Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

redux · 13 September 2007 at 1:27PM

winevaults wrote: »

i am on orange pay as you go
i will need to use phone when i am in spain to phone friends who will also be in spain but are on mobiles using irish mobile networks

how do i get cheap rate calls to and from friends while we are all away in spain ?

At the very least, make sure that Orange have you on the new Eurotariff. They had a good add-on offer earlier in the year, but this has expired.

Another option, without much complication, would be O2 UK's Chosen Country - Spain. For a £5 a month fee, incoming calls are then free, outgoing to any European number 25 pence a minute, compared to the Eurotariff of about 35 to 38p outgoing, 18p incoming.

If you expect quite a lot of use, it could also be worthwhile to look into getting a Spanish SIM card, used in an unlocked phone, and this might be more attractive if your friends would think about doing that too, though there is then the issue of forwarding calls from the original number (which isn't possible on many payg SIMs).

Some of the Spanish tariffs are not great, but Yoigo has cheap calls, and Spanish Vodafone has a 60 for 1 minutes add-on option, which could also be useful with a calling card access to reach home.

Info on networks and tariffs on
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/spain.html

keefrto · 2 October 2007 at 11:50AM

Anybody got advice on Canada, roaming prices and best options? I am currently with Vodafoen and I have checked their prices (jeez!) and also coming to the end of my contract.
CHEERS

redux · 4 October 2007 at 10:03AM

There aren't any cheap roaming options for Canada. Get a local SIM card from Fido or Rogers. Then look into cheap callthrough options for international calls, like DialNow. You can set up the caller ID of the SIM in the DialNow account so it recognises you, or enter a PIN. All the countries access numbers are usable, so you'd still have the spare credit when you got home.

Tariffs and other info at http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/canada.html

http://www.dialnow.com/en/index.html

Different frequency bands are used there, so you'd need to take a tri- or quadband phone, or buy a cheap one locally.

[Deleted User] · 6 October 2007 at 7:28PM

can someone please recommend a good place other than ebay where i can buy a Fido SIM?

RubiconCSL · 23 October 2007 at 4:06PM

Okay; so I'm dumb! Or is it just deliberately impossible to work it out with phone companies (surely not I hear you say)!

Right; my position.....

We have now bought a house in France, but are only there half a dozen ties a year. Not being bi-lingual (or bi anything else before you ask!) , we finally managed to get a phone line in with a tariff, which is probably far too expensive for what we need (but I gave up trying to talk in French). It includes around 2 hrs of calls to the UK a month. So, obviously, from there, ringing landlines in the UK is best.

Now then; as I have to work, her in doors and my children will be there when I'm sweating away back at home. They all have mobiles on the three network; mine is on T-Mobile.

The question at last! What is the cheapest way to talk to each other if they are out of the house i.e. mobile to mobile? I think, I can ring them free from my phone and they get charged 10p / min to receive. How about if they want to contact me? 25p/min or 25p/text for them. Without all the hassle of changing sim cards and therefore numbers, is that really the cheapest way?

They won't need to ring me too much, but teenage kids feel deprived if they can't send about a hundred texts a day! At 25p each, they are going to cost me a fortune. Any good ideas - other than a different phone/sim for texting? That would be far too much work for a teenager, so they won't do it

Also, how about broadband? I dont want to pay for a monthly broadband service, as some months we won't be there at all and others only a week or so?

jordylass · 24 October 2007 at 2:41PM

I'm going to be in Spain on the Pueblo Ingles course that I saw on another thread (thanks for that). I will want to call/text and receive calls when I am there. The option I was going to use was O2 Eurotariff, but they say it can't be put on till my next billing date when I'll have been in Spain for a week already!
I can use VOIP on my phone although I currently haven't got any service, would that be possible from Spain, also I'm not sure this is the right forum, but will it be possible to connect my phone to the internet. I'm thinking WIFI should be OK?

redux · 25 October 2007 at 1:01AM

The Eurotariff really should be on your phone already, as O2 introduced it in July, earlier than required.

The option to look at is Chosen Country - Spain, which has a £5 a month fee, then the same benefit as My Europe Extra, namely free incoming calls and 25p outgoing.

When I've asked about My Europe Extra in the past, there is no obligation for it to be in phase with the billing period, so I'd hope the Spain option is similar and you should be able to have it added at about 2 days notiice. Try asking customer services again, and don't forget to cancel it when you get back.

You should be able to use VoIP over wi-fi on a suitable phone; over 3g the data usage is likely to be expensive. I don't have direct experience but look at things like Truphone and Fring, the latter being a client that you can add your own VoIP account settings to.

