +372
Prepaid Package Cost (Just SIM): ? 29.90 including ? 10.00 of credit
Prepaid Package Validity: 1 call/sms every 24 months
CSD access: No
GPRS/EDGE access: No
SIM applications: No
Manual included: No
Refill amounts: never refilled
Availability: online shop
Competitors: United Mobile, Hop, Callkey, 09

More In-Depth Information

Buying:

The Good:
Finally the online shop is working, I never tried it (just had a simcard for testing), but it should have no problems. The staff at Travelsim is very friendly. Startup price is a little lower than many competitors.

The Bad:
None that I can think about.

Usage:

The Good:
The service works well with Siemens and Sony-Ericsson phones, while I had some problems with my LG, but it's LG's fault, I had the same issues with United Mobile and other callback services. Good connection, voice quality is not bad. Very good coverage, free incoming calls in Russia.

The Bad:
Two numbers, one for voice calls and one for SMS, which is quite unusual and not so practical. There are some too high rates, expecially out of Europe. No free incoming calls in Italy and several other European countries.

TIPS:
None.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
I think Travelsim is another good offer, with slightly different target compared to United Mobile. In some countries it's better UM, in others Travelsim, so it's almost perfect if you have both!

[Sebastian]

Quick Facts

Prepaid Card Name: Globalsim
Home Network Name: ManX Telecomm (Isle of Man)
Country Code: +44
Prepaid Package Cost (Just SIM): € 43.45 including €10 of credit
Prepaid Package Validity: 1 call/sms every 9 months
CSD access: No idea
GPRS/EDGE access: Yes
SIM applications: No
Manual included: Single A4 sheet with short codes and instructions
Refill amounts: € 20, 30, 40, ..., 100, 200, ..., 500
Availability: online store
Competitors:

More In-Depth Information

Buying:

The Good:
The online shop accepts many payments type. The delivery was on time. Customer service phone support responded promptly to all my enquiries.

The Bad:
I haven't received the feedback on my payment, which was performed via bank transfer, nor they've responded to my email enquiry about it. Customer service phone difficult to reach (+49700 number), since most VoIP carriers are not routing to it.

Usage:

The Good:
Relatively low initial investment (€33.45). No call setup fee. Good price for sending SMS: €0.19. Isle of Man number can be called for as low as 6 ct/min. +44 prefix allows this number to be texted from lot of free/cheap web to SMS services. Online top-up. Free incoming calls in most European countries. Good phone customer service.

The Bad:
Caller ID is provided neither on outgoing nor on incoming calls. No SMS delivery reports. Call records not available on Web. Billing 60/60.

TIPS:
Since, unfortunately, caller ID is not provided on outgoing calls, you'll have to find out other ways to use callback services and hence cut the call prices (they start from €0.39 for landlines, and from €0.59 for mobiles). There are some VoIP providers that offer a SMS callback service which is, obviously, triggerred via SMS sent from your Globalsim phone number. For example, www.mywebcalls.com and www.voipfone.co.uk both offer SMS callback and charge by seconds. They also offer attractive rates for IoM mobiles: Voipfone 8.2p and mywebcalls 19.5 US ct/min. There are also other VoIP providers who have good rates to UK mobiles, notably www.voipcheap.com and www.draytel.org.

As far as handset compatibilty is concerned, GlobalSIM works flawlessly on Nokia 1100 and Nokia 6020. The only thing which bothers me is that outgoing calls are not recorded in the call log, a minor usability issue.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
It appears to me as a good (if not the best) choice if you need an IoM number, relatively low SMS price and free incoming calls throughout the Europe.

[bbob]

Time to update some maybe ?

[hrgajek]

Hello,

Originally Posted by Sebastian

Quick Facts

Prepaid Card Name: Globalsim
Home Network Name: ManX Telecomm (Isle of Man)
Country Code: +44

Be careful as Globalsim Germany closed it office and announced to move to UK and Austria only by e-mail to their customers (but not mentioning a postal adress) and they are not available by phone at this time, by e-mail only.
Mentioned phone numbers are offline.

They announced an administration fee of 1,50 EUR per month if you don't have a usage of 20 EUR per quarter.

Tariffs were modified from intra-Globalsim talks to calling UK-Mobile.
Intra Germany was raised to 35 Cent per Minute.

Users report difficulties with recharging (needs many days until the money reaches your account) and with contacting the customer support.

German speaking readers may read teltarif.de - Kommunikation ganz einfach for details.

[hrgajek]

Hi,

Originally Posted by Effendi

Quick Facts

Prepaid Card Name: United Mobile

I fear, United-Mobile SIM cards will be history soon.
At the moment they are not available for to buy or to use.

[Dani]

Anyone have any updated reviews on TravelSim?

[Eve Berry]

Hi all,

Orange prepaid card is offering cash conscious consumers when they apply for an Orange Cash card a refund on their £5 application fee when they load £20 onto their account by February 29th, 2012.

I’m thinking about getting this card offer I saw in compareprepaid.co.uk. It is an exclusive offer from the web but I’d like to ask for some feedback first: Have you tried it? Is it as good as it sounds?

Let me know please, I need some advice... cheers!

[hrgajek]

xxSIM - Quick Facts

Prepaid Card Name: xxSIM.com
Reseller : Shaston S.A. Moutier (Switzerland) www.shaston.ch
Home Network Name: EMT.ee (Estonia)
Country Code: +372 Mobile Area Code: 54 Subscriber number: 6digits
Prepaid Package Cost (Just SIM): 12 EUR, including 0 Airtime Credit
Prepaid Package Validity: 1 year after last recharging
Minimum recharging: 20 EUR
possible recharging: 20, 50, 100, 200 EUR
GPRS/EDGE access: Yes, but not in all countries/networks
SIM applications: calling menu "xxSIM"
Manual included: no - see Homepage XXSIM: No International Roaming Charges
Availability: online shop www.xxsim.com
Competitors: Travelsim (Estonia), Onesim,...

More In-Depth Information

Buying:

The Good:
You can order it via the Internet and get it by postal-mail.

The Bad:
Starting kit price does not include airtime.

Usage:

Calling:
If you have a modern phone, you can use it like nearly all SIM-Cards. You setup the call and you'll receive a callback

If you have an older phone, you have to use the SIM-Tool-Kit Menue or if you cannot find it, dial *146*InternationalNumber# oder *146*Shortcode#

Talking:

The is a delay of round about 2 Seconds between the talkers, you will notice this only, if you want to interupt your conversation partner.

The Highlight:

As calling to +372 (i.e. foreign mobile numbers) from your local SIM Card or your local fixed network may be very expensive, you can call to a local tollfree 800 number instead in some countries like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, HongKong, The U.S. and others. You will be prompted to enter the desired +372 5x xxxxxx subscriber number followed by pound/hash # key and you will be connected. Called party pays 0,15 EUR per Minute on top of his incoming costs.

Personal local fixedline number will be available in some countries soon, leading directly to your mobile number. (one lifetime setup fee for installing this number could be 30 EUR, called party will pay 0,15 Euros/Minute for these calls)

122 countries are incoming free, xxSIM-card is announced to work in +190 countries.

If you understand german, Test: Roaming-Karte xxSIM mit kostenloser Erreichbarkeit - teltarif.de News could be interesting for you.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Smart update of the Estonian TravelSIM