German Mvnos Keep On Growing...

[Effendi]

There are other news from the German market, I discovered today that SimPly now has a prepaid offer as well, and it's very interesting (on T-Mo net).

There's a prepaid MVNO offer by Debitel as well, called Debitel-Light, on E+ net (their site doesn't work so well), which seems to be identical to Blau and Simyo.

There's a third offer, Jamba SIM, again on E+ net, which seems to be the same as Schwarzfunk, so not so interesting, except for SMS lovers, since it has the cheapest price for texting, just 9 cent each.

I found also that Blau has a promotion for new customers: the startpaket costs ? 19.95 including ?20 startguthaben, so it seems to be a better choice ofer Simply right now.

I'm planning a short trip to Germany for Easter period, now I really have no idea which prepaid to buy!

[snaimon]

Originally Posted by Effendi

There are other news from the German market, I discovered today that SimPly now has a prepaid offer as well, and it's very interesting (on T-Mo net).

Effendi:

The Germans over on telfon-treff are WARNING that Simply prepaid is NOT prepaid. They cite the Business Terms and Conditions (AGB):

http://www.simplytel.de/index.php?page=agb-prepaid

Clearly point 3 is called: III. Vertragsbeginn (Contract start)

Also

XVII. Ordentliche K?ndigung
Der Vertrag wird f?r unbestimmte Zeit geschlossen.

It involves a contract that must be properly terminated on the part of the client, if he or she so desires.

XX. Bonit?tspr?fung / Schufa-Klausel
Soweit der Kunde im Antragsformular einwilligt, darf simply die Daten des Kunden auch wie folgt verarbeiten (SCHUFA-Klausel):

Our German friends may have more details. Simply is going to or MAY check your creditworthiness and can reject your application. One TT poster complained that Simply rejected his on-line application.

Stan

[snaimon]

Don't know much about debitel or Jamba. Blau is REPORTEDLY a good alternative to Simyo. I have a Simyo card. As you note, blau is basically being GIVEN away.

I too are heading for Germany - mid-summer. We are a party of 4 and have 3 German SIMs and a Riiing. I think I could live with that although contacting the person (probably me) with the Riiing card will be somewhat limited -- SMS is probably the best way and then I could call for more details. BUT I could also go for another local SIM offer. I am waiting to see what happens. Also waiting to figure out if I should change either of my D1 tarifs. Both cards are XtraOne with 9 cents per minute weekends to landlines. NONSTOP might be better at least for the time we are there.

If you are going any time soon, I personally think that, if you can stand E+ and 1800 coverage, then the Medion Aldi Talk is the best bet at 15 cents per minute. I don't have it myself nor do I own stock in Aldi or Medion.

Again, we can hope that our German friends will add their thoughts.

Stan

[Triband81]

I read that debitel is joining the fray on teltarif.de the other day. Let me comment on what exactly the aforementioned info means:

Clearly point 3 is called: III. Vertragsbeginn (Contract start)

Also

XVII. Ordentliche K?ndigung (Timely/Proper Contract Termination)
Der Vertrag wird f?r unbestimmte Zeit geschlossen.
The contract will run for an unspecified time period. (normal wireless contracts in Germany are 24 months)!!

XX. Bonit?tspr?fung / Schufa-Klausel (Financial Standing/Account Status Check/Schufa Paragraph)
Soweit der Kunde im Antragsformular einwilligt, darf simply die Daten des Kunden auch wie folgt verarbeiten (SCHUFA-Klausel)
Simply may process the customer's submitted data provided that they have consented to this on the application form.

The SCHUFA is Germany's privately held credit reporting agency meaning that it is the agency which receives and stores the information about your credit history. This is the German version of Equifax, Transunion and The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. Any German national or foreign national with permanent German residency is required to go to the local SCHUFA center in their city and request a credit report. The report lists details such as name, date of birth, place of birth, current address, bank information (bank name, account type (Giro - checking, Spar-konto - savings account) and any negative history such as bankruptcies, failure to pay notices (aka disclosures). The Bonit?tspr?fung is done to see whether your account is in good standing and whether your financial status is reliable enough so the company you're seeking to sign a contract with knows that they'll get their money.

