Vodafone UK Abolishes Roaming Charges for Summer and cuts long distance cost for good

[Stu]

Originally Posted by MATHA531

Stu...

Do remember that verizon is not a gsm carrier......vodafone did make a bid to buy AT&T's gsm network when it went up for sale which cingular purchased and changed the name back to AT&T....

Yes, but there are now a number of phones which are both CDMA 800/1900 and GSM 900/1800 (some even have HSDPA 2100mhz). Also, this distinction should disappear with LTE.

[Aclan]

MATHA531, you are assuming that the quote is written in English - in fact it is written in Marketingese. After reading terms & condtitons I understand that:
- You don't pay for answered calls in selected countries
- You pay 5/15p to various countries but only when calling from UK
- You pay your "home price" (=20p) when calling UK from selected countries.

And that's it. If I'm mistaken - correct me.

And now one question I couldn't find answer for - do you must top up the account to activate a free SIM card? Let's say I want to order 2 free SIMs - I can call between them for 20p from whole Europe. Do I must buy 2x5 GBP top ups for that or can I top up only one of them and use the other one only as 'receiver'?

[babble]

A clear explanation of the "vodafone UK Passport" and the "summer roaming promotion" is available here:

Vodafone Passport ? mobile phone calls when roaming abroad

[inquisitor]

Since I consider purchasing a British Vodafone SIM as temporary replacement for UM+, I'd like to know if it needs to be activated in the UK or can I activate it also by registering on a foreign network?

[petkow]

The last time I got a Voda UK PAYG SIM I first used it from within the UK so can't directly answer your question based on experience.

However, I can't see why you can't activate from elsewhere. I never actually had to activate it! I just put the SIM in and switched on the phone. The phone was ready for incoming calls straight away. Of course there was no outgoing credit though. However, you will have to activate Vodafone passport which you can do even from overseas by calling the free customer services number. Most people activate this from when they are overseas in any case. As you know, topping up can be done overseas anyhow.

[babble]

A warning from the Vodafone Roaming Terms for the older AnyNet and Anytime sims:

"Vodafone cannot guarantee access to or coverage within any foreign country. If you are unable to receive access to a Vodafone Preferred Network, you may obtain access to another foreign network operator in that country. If so, you will be charged accordingly."

Source: UK - About Vodafone UK - Legal Information - Terms and conditions - Pay as you go price plans

Be careful to register onto the correct network!

[inquisitor]

Thank you, petkow.

I'm asking because of my experience with a French Orange SIM, which I bought on eBay last summer. When it arrived here in Germany, it registered immediately on German networks, but the SIM wasn't activated properly. The phone number was unreachable and SMS didn't arrive, too. Also outgoing calls, texts and USSD-commands failed, allthough there was an initial credit on the SIM.
After I arrived in France and registered on the Orange network for the first time, everything was fine and also back in Germany I could use all services, that failed before.
Other operators like MTel in Bulgaria require an activation call from within their network in order a phone number to be assigned to one's SIM.
However that question needs a definitve answer, so I just ordered a British Vodafone SIM on eBay.co.uk and will let you know, if it works without ever having been registered on it's home network.

Actually, as long as you stay in Europe, a British Vodafone SIM is the best deal you can get, if you find a way to trigger callbacks for cheap. Does anyone have experience in setting up your own SMS gateway?

[petkow]

Originally Posted by inquisitor

However that question needs a definitve answer, so I just ordered a British Vodafone SIM on eBay.co.uk and will let you know, if it works without ever having been registered on it's home network.

Hope it works! UK SIMs always have a number preassigned in any case, so not like the Bulgarian problem you described. I have a few Vodafone UK SIM packs sitting around here somewhere, so perhaps I should test one here in Spain. I will try do so as soon as I can. Not sure where my big box of SIM's got too.

Actually, as long as you stay in Europe, a British Vodafone SIM is the best deal you can get, if you find a way to trigger callbacks for cheap. Does anyone have experience in setting up your own SMS gateway?

I agree. I have been using a UK SIM (but from o2) for all my calling when travelling in Europe for the last few years, and am happiest with the stability of a big mainstream network that like Vodafone also gets me 0c/min incoming in practically every European country. For callback, I use Betamax with their Java client. (Though GPRS data is a bit cheaper on o2UK than VodaUK). For callback, I use their dialnow.com brand which works out them charging me 7c/min for the incoming leg to the UK mobile number but other brands of theirs are a bit cheaper at around 5c/min. (check voipzoom.com and smartvoip.com). That coupled with the destination cost often works out cheaper than using a local SIM for calling a local number. I never pay more than a few pence for the data part.

[castrobayon]

Hello to all. It´s my first post in the forum. I have a question, I´m looking for it in the web vodafone uk but i don´t saw it. What is the cost of activation of vodafone international on pay as you go. I read the terms and conditions but didn´t say of cost. Can you help my?. Thank you very much.

P.S. Sorry for my "write" english. It´s very bad. I hope that you understand me.

[babble]

Aqui dice que el servicio vodafone UK international es gratis:

International Calling - Vodafone

" Getting Vodafone International is easy. Already with Vodafone? Call 36888 or text INTERNATIONAL to 2345 - free."

Pero para activar el servicio, no se si puedes llamar al numero 36888, o mandar un sms al numero 2345, desde Espania gratis.