International & UK CallChecker discussion

NonGeographicalMan

Blue_Max wrote: »

White Mobile has some of the lowest international rates.
eg. Poland 0.5p, India and China 1p, South Africa 3p, Iraq 6p

No traps like connection charges, minimum charges, setup charges or whatever.

SIM is free. just Pay As You Go!
http://www.whitemobile.com/

Interview with the founder at
http://mobilenetworkcomparison.org.uk/white-mobile-interview/

How are their rates for roaming overseas on data or calls or for data use or UK calls within the UK?

I'm currently with www.ovivomobile.com who seem to offer a good deal if you want a service that is free of any subscription cost (apart from the initial £10 for the SIM card) with 100 minutes of cross network calls and 400MB of data all for free. However they like most other MVNO mobile networks have still not solved the problem of being ripped off for data and calls whilst roaming in other countries and all the hassle therefore of having to have an unlocked phone and source other SIM cards.

There has to be a market for somebody who can come up with a SIM card that deals with this issue. Strangley TomTom seemed to manage to get such a deal out of Vodafone for roaming on their satnavs across Europe with their Live Services units but nobody else seems to have been able to port it out to phone calls or more generalised internet use.

Blue_Max

NonGeographicalMan wrote: »

How are their rates for roaming overseas on data or calls or for data use or UK calls within the UK?

NonGeographicalMan wrote: »

I'm currently with www.ovivomobile.com who seem to offer a good deal if you want a service that is free of any subscription cost (apart from the initial £10 for the SIM card) with 100 minutes of cross network calls and 400MB of data all for free. However they like most other MVNO mobile networks have still not solved the problem of being ripped off for data and calls whilst roaming in other countries and all the hassle therefore of having to have an unlocked phone and source other SIM cards.

There has to be a market for somebody who can come up with a SIM card that deals with this issue. Strangley TomTom seemed to manage to get such a deal out of Vodafone for roaming on their satnavs across Europe with their Live Services units but nobody else seems to have been able to port it out to phone calls or more generalised internet use.

I am not with Whitemobile so don't know much. But their rates for UK are 3p landline / 6p mobile / 5p text. One of the lowest.

Roaming is very expensive. It is a funadamental issue that can be changed only if all the telcos get together and hammer out a solution.

I joined Ovivomobile couple of weeks ago. Very good deal and trouble free service.
Free allowance of 100 minutes voice / 100 Texts / 400 MB MobileInternet. Every month!
£10 paid for the SIM was returned in the form of £10 credit. It is used if the free calls allowance runs out. Alternatively, its 2.5p per min if you buy a £10 Ovivo Pack.
But Ovivomobile is expensive for international calls.

Interesting interview with founder at
http://mobilenetworkcomparison.org.uk/ovivo-interview-2/

Roger1

NonGeographicalMan wrote: »

How are their rates for roaming overseas on data or calls or for data use or UK calls within the UK?

Only a partial answer but Vectone PAYG may be worth looking at for roaming calls.

I've been checking rates for a forthcoming trip to South Africa where I normally buy a local SIM. Most UK operators charge outrageous rates for calling the UK from SA (Orange £1.45/min to call, £0.90 to receive for example). White is better (£0.72/£0.34) but not great.

I was surprised to see that Vectone charge £0.18/min for a direct dial callback service - press *103* then the number. They call it Smart Roaming http://www.vectonemobile.co.uk/pay-as-you-go/vm-rates/standard/smart-roaming.aspx . Be careful: regular roaming WITHOUT the prefix costs £1.20 a minute from SA to UK! Receiving costs £0.01/min.

I haven't done a full international comparison, but for my trip, I'm happy to press 5 additional digits to get an 18p rate.

Edited to add: Vectone SIMS use regular UK 07 numbers, not Jersey or IoM, so UK callers pay as if calling a UK number, another advantage compared with so-called international SIMs.

slimgym

> ... trip to South Africa where I normally buy a local SIM.

I don't know when you last went, but my wife is from SA and getting a local SIM has become increasingly difficult the last few years. You need to be an SA resident and provide ID book and utility bill in order to have the SIM activated (it's called RICA).

Last time (september) we thought we'd box clever and get a 'local' to buy MTN, which can be topped up from here (mtntopup), and we thought a call a month when back here would keep the two cards active.

Unfortunately last week my wifes SIM received a text message saying she had not used it in 100 days (which we had) and this morning the SIM now shows "registration failed". So it looks as though roamed calls do not count to keeping the SIM active.

My SIM was probably topped up a little after hers so I expect mine to die any day now too.

Just thought that might be useful to you A shame

Roger1

Thanks, slimgym.

slimgym wrote: »

I don't know when you last went ...

2012.

... getting a local SIM has become increasingly difficult the last few years. You need to be an SA resident and provide ID book and utility bill in order to have the SIM activated (it's called RICA).

You're quite right. That info is for SA citizens, though. For visitors, it's simpler. They need ID (= passport for most people) and an SA address, for example their hotel/guest house/b&b/friend's address. I got my last one on arriving at Cape Town airport with no hassle. I had a PAYG SIM bought at Pick'n'Pay for a couple of rand which the shop topped up on the spot.

With PAYG SIMs, whether in SA or elsewhere, life is limited anyway. For visitors this is not normally a problem. It just means buying a new SIM and having a different number each time. I think the Vectone offer I mentioned is competitive so I won't be buying a local SIM this time. Data may be different. If I take my laptop, I may use a local SIM.

Just thought that might be useful to you A shame

Oh yes, thank you, also for other MSEers who may be heading for SA.

slimgym

Ok that's interesting, I thought they wanted a letter from the hotel (or sangoma...) and as we stay with relatives that's not so easy. I guess they will probably kill visitor SIMS off on your departure date? We go often enough for it to be a pain you have to sort out especially and it's nice to have the same number each time.

I did query lifetime with MTN, they have some "number for life" scheme where if you make calls on it they won't kill it. It may just be some admin cockup on this SIM. I'll get the saffer wife with her accent to phone MTN and if all else fails we'll just get a tourist one from the airport.

Many thanks

niftyone

Should mobiles not be being discussed on the appropriate forum.:D

slimgym

Goodness the cops are quick here. Help is help mate, and I think the topic was done until you chipped in.

niftyone

slimgym wrote: »

Goodness the cops are quick here. Help is help mate, and I think the topic was done until you chipped in.

Apparently no sense of humour, and their are stickies on the subject after all.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/534889

There is also a thread on Ovivo Mobile on the mobile section containing lots of useful info here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3981617 in case anyones interested.

Blue_Max

niftyone wrote: »

Should mobiles not be being discussed on the appropriate forum.:D

Ha! Ha! Very funny.
Seriously though, since this thread is about International & UK Calls, landlines, mobiles and VoIP, satellite, smoke signals could all be discussed as long as inexpensive International & UK Calls can be made :cool: