United Mobile+ (new service with +44 Jersey number)

[GadgetKen]

Originally Posted by MATHA531

The only point I might make to you is that at this point in time, on Orange Call Abroad, T Mobile UK bundle or Mobile World, calls to the US are 5p/minute and they are literally giving away the sim cards (all you pay for is time)...why would you want to use UM (or O9 or Travelsim) for calls from the UK to the USA? (maybe I am missing something; not meaning to be nasty to you or anything like that)....

Just wondering.

No offense taken. Good reason is that I rarely visit Europe (international travel tends more to be business trips to Canada and personal trips to non-US Caribbean). For a one week trip to the UK with maybe one phone call home a day, not really worth getting a UK card. Plus I have about 40 Euro on my Liechtenstein UM card that I will transfer over, so the first 40 Euro will essentially be free (that beats Mobile World 5p/min calls) and I can use any unused balance in other countries. And can also auto-recharge with UM so I don't have to hunt for prepaid vouchers, can briefly test out the new sim in the US in advance of travel and give the number to family. Also have Skype-Out on a Sony Mylo that I may be able to use on wi-fi for 2 US cents/minute back to the US.

Just went on the United Mobile website and ordered the new card with a zero Euro balance...want to make sure it arrives in one piece before transferring or adding money to it.

[swancity]

Hi, anyone knows what hapenned to prefix +423 after upgrade? does it mean my phone # now is +44 663 xxxxxx or still +423 663 xxxxxx? thanks for any info.

[prion]

I was wondering if the upgrade is mandatory.....What would happen if someone did not upgrade?

[TheMadBrewer]

Originally Posted by swancity

Hi, anyone knows what hapenned to prefix +423 after upgrade? does it mean my phone # now is +44 663 xxxxxx or still +423 663 xxxxxx? thanks for any info.

My reading of the announcement and website is that you will get a whole new number. But I have no inside info on that.

[Effendi]

The offer is good, pity that I'm going to Armenia in a couple of weeks and the new offer has no coverage there.... So I think I'll stay with the +423 offer by now, even if I could buy an Armenian card (and I'll probably do anyway)...

[inquisitor]

You'll definitely get a completely new number starting with +44 79 3700 xxxx.

During the order process sometimes silver and gold numbers will be shown. However you'll need to reload the UM+ order page several times in order to see those numbers, as the system obviously has some problems yet.

From what I read on the "transfer credit" page (don't know the exact English translation, as I'm seeing the German version), the +423 SIM will immediately be deactivated if you transfer your credit from the +423 SIM to the new one. So I guess the +423 will stay activated if you don't transfer your credit.

At least they should let us setup a mailbox, through which we can announce our new numbers.

[herkdrvr]

Anyone know the cost per minute using Vonage to this new UM+ number?

I'm very disappointed China went from free incoming to some insane amount. That is one of the places I must frequent for business. Anyone suppose they will lower the rate there back to free in the future? I know, just speculation...

Cheers

[inquisitor]

I've just called CS and they told me the +423 SIM won't be deactivated
- unless you transfer your credit to the new SIM
or
- unless your credit declines to € 0.

Regarding the roaming in China UM is dependant on roaming agreements and fees of some other network operators and so pricing is not subject to their free choice.
Why don't you buy a Chinese prepaid SIM? China's mobile networks are reachable at landline rates, so even a call forwarding from the US wouldn't be expensive.

As I don't use Vonage, I can't tell you their rates, but voipcheap.com charges € 0,08/min to UM+ numbers. If you want to know the price of Vonage just call UM CS for a minute and check your bill afterwards: +44 7937 099 911

[BHX]

Originally Posted by MATHA531

..or they average it out or whatever.

Just another example...for whatever the reason in the United States we have alternate ways of dialing from our landlines by preceding the call with a code. One of the biggest ones is 1016868...that is instead of dialing 011 44 7624 xxxxxx whatever to call an Isle of Man phone we could dial 1016868 011 44 7624 xxxxxx According to the brochure, calls via this method to the UK are 7.9¢ but calls to UK mobiles are 12.9¢ (per minute raised to the next highest minute of course)....it's basically a bargain at least as far as calls to mobiles but guess what...1016868 is disabled it seems if you try to call an Isle of Man mobile (it works as advertised to regular UK mobiles)....conspiracy? Don't know.

The cbw and enlinea prices ot the UK and from the UK must be averagted out to make sure using an isle of man mobile by way of cbw or enlinea is not all that cheap (O9 remains the best alternative and my son is using O9 right now with eninea and it's unbelievable how inexpensive the calls are...pray to god it stays that way!)

The UK also allows use of indirect carriers and dial-thru' access codes.

For example 18185 (www.call18185.co.uk) offers UK residents calls to UK mobiles at 3p/min weekends and 6p/min weekdays, also cheap calls internationally and nationally.

International call checker (lists the various providers and the call charges): http://callchecker.moneysavingexpert.com/intcallchecker

France has similar services too, both indirect access and dial thru'.

[Bossman]

Upgrade is definitely not mandatory. If the UM +423 works well for you, I'd stay with it.

Originally Posted by prion

I was wondering if the upgrade is mandatory.....What would happen if someone did not upgrade?