Piranha Mobile Sim Card
 

Thought I’d set up a new thread on the Piranha mobile sim, (some previous posts in UK and Canada sub-forums) - I cannot find a general discussion forum on Piranha anywhere, and nothing on their own website!

Just got a Piranha mobile sim, dual US-UK number is free, (not Estonia or Isle of Man, so cheap for people to call you), good rates in most locations, though data rates vary by provider in some countries (I've been assured that the sim will try to register on the "preferred" provider with cheaper data, we'll see..)
outside UK and US, it's a call-back system, have to see how reliable that is.
Piranha have the best offering for Canada that I have seen in a global sim - 22c/min within Canada or back to US, and 48c/MB for data.

I’ve been testing the VOIP integration on home wifi in the US: on WIFI people are meant to be able to call you on the same number as the SIM.

So far, the outgoing VOIP integration works well - if on wifi, it uses VOIP (at cheaper-than-skype rates, and decent call quality) and if not, it goes through the mobile network. The same number shows up on caller ID for recipient.
Incoming VOIP is not working, it only routes through the mobile network. Customer service has not been very helpful so far, but only one round.
Not sure if this is an artifact of my Samsung Vibrant.

this is a very good international simcard with really good rates.
a true UK number is attached (not IOM or Jersey), plus US number. local numbers at reasonable prices can also be added for around 70+countries
voip application, with very low rates and free incoming calls everywhere, works fine (both incoming-outgoing) on my samsung y pro duos 2.3.6 android phone.

the only disadvantage discovered is that unaswred calls by the recipient are charged (for a fixed rate) form the time the callback is aswered.
fixed rate for Greece is 0.09gbp per unanswered call.
unaswered calls charge through voip application is not applied, only when the call is placed through the normal gsm way.

I should add that their technical response via email is fast. They've also just opened a technical forum on their website.
I can get incoming VOIP over 3G, but not wifi, very strange....

the voip application is now Free!
can i have the link please of the technical forum?

Lower Data Rates in Europe for Piranha

Just got this email:
Dear Customer, Piranha Mobile will be reducing Data rates while roaming in the EU, the new price should be around 38p Per Mb a reduction of 12p Per Mb. There will be more reductions throughout the next few months, on roaming Data outside of EU. Please check web site for updates

PS the link to their forum is here (not so easy to find on their site), not much activity yet:
Piranha Mobile FAQ's

Piranha in Canada
 

another update today, makes Piranha very competitive for Canada (where I go a lot, and not many good options)

Dear Customer,
As from today Piranha Mobile will be introducing direct dialling in Canada on the Bell Mobility network and dropping Telus network (for now), we will also be reducing Data rates from £0.29 per Mb to £0.25 per Mb.

yes i agree, piranha simcard is one of the best travel sim availiable...

yes, the pricing looks very competitive, also the fact that they dont charge extra for incoming calls on the US number.

received today from their customer service:

Dear Customer,

within the next week Piranha Mobile will be introducing direct dialling, at no extra cost, in the following countries.



Anguilla-Digicel
Antigua & Barbuda-Digicel
Aruba-Digicel
Barbados-Digicel
Bermuda-Digicel
British Virgin Islands-Digicel
Bulgaria-Globul
Bulgaria-Mobitel
Canada-Bell Mobility
Cayman Islands-Digicel
Dominica-Digicel
Estonia-Elisa
Grenada-Digicel
Haiti-Digicel
Jamaica-Digicel
Liechtenstein-Swisscom
Samoa-Digicel
Singapore-Singtel
St Kitts & Nevis-Digicel
St Lucia-Digicel
St Vincent -Digicel
Turks & Caicos-Digicel



in USA (T-Mobile) & Canada (Bell Mobility) direct calling is already activated.



Regards from

Piranha Mobile Admin

and very easy+cheap access to their telephone prefixes, there are NOT high termination rate numbers as all other competitors.

true UK & US numbers...

you can even attach local landline number for approximately 50 countries.

just got the same email myself,
interesting strategy, to focus on the Caribbean, and a few other odd countries, makes Piranha a better choice than Lime for the region.

