Mobile phone with International calls

Mr_Warren_2

Hi all. I am about to become self-employed :eek:....:j and will need to get a SIM card that will allow me a fair amount of international calls.

I have looked at Orange "Camel" package but cannot get their website to show me which countries I would be able to call (website behaviour problems).

Any ideas? Many thanks.

grumbler

Depending on what countries you are going to call it may be cheaper to use PAYG icardmobile or vectone ETA: and lebara.

Also check http://www.o2.co.uk/internationalextras

What kind of business is it that you cannot use your landline to call abroad?

Mr_Warren_2

A business that does not tie me up to my desk 08h00-17h00 ...Thanks for the link, I will look into it...can you carry your number forward with them??

....Just had a look at it. I will need most Western European countries, Middle East, North and South Africa and the USA....

grumbler

If you mean porting, then yes, you can port your number to any network.


Also you can use inclusive UK minutes to call abroad at low cost via geographical landline access numbers: International CallChecker

Stuart_W

If you are making a lot of international calls, you might want to consider a £6/month SIM card with unlimited landline calls (click on the £6 option, then choose unlimited landline as the free booster) and then, as grumbler suggests look at the various indirect suppliers (there are loads like this one) that you can use to call for very little (France for 5p per call etc)

GRM

Another option: http://www.talkmobile.co.uk/paymonthlyworld.html#

Includes international inclusive calls to most of Europe, USA and South Africa amongst others.

Shame I can't sell you my corporate Voda contract - unlimited UK and International calls for £10.80/month

Roseanne1

grumbler wrote: »

If you mean porting, then yes, you can port your number to any network.


Also you can use inclusive UK minutes to call abroad at low cost via geographical landline access numbers: International CallChecker

I've seen something like that in my extensive research. I saw http://www.bestmobilesaver.com/index.aspx tonight and thought it looked pretty good. According to them, it works by registering on their website, telling them what number you want to call and they give you an 0208 or an 0203 number (which I'd get in my free minutes) and this number connects directly to the person you are phoning.

So I was thinking that, if I put one of my Irish contacts in, I could get a UK number and phone that and it would cost nothing. I noticed they said it costs 1p a minute to phone the 0208/0203 number if you are connecting to Ireland but I thought that was just if you were not on a contract that offered free minutes. My confusion started when I saw a link to top up, the options ranged from £5 - £25 and I don't understand why I'd have to do this. :think: Is there some cost I am not seeing and am I being completely thick? :rotfl:

I am starting to think that I might be as well getting a PAYG sim and getting an international plan that allows me to top up maybe a tenner, get free international calls for topping up (obviously these would only last a month, for example, Orange's camel package) and then get cheaper rates (Orange is 5p a minute, I think I can do better than that) when I don't top up anymore because I've worked out that my calls to Ireland this year have totalled around 20 minutes so far (I seem to call more from there than to there) so, if I can't get free minutes as part of my contract, the next best thing may be to do that rather than pay an extra fiver or tenner a month, which would dwarf any savings I made. I just have to watch that, if I top up, it doesn't expire too quickly or, better yet, at all.

OldGreyFox

Roseanne1 wrote: »

I've seen something like that in my extensive research. I saw http://www.bestmobilesaver.com/index.aspx tonight and thought it looked pretty good. According to them, it works by registering on their website, telling them what number you want to call and they give you an 0208 or an 0203 number (which I'd get in my free minutes) and this number connects directly to the person you are phoning.

So I was thinking that, if I put one of my Irish contacts in, I could get a UK number and phone that and it would cost nothing. I noticed they said it costs 1p a minute to phone the 0208/0203 number if you are connecting to Ireland but I thought that was just if you were not on a contract that offered free minutes. My confusion started when I saw a link to top up, the options ranged from £5 - £25 and I don't understand why I'd have to do this. :think: Is there some cost I am not seeing and am I being completely thick? :rotfl:

I am starting to think that I might be as well getting a PAYG sim and getting an international plan that allows me to top up maybe a tenner, get free international calls for topping up (obviously these would only last a month, for example, Orange's camel package) and then get cheaper rates (Orange is 5p a minute, I think I can do better than that) when I don't top up anymore because I've worked out that my calls to Ireland this year have totalled around 20 minutes so far (I seem to call more from there than to there) so, if I can't get free minutes as part of my contract, the next best thing may be to do that rather than pay an extra fiver or tenner a month, which would dwarf any savings I made. I just have to watch that, if I top up, it doesn't expire too quickly or, better yet, at all.

Nothing ? what gave you the idea they were doing it for charity.:D You use your inclusive minutes to call your access number but you pay for them to connect you to your destination.Its a prepaid a/c and the credit runs out after 60 days,and they deduct the 1p a minute call costs from it as you go.

http://www.localphone.com/call/ireland offer a similar sort of thing via a local geographical 01/02 number and only charge 0.8p a minute and you can top up for as little as £1.

If you want a post paid a/c have a look at http://www.18185.co.uk/mobilerates.php via there 020 number 2p a minute 5p connection.

If you make calls from Irish Phones there sister company http://www.13434.ie is worth a look at.

On the payg sim front these people http://www.lycamobile.co.uk/lycamobile-plus-rates.aspx?tariff=lycaplus&lang=en offer calls at 1p a minute.

Roseanne1

OldGreyFox wrote: »

Nothing ? what gave you the idea they were doing it for charity.:D You use your inclusive minutes to call your access number but you pay for them to connect you to your destination.Its a prepaid a/c and the credit runs out after 60 days,and they deduct the 1p a minute call costs from it as you go.

http://www.localphone.com/call/ireland offer a similar sort of thing via a local geographical 01/02 number and only charge 0.8p a minute and you can top up for as little as £1.

If you want a post paid a/c have a look at http://www.18185.co.uk/mobilerates.php via there 020 number 2p a minute 5p connection.

If you make calls from Irish Phones there sister company http://www.13434.ie is worth a look at.

On the payg sim front these people http://www.lycamobile.co.uk/lycamobile-plus-rates.aspx?tariff=lycaplus&lang=en offer calls at 1p a minute.

Ha ha ha. Well as the old saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch. I did wonder if it could be a connection fee but I wasn't sure. So, basically, if I top up by £10, they will knock 1p off of that everytime I phoned the 0203/0208 number either until the £10 runs out or until the 60 days are up. I take it, if there is still credit after 60 days, that is forfeited? That is worse than the Tesco deal then (1p a minute with credit expiring after 90 days).

Thanks for the links, I shall look into those. I like the sound of localphone.com, that might benefit me since I'm not making the calls frequently.

Thanks very much for your help.

RustyShackleford

The localphone option would be the better deal since the credit doesn't expire. It also has the added benefit of allowing you to change the location so you could also get local Irish numbers to dial your UK contacts when you're there.

If you couple Localphone with that chitterchatter deal posted up thread you could end up with very cheap communications.

boxst

Depending on the type of phone you have (you need an Android or iPhone), you may also look at something like Skype. It works very well calling international (landline) numbers for a very low fixed monthly fee.

Steve