UK SIM to use abroad

d0nnyoz

Hi
My son has now moved to Sweden (from the UK) for work. He currently has a Smarty SIM on a rolling monthly contract (SIM only).
He gets 100GB of data in the UK and this is limited to 12GB in Sweden.
He can't make 'international' calls using that SIM unless he has some credit on the SIM - it doesn't come out of any allowance he has. So calling his girlfriend using her Swedish number is not possible unless he has money on his account.
And we've just found out that if you use the SIM abroad for 90 consecutive days or more, Smarty are likely to block the SIM usage.

So my question is, is there a UK SIM-only service out there that allows some data usage abroad and doesn't block the SIM after a certain time abroad?

Thanks....

MSE_James

What type of phone does he have? Can it take more than one SIM? Or can it take an eSIM alongside the Smarty one?

He could then have both UK and Swedish SIMs on a single phone.

d0nnyoz

MSE_James said:

What type of phone does he have? Can it take more than one SIM? Or can it take an eSIM alongside the Smarty one?

He could then have both UK and Swedish SIMs on a single phone.

Yes, he has an Oppo so it does take two SIMs and he does have a Swedish SIM but they are expensive so he prefers a UK SIM. Plus, all of his authorisations (banking, etc) is all tied to his UK number.

Emmia

If he's living in Sweden for the forseeable, then he should get a Swedish sim - they may be expensive, but that's one of the costs of moving abroad.

d0nnyoz

Emmia said:

If he's living in Sweden for the forseeable, then he should get a Swedish sim - they may be expensive, but that's one of the costs of moving abroad.

Yes, he does have a Swedish SIM but he would like to keep his UK number and may need to use occasionally whilst living there. So there must be a SIM that can be used abroad to keep hi UK number??

Emmia

d0nnyoz said:

Emmia said:

If he's living in Sweden for the forseeable, then he should get a Swedish sim - they may be expensive, but that's one of the costs of moving abroad.

Yes, he does have a Swedish SIM but he would like to keep his UK number and may need to use occasionally whilst living there. So there must be a SIM that can be used abroad to keep hi UK number??

The UK left the EU, which will have a bearing on the ability for UK SIMS to be used for roaming (which is what he's doing), and many providers limit the amount of time a SIM can be out of the UK (and being used) under fair use policies.

Smarty is a cheap provider, and international service is more expensive for them to access/offer than UK services, hence limits on data and potentially cancelling SIMs of people who don't fulfil the T&Cs... i.e. living in Sweden, and not the UK.

Actually - looking at the SMARTY website, they limit roaming to up to 60 consecutive days, so he'd need to return to the UK at least that frequently to stay with them. 

simax

Roaming in the EU since the “Roam like Home” came into effect in 2017 has always had the caveat that it can only be used for a set period of time in the EU. Brexit hasn’t changed that. As far as I’m aware, there is no UK sim that allows unlimited roaming use in the EU anymore without disconnection *or* surcharges applied to calls/texts

eDicky

d0nnyoz said:

So my question is, is there a UK SIM-only service out there that allows some data usage abroad and doesn't block the SIM after a certain time abroad?

There are several that still give inclusive EU roaming, O2 being the only main network that provides it for new SIM -only contacts (as far as I'm aware), although some, such as Lebara and from what you say also Smarty, don't include all inter-EU/UK calls, unlike under the EU 'Roam like at Home' regulations that UK networks are no longer bound by.

As Simax points out, there has always been a time limit for this inclusive EU roaming, I don't believe any network has no limits.

Incoming SMS are always free to receive, roaming anywhere, so even if his UK SIM exceeds roaming limits and begins to incur charges (I don't believe that would cut service off completely), he can still receive banking one-time codes etc, without cost or problems.

d0nnyoz

eDicky said:

d0nnyoz said:

So my question is, is there a UK SIM-only service out there that allows some data usage abroad and doesn't block the SIM after a certain time abroad?

There are several that still give inclusive EU roaming, O2 being the only main network that provides it for new SIM -only contacts (as far as I'm aware), although some, such as Lebara and from what you say also Smarty, don't include all inter-EU/UK calls, unlike under the EU 'Roam like at Home' regulations that UK networks are no longer bound by.

As Simax points out, there has always been a time limit for this inclusive EU roaming, I don't believe any network has no limits.

Incoming SMS are always free to receive, roaming anywhere, so even if his UK SIM exceeds roaming limits and begins to incur charges (I don't believe that would cut service off completely), he can still receive banking one-time codes etc, without cost or problems.

Thanks for your help.
I suppose I was looking for a network/provider that allowed unlimited usage of the SIM (not unlimited data/calls/texts) whilst abroad.
He has just returned to Sweden last night so we'll see how it goes.