Hope some European countries will be on the next list!

I'm not sure what you mean by true UK numbers, or whether it's that relevant for people outside the UK, many of whom don't need to wonder whether it comes from a UK network's bundle of minutes.

I read an article* on their website about the cost of calling various other mobile prefixes, and yet from various providers the cost of calling theirs is the same as the others they mentioned, and sometimes higher than main network prefixes. It's slightly (about a penny a minute) more from a BT landline than an IoM or O2 or the other main networks

* Mind you, that doesn't seem to be accessible at the moment.

their +44 number is a true UK prefix .. not IOM or Jersey... so, a lot cheaper +easier access (not blocked prefixes)

It depends on which provider you use to call the number.

Calling directly from my landline, most Isle of Man numbers would be exactly the same price as calling O2, and calling Cloud9 numbers exactly the same price as calling Three, and all main networks are currently 11.3 pence a minute.

The wholesale termination rate for calling ordinary UK mobiles is now 1.70 pence a minute, and regular retail price can be found for from about 2 pence (one promotional offer has 0.1p), though most UK-based retail cheap calls providers have rates from 4 to 10 pence a minute.

So even if some of these prefixes still have higher rates there is margin to connect them from most providers. But I'm not going to do a load of tests of 0844 numbers from the landline

Some non-UK wholesalers or retailers probably just charge more anyway for catch-all exclusions.

But that doesn't happen everywhere, with one I've looked at having retail rates at (all plus VAT) 4p for main network prefixes, then it charges Piranha at 8.2p with Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey Swiftnet Truphone and most others, Lyca 9.9p, Cloud9 8.2p or 14.9p.

And I'm not convinced that there are blocks on that many of these. One
particular network seems to be unreachable from one group of brands, but that's all I've heard of so far.

the problem is when calling +447 numbers from outside the UK..

calling from some betamax clones to piranha numbers costs just 2.1p/minute...
almost all IOM & Jersy prefixes are blocked from betamax and many other voip providers..

piranha offers true UK numbers, so there will always be cheap+easy access to their numbers

Yes, the problem is when calling from abroad either the calls to UK mobiles are expensive in general -- or the cheap providers do not terminate to IoM numbers at all. In so far a "real" UK mobile number makes it possible to use the cheapo providers (e.g. from germany stable for 3-4 euro ct/min from our company landline).

Chris

Betamax/Dellmont/Finarea brands have always charged the same for IoM and Jersey and various others as for UK mobiles.

The second statement is inaccurate, as some other people pointed out in the thread you started about this in March or so.

And I'm saying it again, having tried four IoM numbers, two Jersey, Swiftnet (which uses a Manx ID but its own numbers), Truphone and another (callthrough) number today for 0.1 pence a minute. Only Cloud9 numbers seem to be a problem.

My problem with IOM/Jersey numbers it that I often loan my SIMs to family and friends and quote a fee based on what I am going to be charged with 0 percent markup. These providers then charge me something other than what they have scheduled and I wind up eating the cost.

My travelling partners are often British and giving them a true UK number to reach me on (or more likely for their friends to reach them on via me) is helpful.

Since Pirahna doesn't surcharge for forwarding to the US number over the UK one, I am obviously diverting to the US one.

Can Pirahna maintain these rates on the long run though? Nobody knows for sure. For now, their rates are quite good!

pretty good rates actually..

what really sets Piranha apart, in my view, is the VOIP integration - with Truphone, I wangled a free incoming US number out of them, but it's a different app and number.
with Piranha, it's the same number on VOIP and the simcard, and when in wifi coverage, I get free incoming and very cheap outgoing calls. Not completely seamless, but works pretty well!

i agree, voip out rates are just excellent, plus of course the free voip in rates.
but also normal gsm rates are cheaper than competition's range.

What I find interesting is where Pirahna's rates diverge from Telna's. The two SIMs have some stuff in common, but then you hit a country where the rates are hugely different. Kuwait is one example, but I noticed differences in the Carribean, etc.

yes, piranha has of course cheaper than telna rates.

