Czech Republic

[9eor9]

Hi,

Do I need a legal address in Czech Republic to buy a Prepaid SIM? Do I need to register it? Can I also use a hotel's address?

THX

[9eor9]

When I buy a SIM, let's say a Vodafone, are there any activation or any settings necessary?
Or is it "plug and play", means insert SIM, enter PIN and call. I ask this because I don't know one word czech.

[kuba.g]

I bought a O2 sim card in Prague last year, no address was needed and the seller spoke excellent English (as usual in the Czech Republic). I only needed to show my passport.

[meir]

No need to show even passport, I believe.

[Lukas]

Hi, no need of passport or ID card. You can buy prepaid sim almost everywhere but i would recommend you to buy it at an official store of the provider.

[NFH]

Does anyone know much about T-Mobile CZ? It seems like a good option, but their web site is only in Czech, unlike O2 and Vodafone, which I guess puts off many temporary visitors.

Their Twist SIM card seems like a good deal, particularly as it says "Dobíjíte si, jen když potřebujete" (recharging only when needed), it's only CZK 200 (unlike O2) and you get free data with a new SIM card and top-ups.

[NFH]

It turned out that T-Mobile was a complete waste of time. They wanted CZK 200 for a mini-SIM, which they would cut to a micro-SIM, and it included only 50MB of data, not enough to last me for 3 days. I therefore went to O2, who sold me a multi-size SIM (where you can break out a micro-SIM) for CZK 150 including CZK 150 of credit, whereby data cost CZK 75 for 150MB for a week. This was ideal, although I noticed that I received a warning by SMS that I had used 80% of my allowance when my iPhone's data counter showed only 70% and just as I left the Czech Republic, another message telling me that I had used all of the 150MB when my iPhone's data counter showed only 11.6MB+120MB sent+received. O2 seems to be the market leader and download speeds were good all over Prague, at around 3-4Mbps. When the wireless internet went down in my hotel one night, I was delighted to find that iOS tethering was enabled as standard, meaning I could connect my laptop via my iPhone. O2 seems like the obvious choice in the Czech Republic. I can't find out their prepaid SIM expiry policy; does anyone know?

[NFH]

I found the answer to the SIM validity question. According to O2 | Is the validity of a prepaid SIM card limited in any way? - FAQ "A recharged SIM card is valid for at least one year depending on the sum it has been recharged with. It is necessary to recharge your credit by CZK 500 at least once a year or CZK 200 every half a year so that you can keep on using our services". However it's not clear what happens with a new SIM card to which no credit has yet been added.

[kuba.g]

My sim card (which I bought summer 2011) was valid one year from activation.
2×200 CZK per year... that's €15 per year to keep the sim card alive - rather expensive
I think none of the Czech operators had a policy which extends the validity on calling/making an SMS.

[NFH]

Originally Posted by kuba.g

2×200 CZK per year... that's €15 per year to keep the sim card alive - rather expensive

I agree, and it also doesn't make sense that the minimum top-up and minimum to extend for a year are more than the cost of a new SIM card which is valid for a year.