PrePaidGSM.net Forum (Archived) - Orange Call Abroad / "Camel" [renamed thread]

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- - Orange Call Abroad / "Camel" [renamed thread] (https://prepaid.mondo3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3389)

With respect to the question are TMobile SIM cards available everywhere, the answer is "effectively yes."

The UK has an integrated top up system. Most prepaid SIMs come with a swipe card. You walk into the merchant with any swipe card and says I want "X quid." They run it through their register and you receive an SMS that the credit has been applied. It is the same system for most cards.

FWIW, TMO UK does have an "Eastern European Pass" for calling countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Beats me why they think it's OK to charge 5p a minute to Russia but not the US, Canada, Australia, etc. From their rates page (http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobil...me_paygplans):

"It is now even cheaper to keep in touch with friends and family from the UK - call Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Russia or Croatia for just 5p per minute to landlines or 15p per minute to mobiles - simply text INT to 441 to enjoy these reduced rates."

Cork isn't in the UK. That's your problem. :)

If T-Mobile is in Ireland, you can probably get top-up cards and use them with T-Mobile UK. Most of the carriers that serve multiple European countries allow the use of top-up cards from any of the countries to be used.

Another option is to get your top-ups in Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.

Is it a coincidence that those are ferry ports? You'd quite likely be able to buy top-ups in the shop on the boat.

There is no T Mobile IE....you're out of luck in the Republic of Ireland.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stu (Post 21098)

With respect to the question are TMobile SIM cards available everywhere, the answer is "effectively yes."

I back this... Most newsagents... especially those run by the immigrant community..(the majority I think) will sell you a SIM pack for a couple of pounds. These are all over the place in the UK, and there will be a fair few in Harwich.

I'd add that if you're in the UK and don't have a swipe card (a) you can pick one up free at supermarkets and maybe newsagents, then call T-Mob to tie the number on the card to your phone; and (b) most newsagents can sell an e-voucher (no swipe card needed) that gives you a code number to call in to T-Mob for credit, just like the older scratch-off cards but without the scratching.

Registering a credit card with T-Mob is an alternative but last time I tried their system wouldn't accept non-UK credit cards; that is, they wouldn't register my US-based Visa, MC, or AmEx. Weird since the US-based cards are readily accepted in shops all over the world. If this has changed maybe somebody will chime in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by unlocked (Post 21117)

The lack of accepting out of country credit cards is an on-going problem not just on British sites but it seems throughout the mobile world...you can't use a non French credit card to top up a French sim (important because they steal your credit or at least the number if not topped up within certain amounts of time - at least this is true on ORANGE FR)...same thing seems to hold on TIM in Italy.

Why this is so has always been beyond me...fraud?????.....come on the amounts are rarely enough to warrant fraud or expose the companies to much of a risk.

Quote:

Originally Posted by unlocked (Post 21117)

Registering a credit card with T-Mob is an alternative but last time I tried their system wouldn't accept non-UK credit cards; that is, they wouldn't register my US-based Visa, MC, or AmEx. Weird since the US-based cards are readily accepted in shops all over the world. If this has changed maybe somebody will chime in.

Orange let me register a Canadian credit card with them (although I was in London at the time) . O2 did not let me. I did not try any of the other providers.

So is T-Mobile limited to only a few countries in Europe like the UK and Germany? What about Orange? I will be in Ireland and France as well.