For the moment, Aldi is the best offer on the table since it doesn't involve a credit check.

[Effendi]

Ok, so it seems that Simply, also on prepaid, still has some contract involving the Schufa, like Easymobile and Klarmobile. I correct the pages at once.

For me Simyo/Blau/Debitel-Light (all identical) are still better than Aldi for cheaper SMS prices, which counts more than just 1 cent/min more for voice calls, since I have no German friends with Aldi, but mainly with e-plus or O2.

Snaimon do you think that Blau and Simyo will get together soon? And what about Debitel? Another identical offer... they don't have much sense!


P.S. I should come to K?ln around Easter holidays, I hope we can arrange a meeting with Triband81!

[Effendi]

Originally Posted by snaimon

If you are going any time soon, I personally think that, if you can stand E+ and 1800 coverage, then the Medion Aldi Talk is the best bet at 15 cents per minute. I don't have it myself nor do I own stock in Aldi or Medion.

Of course I can stand E+ and 1800, I'm a DCS fan and I always roam on E+ (also UMTS) or O2 when I'm in Germany (Wind prefers O2, but I put E+ as favourite network on the phone) and I never had problems (only once in Freising with my old Free&Easy Card... there was no network coverage inside the E+ shop ). But since I'm used to send SMS I prefer Simyo/Blau/Debitel, maybe I'll take a look on eBay...

[snaimon]

Originally Posted by Effendi

For me Simyo/Blau/Debitel-Light (all identical) are still better than Aldi for cheaper SMS prices, which counts more than just 1 cent/min more for voice calls, since I have no German friends with Aldi, but mainly with e-plus or O2.

Snaimon do you think that Blau and Simyo will get together soon? And what about Debitel? Another identical offer... they don't have much sense!

Perhaps Aldi/E+ have corrected the "error," -- again our German friends will have to confirm, but ORIGINALLY, since Aldi is E+, all E+ network internal calls, not just to Aldi users, and SMS, were billed at the reduced rate of 5 cents. While that does not help you with your O2 friends, it is something for E+.

As Triband81 or someone else has stated, E+ seems to have plenty of capacity. They seem to welcome serious firms wishing to use their infrastructure even if the offers are very similar. Unless there is some sweetener for those MVNO execs, I can see no reason why any of the competitor firms would join forces despite the similar terms of their offers. Each seems to think they can make a separate successful business with their own system under their own brand. That of course remains to be seen. I think their are slight nuances in the offers -- debitel available in stores versus others internet only.

If Aldi can make a profit with 5 cents network internal, then there is still plenty of profit for Simyo and the others.

Stan

[snaimon]

Originally Posted by Effendi

I'm used to send SMS I prefer Simyo/Blau/Debitel, maybe I'll take a look on eBay...

Not sure Ebay is the right place. Most of the offers I see indicate they will ship to GERMANY only. You might have friends that could arrange that for you.

I bought the SIMYO card for my wife and had it delivered to her hotel in Duesseldorf. I could impose on friends or relatives, but I'll pass at this time.

Good luck & hope you have good weather and a good visit.

Stan

[Effendi]

Yes, I took a look on eBay and they have the same rates as in the online shop, so there's no real advantage in buying a sim there... I have some friends in Germany, and there are nice German friends here on PrepaidGSM forum too, so I think it's really not a problem to buy a German MVNO sim card. And anyway I still have much time.

If Aldi has 5 cent/min to all E+ numbers that would be really interesting! Anyway, Blau is ok for me as well.

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by Effendi

If Aldi has 5 cent/min to all E+ numbers that would be really interesting!

They still have it till now - but you dont know for how long as they officially only offer the 5 ct rate to the other ALDI users. And tests showed us that the SMS are billed correctly now (5ct to other ALDI cards, 15 ct to all others including eplus, simyo etc.).

5 ct in the own network shouldnt be a problem.
EPlus offers 3 ct a minute to fixed lines in some contracts and if you take the company contracts also 3ct for internal calls.

Chris