Also, it's possible to make more of the free incoming calls by using a callback service, which sets up a call by connecting two outgoing call legs together, one to your phone, and you're charged the sum of the 2 tariffs by that provider.

I use the sms callback of Voipcheap or JustVoip, useful as O2 still use inclusive texts abroad, at a 4 for 1 ratio. The sms sent contains just the destination number and the call comes back a few seconds later with the other number ringing. More info on this is available when logged into the VC or JV account

If you still expect to use more texts than (4 x) your O2 allowance, then look at Java clients that send via wap/grps, such as Vyke mobisms and others discussed on other threads. Some also have a callback trigger

redux · 25 October 2007 at 1:20AM

RubiconCSL wrote: »

The question at last! What is the cheapest way to talk to each other if they are out of the house i.e. mobile to mobile? I think, I can ring them free from my phone and they get charged 10p / min to receive. How about if they want to contact me? 25p/min or 25p/text for them. Without all the hassle of changing sim cards and therefore numbers, is that really the cheapest way?

They won't need to ring me too much, but teenage kids feel deprived if they can't send about a hundred texts a day! At 25p each, they are going to cost me a fortune. Any good ideas - other than a different phone/sim for texting? That would be far too much work for a teenager, so they won't do it

I think that 3 is the cheapest UK option for calls if you don't want to get them French SIMs, but it might be worth a look at hose, though one of the problems in France is that networks still have quite short periods for the credit validity

Compare networks and tariffs on http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/france.html

The ordinary tariffs aren't great, but options like SFR la carte, with 30 cents per call up to an hour for landlines and other SFR, might be worthwhile, and useful with a local callthrough access for calls back to the UK.

But that then removes your cheap calls to them, unless they carry around 2 phones. But there is an interesting option now on O2 pay&go, with free international calls added per regular monthly top-up, which you might use to call if they get French SIMs

Cheap texts as for the last post: there are mobile Java programs that send an equivalent over grps, for 2 to 5 cents each, plus the network's data cost of a cent or two. Discussed in this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=528955

Some of those programs also have a callback service as well, such as Voipbuster and Vyke, which would be another option for cheaper outgoing calls from French SIMs

jordylass · 25 October 2007 at 10:06AM

Thanks for your help Redux, I've created an account with Justvoip but I'm confused about the callback service you mention. i can't see anything on their site about sending texts for callback.

redux · 25 October 2007 at 11:58AM

Log in to your account online with username and password. First time, it probably asks you to add some personal details, but for now just the invoice country - UK - is sufficient.

Then look down the menu on the left for: Make VoIP calls via your mobile phone.

The first option described is callthrough using their Nottingham access number, which could be useful for making international calls while you are here in the UK.

Then it describes the sms callback. The +447624 number is actually in the Isle of Man, but O2 count it in your inclusive texts.

Use your credit for regular calls

Make good use of your credits and make cheap regular and mobile phone calls via our access number: 01158180060
Here's how it works:

1). Make sure you have entered your home and/or mobile phone number in your personal details so you can access our local rate numbers.

2). Call the accessnumber (at local rate) from your home number or mobile phone and wait for the voice prompt. Please note that this number will be charged by your own telephone provider (either landline or mobile provider) according to the local rates your own provider applies. If in doubt please double check with your provider to confirm the going rate.

3). You can now enter any (international) number you want, and JustVoip connects your call (always use the international format for your calls, for instance 0044201234567 for a UK call). Costs for the onward calls will be settled via your JustVoip-account at the current rates . After entering the telephone number you want to call, you will hear the current rate of the destination you are calling so you know exactly what each call will cost - in advance. Freedays do not apply for this service!

Use your credit for regular calls from your mobile phone

No matter where you are, you can now always benefit from the JustVoip rates and make cheap mobile calls just by sending an SMS!

Here's how it works:

1). Make sure you have entered your mobile phone number in your personal details.

2). Send an SMS containing the number you would like to call including the national prefix (e.g. a number in the UK send +44 123 456 789) to +44 762 480 2809 (save this number in your mobile phone under JUSTVOIP so you can always use it!)

3). Your phone rings, pick up, wait for reply and start talking!

For callthrough, there are access numbers for several countries, but they only seem to work for the country the account is set up for (so I have a German account for a German SIM). The other Betamax brand DialNow can use all access numbers by using a PIN.

Another interesting option: since that post last night I discovered that Lebara, who specialise in SIMs with cheap int'l calls, launched one in Spain a few months ago. Calls to UK landlines are 6.7 eurocents a minute; connection charge though

http://www.lebara-mobile.es/en/index.php

Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

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