Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

keefrto

redux wrote: »

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.

thanks for the reply sorry for taking so long myself as we are packing up to go. So is signing up for noodle or vyke not the best option if i want to call from my mobile to the uk or to receive a call on my mobile from the uk?
cheers

redux

keefrto wrote: »

thanks for the reply sorry for taking so long myself as we are packing up to go. So is signing up for noodle or vyke not the best option if i want to call from my mobile to the uk or to receive a call on my mobile from the uk?
cheers

Because of the high roaming fees a UK network will charge you, and there isn't any trick of call diversion to get around that, I think a local SIM will be best for anything more than just a few calls. Note another reply after mine about quadband phone, coverage etc.

Then you want a way to make cheap calls to UK, and to receive calls diverted from your UK number.

There isn't a lot of point in looking into callback systems in Canada or USA, as incoming calls are also charged so you wouldn't save anyway. I'd go for that DialNow or a suitable calling card that you can look into there.

For diverting calls to you, you'd probably go for one of the VoIP providers to forward a UK landline number to the Canadian SIM. Some will charge a couple of quid a month for the number, some free for this, and a penny or two a minute for the calls. The various Betamax brands like voipcheap.com and about 20 others could give you some free calls but the incoming number they offer in some of their accounts is an 0560 which would be ok called from landlines but is excepted from inclusive minutes by some mobile networks.

tiggerific_2

change from orange(ive found o2 cheaper at the mo) in my experience thier not the cheapest or the best quality,make sure you have your voicemail switched off before going abroad as it incures a lot of charges if your out of range etc.im getting txts from my allowance free whilst abroad on o2(im not pushing them but i have reduced my bills,also it seems cheaper than my colleages on other networks)if you can ring abroad from uk you shud be ok to ring uk from abroad

redux

Apologies people, I can see I've forgotten or missed a few replies (and I'm too late for Egypt ) and need to do some work for Jamaica, Chile, New Zealand, roaming in Europe with diverted calls from Italy, etc - coming soon ...

boiledegg: sorry, I don't know anything about Blackberries or data plans in France, but if you've moved there permanently I'd suggest you have a French SIM, and if you receive texts from UK a spare phone with a UK SIM. But you mentioned wi-fi - if you're always in coverage you could set up a VoIP account in a suitable phone, receiving calls on a UK number.

keefrto

redux wrote: »

Because of the high roaming fees a UK network will charge you, and there isn't any trick of call diversion to get around that, I think a local SIM will be best for anything more than just a few calls. Note another reply after mine about quadband phone, coverage etc.

Then you want a way to make cheap calls to UK, and to receive calls diverted from your UK number.

There isn't a lot of point in looking into callback systems in Canada or USA, as incoming calls are also charged so you wouldn't save anyway. I'd go for that DialNow or a suitable calling card that you can look into there.

For diverting calls to you, you'd probably go for one of the VoIP providers to forward a UK landline number to the Canadian SIM. Some will charge a couple of quid a month for the number, some free for this, and a penny or two a minute for the calls. The various Betamax brands like voipcheap.com and about 20 others could give you some free calls but the incoming number they offer in some of their accounts is an 0560 which would be ok called from landlines but is excepted from inclusive minutes by some mobile networks.

Hi, I think i understand but... are you saying to get a local sim for Canada calls only but also look at joining Dialnow or calling card to make calls to UK? Just a tad confused:o

keefrto

I will be happy to purchase sims etc today however whilst in Canada I will be using my mobile to accept calls from UK predominantly and make the odd call to the uk or indeed in Canada. I will have a landline set up in Canada though.
cheers

redux

keefrto wrote: »

Hi, I think i understand but... are you saying to get a local sim for Canada calls only but also look at joining Dialnow or calling card to make calls to UK? Just a tad confused:o

That's what I meant, as int'l calls will tend to be more expensive, so using a callthrough access makes you independent of the network's rates.

It sounds from your next post that you expect more incoming calls than outgoing, so look for cheap call forwarding to the Canadian number or perhaps brief your most frequent callers about using cheap calls providers - see the MSE Callchecker

magic57

Hi

I have looked at the call checker and read through this thread and am now totally confused!
Can anyone suggest the best way for my husband to keep in touch when he goes to Israel and Turkey later this year? We are on virgin media landline and both have virgin mobiles (sim only 300 mins 300 texts).

Any help much appeciated.

Canny_H

Hi, ur best bet is 2 gt ur phone unlocked in India (it's cheaper) and get a local sim for about 12 quid. With this u will get up to about a 1000mins and calls back to the uk just cost couple of pennies. I know because I am indian! Also because I am on O2 I use my free texts bundle to send back pictures and short videos using MMS and it doesn't cost me a thing! (just be aware that for each text/MMS u send back, it will use up for 4 of ur allowance). Hope this helps.

redux

titorco wrote: »

Hi fellows,

I read the tread and I am not able to find a conclusion for my issue.
I am an auditor and I have to travel mainly in Europe. I am italian.

I am looking for a travelling sim card that allows me to divert calls of my Italian number (without making an international call) free of charge on the incoming calls.Does it exists?

I am not interest that the outgoing calls are the cheapest.

Any suggestion is more than welcome.

Thanks
T

You can find several global roaming SIMs with free incoming calls, or with the possibility of a landline number in your own country that charges you to forward to the SIM, but you won't find both together to allow totally free incoming calls.

You could get one of the first type, and set up your own call forwarding using a VoIP supplier such as Messagenet or Eutelia at their tariff, with your incoming calls diverted to their number. Or you could use this account to forward to local SIM cards in the countries you're in most.

Another possibility would be to get a 3 Italy SIM card, as most 3 networks seem to have cheaper incoming roaming, or free on 3 networks in other countries, and divert your normal mobile to this SIM.

_____

magic57 wrote: »

Hi

I have looked at the call checker and read through this thread and am now totally confused!
Can anyone suggest the best way for my husband to keep in touch when he goes to Israel and Turkey later this year? We are on virgin media landline and both have virgin mobiles (sim only 300 mins 300 texts).

Any help much appeciated.

I think you might also be interested in global roaming SIMs, which have free incoming calls in several countries. Some of these (including Ekit, Geosim and Easyroam) are with Isle of Man (07924) numbers, while others are Jersey (07937; United Mobile's UM+), and the advantage of these for you is that Virgin will count these as within their inclusive minutes (not all UK networks do this).

Things aren't perfect though as Virgin don't support call diversion, so he couldn't just forward his Virgin number if other people will also call him. So he might leave it at home, perhaps with a voicemail message for incoming calls, and you use it to have more minutes to reach him.

If he will make a lot of outgoing local calls in those countries, I'd suggest also getting a local SIM card as they will have better rates for that. I'll add details of some of those later ...