Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

iceburn

Done this setup at Easter time when wife went to Italy but had to pay 75p per call. So it does work, but you are right do mean the ppl in UK to use the free simcard to call the person aboard :-). But not so much had the idea when it was closed just remember about it when they were closed :-).

Anyway bbb_UK just notice your actual question and you could use this service in USA and other countries around the world
http://www.sipbroker.com/sipbroker/action/pstnNumbers

sign up to say http://www.sipgate.co.uk/ if wont be making calls (since they will charge you per minute but low rate to divert the VOIP number to the real number in UK, to companies like http://www.vonage.co.uk/ which for a set fee each month you will have unlimited call package hence can divert from that VOIP number to the person landline at no extra charge.

or some very indepth solution using this type of method goto
http://forum.voxalot.com/voxalot-general/1776-free-did-numbers-free-voip-calls-more-voip-info.html

random456

Hi, can someone tell me which network to use when im in italy next week for cheapest calls? I am currently on orange payg, I am aware of the voda deal but i need to stay on orange, cheers.

iceburn

pumpa wrote: »

Hi, can someone tell me which network to use when im in italy next week for cheapest calls? I am currently on orange payg, I am aware of the voda deal but i need to stay on orange, cheers.

You can use any network make no difference for you.expect maybe if they still do it some networks might charge you by the minute / by the second etc.. But I think in Italy they all charge the same way.

Why do you need to stay on Orange it will cost you quite a bit....

random456

Well I need to keep my number for incoming calls to do with appointments
Phoned orange, 38 ppm!!

loopey_2

I am in need of some advise. I need to buy a sim card for my boss who travels to Australia, South Africa, France and Malta. He wants to be able to make cheaper calls, and receive for less, but also doesnt want it to cost the people that are calling him a fortune!

If he gets one roaming sim to fit all with a Uk number - people that call him (not knowing he is away, which is what he wants) will end up with massive bills and then know he is out of the country! Is he better off getting seperate sims for each destination rather than a roaming one?

redux

pumpa wrote: »

Well I need to keep my number for incoming calls to do with appointments
Phoned orange, 38 ppm!!

Well, depending on the amount of likely use, it could be worth getting Vodafone as well for a short time, and divert your incoming Orange calls to the Vodafone number

38p is Orange's outgoing rate, incoming will be 18 or 19p. Orange may have some bolt-on worth looking at, or some time in the past they offered people £5 trial credit towards roaming calls.

iceburn

pumpa wrote: »

Well I need to keep my number for incoming calls to do with appointments
Phoned orange, 38 ppm!!

Well that is why it might be worth your while to change. Call up Orange ask for your PAC and move to either O2. You can add my europe extra and recieve incoming calls (1000 minutes FUP) for only £9.75 a month and I think it was only 25p a minute to make outgoing calls (local and UK) with it.

Or join Vodafone and with passport can recieve incoming calls for free (upto 60 minutes per call but I think there is no max). Will cost 20p a minute to make outgoing calls with it.

Once you come back can call O2 / Vodafone back ask for PAC and move back to Orange if you want to. Wont take many calls for it to build up.

About diverting from Orange to O2 / Vodafone last time I check on Orange Pay as you go cant divert calls to other number, only voicemail :-(. But if you do PAC to Vodafone / O2 wont pay for divert even if you can and will keep your number when it port over to O2 / Vodafone.

angus1

My son is going to Canada soon for 2 months. Can someone please advise of a simple cheap way for him to call and text from Canada. He will have little access to shops etc whilst there so need to set it up before he goes.

He wishes to stay on PAYG and not go on contract or the bill will get out of hand.

Thanks

iceburn

loopey wrote: »

I am in need of some advise. I need to buy a sim card for my boss who travels to Australia, South Africa, France and Malta. He wants to be able to make cheaper calls, and receive for less, but also doesnt want it to cost the people that are calling him a fortune!

If he gets one roaming sim to fit all with a Uk number - people that call him (not knowing he is away, which is what he wants) will end up with massive bills and then know he is out of the country! Is he better off getting seperate sims for each destination rather than a roaming one?

From those countries, I would say Vodafone would be his perfect match. The only slight problem would be South Africa is not one that is in the passport list :-( so would be paying incoming roaming charges when in that country. But the other three he wont and cause it is a vodafone. the other ppl can call it as if it is a normal (which it is) UK mobile number. Unlike some of those international roaming simcards ;-(.

redux

loopey wrote: »

I am in need of some advise. I need to buy a sim card for my boss who travels to Australia, South Africa, France and Malta. He wants to be able to make cheaper calls, and receive for less, but also doesnt want it to cost the people that are calling him a fortune!

If he gets one roaming sim to fit all with a Uk number - people that call him (not knowing he is away, which is what he wants) will end up with massive bills and then know he is out of the country! Is he better off getting seperate sims for each destination rather than a roaming one?

First point is, people will usually know when the phone is out of the country, as they hear a different ringtone from the foreign network.

But on they don't get billed depending on where the phone is, only the cost to reach it.

A drawback of global SIMs is that they don't come from all UK networks' inclusive minutes, so giving people that number to call themselves could present some of them with a larger bill after all. The Isle of Man or Jersey numbers are currently included on most contracts by O2 Orange and Virgin, but not 3 T-mobile and Vodafone (some of who perversely even charge these at much higher than they charge for European mobiles)

So if the boss makes a lot of trips like this, it would be useful to have a main contract on one of those that does include the roaming SIM, and forward to the roaming SIM when going abroad. If not, then plan to move when possible.

As an alternative, it is possible to use various VoIP providers to forward calls to the SIM at your cost, and usually the same rates as for UK mobiles. It would be possible to put a landline number on such an account, perhaps in your local exchange. This could be more flexible in terms of the choice of SIM used, either local or global.

And I suppose the choice is also influenced by whether he will be receiving calls from local contacts within those countries, in which case it would be good form to have a local number as well anyway

You can find info on local and global SIMs, plus links to network websites (click on the logo), on

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/operators.html

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/international.html

For outgoing calls, some local SIMs have cheap international calls, while many do not. It is worth using either callthrough on a local access number, or separate callback perhaps from the same provider as the call forwarding already mentioned (which might also help you with int'l calls from your office).

If you want better explanation of some more specific details, please ask