Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

yellowfolder

Hello

I'm going to Italy for four weeks in a few weeks time with a group of friends. I shall be using Skype to keep in touch with family in the UK, but was thinking of getting a local SIM to use in my phone so that I can keep in touch with the people I'm going with. So basically a SIM that I would only be using to make calls within Italy.

I saw the options about buying local SIM cards, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me if I'd be able to get a free SIM? It's always easy to find free SIM cards in the UK, is it just as easy in Italy?

Thanks

VictimOfImpersonation

Any ideas beyond these?:

(a) Use Skype on free WiFi wherever possible for calls home
(b) Use something like FishText for text messages home
(c) Buy local SIMs (which)? for staying in touch with each other in the travelling group whilst in Beijing

I see that data is £6/MB ... that doesn't worry me too much as texts via data use tiny amounts of data.

But the make and receive calls charges are outrageous at around £2/min ...

buglawton

According to this http://www.thebeijingguide.com/communications/mobile_access_in_beijing.html it's a straightforward matter for a tourist to get a local prepaid SIM card in Beijing - your Guest house manager/ess will point you to the nearest one.

piblet

Hello everybody.

I just wanted to share a new company that I haven't found on the forums yet and provide a bit of feedback. The company is Abroadband - they sell SIMs specifically for data roaming/internet roaming abroad. I've just checked their website and it looks like they've put their prices down -the SIMS now cost 9EUR (although when I bought mine a couple of months back it was 19EUR- still good value). They then charge 0.59c (Euro cents) per meg on top for 3G data. It's an Austrian company. Billing is via paypal or direct debit, and you have an online account manager.

I should point out that the SIM is data only. You can't send or receive texts or make or receive calls at all. So it depends on your reason for using it I guess!

I have an HTC and used the mobile switch and an APN widget to control data flow, this worked quite well indeed. The ABroadband SIM worked fine and sorted us out for satnav and emergency email when we needed! (we used in Aus, NZ and US). Connected at 3G whenever available in all of the places above.

Anyway, I had looked for reviews of this company before I'd gone and hadn't seen anything on the forums so just wanted to share this as a possibility for travellers.

...and of course used Martin's tip of the Halifax Clarity to pay the bills to avoid currency conversion fees!!

aaj123

Vodafone data traveller now allows 25MB of roaming data allowance per day in EU for a daily charge of £2 or monthly charge of £10 (no charge if you are on a Vodafone contract with monthly cost of higher than £40).

It even allows 25MB of daily roaming data allowance in countries outside EU for a daily charge of £5.

Seems to be very good value compared to other offers out there including the abroadband sim mentioned in previous post.

Doc_N

aaj123 wrote: »

Vodafone data traveller now allows 25MB of roaming data allowance per day in EU for a daily charge of £2 or monthly charge of £10 (no charge if you are on a Vodafone contract with monthly cost of higher than £40).

It even allows 25MB of daily roaming data allowance in countries outside EU for a daily charge of £5.

Seems to be very good value compared to other offers out there including the abroadband sim mentioned in previous post.

A substantially better deal than Orange offer!

buglawton

piblet wrote: »

Hello everybody.

I just wanted to share a new company that I haven't found on the forums yet and provide a bit of feedback. The company is Abroadband - they sell SIMs specifically for data roaming/internet roaming abroad.
....
/ snipped /
....

Nice to see some solid info based in experience - and from a newbie too. Welcome to the forum, piblet!

grumbler

buglawton wrote: »

Nice to see some solid info based in experience - and from a newbie too.

And who was the newbie here?

JONL_2

I don't know if it has been mentioned already as i haven't gone through the entire post but Meteor (Irish network) offer free roaming in Europe, it's a godsend for me who spends a lot of time in the UK, even if you have someone who might call you from Ireland quite a bit they will only pay 10 cents a minute from Meteor but if you have a Meteor SIM in your phone it's free.

check the Meteor website (cant post links being a new user )

search for Meteor Ireland on Google

buglawton

grumbler wrote: »

And who was the newbie here?

Join date 2007 - but still flagged as a newbie? Maybe one of piblet's first few posts.

piblet
04-06-2011, 4:25 PM MoneySaving Newbie


Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 13
Thanked 12 Times in 6 Posts



Hello everybody.

I just wanted to share a new company that I haven't found on the forums yet and provide a bit of feedback. The