In most places, but not all. My sister is in Russia this weekend and was using one of my roaming SIMs. Telna was signficantly cheaper than Pirahna, but I sent her with Pirahna because I though it was more reliable.

Telna has the same type feature. In fact, you phone also has a SIP address. So, if you are in a place with WiFi access, anyone in the world can call you via VOIP and it's free for both of you.

the cheaper international simcard for Russia is camelmobile..
standard rates: free incoming calls, eur.0,35 per minute for all outgoing calls, eur.0,69/mb data, eur.0,25 per sms
intranetwork rates (camelmobile to camelmobile) from Russia costs eur.0,18/minute.


if you also subscribe to the special voice bundle that includes also Russia, you get:


the first minute of outgoing call is charged according to standard rate (eur.0,35)
outgoing calls starting from 2nd minute – 0,185 EUR/min;
Bonus for incoming calls starting from 3rd minute – 0,02 EUR/min. credited daily.

The bundle is valid for 180 calendar days from the moment of activation.
Activation of bundle does not change any other rates.
Cost of bundle: 2,50 EUR. charged once on activation

I also think, not 100%sure, that you can even attach a Russian DID local number on camelmobile simcards.

received answer email from their cc:

Dear Mr...,
we have looked into the Symbian dialler for you, unfortunately we cannot recommend any other at this time, only the ones listed on our website, however over the next 8-12 weeks we will be producing our own labelled versions of diallers which will support Android, IPhone, Symbian and Windows. We will update website as and when they become available



Regards from

Piranha Mobile Admin

Telna is 9.9 us-ct/min inbound + on-net calls and 12.9 us-ct/min outbound to USA.
So for US users that is in my opinion the better solution.

yes for calling back only to US is cheaper, evethough incoming calls aren't free.

but does telna also charge local and federal US taxes?


http://www.telnamobile.com/index.php...189&country2=4
*Rates exclude local, state and federal taxes, as well as the federal USF charge, which are collected on behalf of different official agencies and billed as separate line items on your monthly bill.

· State and local taxes can range anywhere from 0 to 10% depending on where you live. · The USF (Universal Service Fund) charge is collected on behalf of the federal government to fund telecommunications in remote areas. Unlike other long distance providers who sometimes inflate the "USF fees", Telecom North America passes the USF charge straight through to its customers. Click here to see the current USF rate.

Yes, depending on the address where your account is registered. I understand that if you use a foreign (non-US) address, there are no added taxes and fees.

Telna will also be of no help if you want to use any dialer except their supported Android one. However, I got their VOIP to work on my N8, which has a very complicated setup. This is much better than Tru, who keeps their VOIP settings a secret and dropped support for newer Symbian phones.

Pirahna and Telna both work fine with Groundwire on my iPhone. If Pirahna's dialer works with SMS as well VOIP that would be an appreciated welcome. I'm buying a couple of these SIMs for my best friend who moved from the UK to Oz last year. I suspect that they would love being able to use the SIM as a virtual UK mobile number for texting purposes with their friends.

received today..

Dear Customer,

From today Piranha Mobile reduces outgoing and incoming call rates in Vietnam and Russia.





Regards from

Piranha Mobile Admin

Has anyone tried calling a Pirahna phone SIP URI?

Ordered one of these as well. I have had it with Telna!

Piranha Data
 

Piranha Mobile over the next week will be reducing the Data Rates in the EU to around £0.35per MB. You will find all rates at Piranha Mobile

Piranha will also be introducing call-forwarding and a new feature called call off load. A full explanation of call-off load will be available on the web-site shortly.
:D

Have you tested the Voip application for incoming calls on 2 numbers (UK and US) and and for calling out?

yes, both outgoing and incoming calls work fine on the voip app.
of course incoming calls ring to the voip applicaion only if the simcard is inactive or out of coverage.
if sim card is active, incoming calls are routed via the normal gsm route