New World Sim Company truphone.com

[RTuesday]

Originally Posted by petkow

they are now giving away free SIM's which come loaded with 5 GBP or 7.50 US$ of call credit.

I've just received the free sim, with $7.50 in calling credit on it (sent to a US address). (thanks for mentioning the offer).

Activated it OK on the website. I could choose a US number for it at activation time. Pick a state and you're given a number to either accept or roll the dice again. After a few tries I got a reasonable 213 Los Angeles number (appears to be from a T-mobile block).

Prices look excellent in the US, but in Mexico it only roams on Movistar (not Telcel) and the prices are too high for any use (as I knew, it's for other countries). Roaming doesn't seem to be seamless, had to manually select a network each time, wasn't picked up on an automatic search. Received a test SMS from Google Voice OK (free), sent a reply OK - but the outgoing sms was billed 15% higher than the website prices. (they do say the prices exclude tax, but it is unclear what taxes if any would apply in this case).

I noticed there was no email address, online chat, or web form ticket system when I went to the web site to ask about the rate difference. Seems it's phone calls only (which is a bit tricky if your support request involves not being able to phone!). I haven't tried a support call as it's unclear whether that is chargable.

Next time I'm in the US I'll test it properly. That's if sending one sms a month will avoid the (undefined) inactivity fee, the terms do say it has to be a "call" each month.

Rob

[RTuesday]

I've found where Truphone have hidden the online support:
Truphone | Facebook

Interesting nuggets:

"the inactivity period is 90 days, after which you'll be charged £2 monthly fee that could be avoided by making a call or sending a text." - that's good.

"data is charged per session in 100KB increments. Minimum charge is 100KB, that is 10c in the USA and 5p in the UK." - that's not so good, big chunk.

Rob

[Stu]

I've been more pleased with eKit than albino. Their second IMSI is handy for the US and Canada. Truphone's VOIP always priced themselves too high. It was a good product, but they were competing against British mainstream carriers. That was it.

[petkow]

Ah OK. SO I presume I will not get that free SIM I ordered with that code above, as at least a 1000 people have probably used the same promo code!

[andy]

hmmm, having just looked back through some emails (to last Wednesday), I think I can confirm that the codes ought to differ

[Sophia]

I think you have to make one call a month to keep it active, though I find their site very confusing and vague. Rates go up and down (up, up, up, mostly, actually). At first Canada rates was $.75 per minute and $1 per 1mb data, which was quite good, now it's $1.05/m and almost $3/mb... not so attractive anymore. USA local has gone up from $.10/m to $.15/m as well... anybody got their card yet? Does it work with Google Voice?

[easyroam-]

Truphone has released there new "LOCAL" sim card. The mobile number used for the UK is now 074088 xxxxx.
This has a FM5 charge band. This is a higher call rate than there original truphone 079788 number (FM3)

So if you intend to use there data service to logon to truphone or use there roaming service, Looking at there rates as this could work out very expensive. NO FREE ROAMING

BT PRICE PLAN

- -- - Day - Evening - Weekend
fm1 - 12.41 - 11.74 - 3.61
fm2 - 24.01 - 17.03 - 7.65
fm3 -14.53 - 7.84 - 6.97
fm4 -13.33 - 10.84 - 5.88
fm5 -15.44 - 8.03 - 5.01
fm6 -21.54 - 16.11 - 3.93
fm7 -14.91 - 8.41 - 7.15

Just to note that we www.travelsim.co.uk use a FM1 charge band

[Sophia]

I received the local sim card a few days ago. I'm happy with it so far, at least you can call and be called It is roaming on Rogers. A few observations/questions:
- I haven't managed to get data to work. I set it to "use data when roaming", but it won't connect to the Internet at all. I'd like it to work for emergencies... any ideas?
- Google Voice does not work with it, or at least it won't accept the voicemail option. Not a big deal really. I have not tried to call using GV yet.

So far, so good. I always wanted a cellphone without any subscriptions or ties. Here in Canada even prepaid cards force you to top up your card once a month with at LEAST $10, and you get all kinds of extra fees such as 911 access (mandatory fee), and number recognition/voicemail/call waiting (optional).

Now, with these international roaming cards, With these you have only one obligation and that is make one call a month to have it stay active. Now, let's hope Truphone doesn't go belly-up like some others...

[easyroam-]

Originally Posted by Sophia

I received the local sim card a few days ago. I'm happy with it so far, at least you can call and be called

You do know you have a inbound call charge of $0.70 per minute and to call within Canada will be $1.25 per minute.

999, 112, 911 services or any other emergency service is not available

Would a Canadian local sim be a better choice ?

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by easyroam-

999, 112, 911 services or any other emergency service is not available

i'm wondering how this could not be available - i mean this even works if you toast your SIM card...
Chris