Traverller's Mobile/cellurlar Options In England?

unlocked · 22-08-2006, 19:58

First, welcome to prepaidgsm.
I'm a frequent visitor to the UK so I'll give you my thoughts.

For a few weeks, getting pay-as-you-go service is fairly cheap and very easy. Most of the main carriers will sell you a SIM card (without a phone) for not much money. One place to look is Carphone Warehouse, which has stores all over the UK--here's their page on sim-only offers: http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/commerce/...N&NODE_ID=10373. The price plans vary but not by a whole lot if you're just going to be a light user inside the UK. They do vary a lot, though, in the cost of calls to the US: for that I use Orange which is 20p/minute, not bad for the convenience though if you're really pinching pence you'd be better off buying a phone card at a newsagent shop.

The bigger problem is the phone itself. If you use a GSM carrier in the US (Cingular most places, T-Mobile and some regional ones) you MIGHT already have a usable phone but it needs to be at least "tri-band" and "unlocked." Check with your carrier and you might already have what you need or could upgrade at a reasonable price (thus landing a better phone for US use, too). If you have a little time, check out GSM phones on ebay--you want phone-only, tri- or quad-band, unlocked. You can get really good new ones for around $100, older models for much less if you're willing to take some risk on condition. You could buy from a UK carrier when you arrive but that will take a little time and may end up being fairly pricey: Orange right now has nice basic phones with prepaid sims for ?30 to ?60 but they won't be triband (ie won't work in US) and to double the price in pounds to get dollars. Similar deals at Carphone Warehouse (http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/com...&NODE_ID=10372).

Others may have more specific advice on carriers or phones but I hope this helps.

	(#1)
unlocked (Offline) Member Advanced Member Posts: 77 Join Date: 01 Apr 2004 Location: North Carolina Country:	22-08-2006, 19:58 First, welcome to prepaidgsm. I'm a frequent visitor to the UK so I'll give you my thoughts. For a few weeks, getting pay-as-you-go service is fairly cheap and very easy. Most of the main carriers will sell you a SIM card (without a phone) for not much money. One place to look is Carphone Warehouse, which has stores all over the UK--here's their page on sim-only offers: http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/commerce/...N&NODE_ID=10373. The price plans vary but not by a whole lot if you're just going to be a light user inside the UK. They do vary a lot, though, in the cost of calls to the US: for that I use Orange which is 20p/minute, not bad for the convenience though if you're really pinching pence you'd be better off buying a phone card at a newsagent shop. The bigger problem is the phone itself. If you use a GSM carrier in the US (Cingular most places, T-Mobile and some regional ones) you MIGHT already have a usable phone but it needs to be at least "tri-band" and "unlocked." Check with your carrier and you might already have what you need or could upgrade at a reasonable price (thus landing a better phone for US use, too). If you have a little time, check out GSM phones on ebay--you want phone-only, tri- or quad-band, unlocked. You can get really good new ones for around $100, older models for much less if you're willing to take some risk on condition. You could buy from a UK carrier when you arrive but that will take a little time and may end up being fairly pricey: Orange right now has nice basic phones with prepaid sims for ?30 to ?60 but they won't be triband (ie won't work in US) and to double the price in pounds to get dollars. Similar deals at Carphone Warehouse (http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/com...&NODE_ID=10372). Others may have more specific advice on carriers or phones but I hope this helps.