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petkow · 07-07-2009, 10:24

Yes, I two second the suggestion of national cards rather than an international one. They are so cheap now anyhow (or even free), that you will always be better off financially getting national SIM's.

Also, remember that pretty much all "national" SIM's are of course also just as "International" as anything else, as you can roam with them. If you buy a German SIM this year, you can also use it next year elsewhere in Europe, and with the caps on prices within the EU, this is not even too expensive. Better still with something like a German Solomo Pro, incoming rates are only 10c/min anywhere in the EU (and free in Germany of course). You also mentioned SMS. Incoming SMS is always free anywhere on any European SIM anywhere in Europe. Only extremely backwards US networks have the nerve to charge your incoming SMS's to your monthly bundle!! (One of the stupidest things I have ever heard of, especially considering that SMS is sent using surplus bandwidth and also considering the amount of data that is sent in an SMS!!)

As mentioned above, especially for extremely cheap data/internet deals, a national SIM is far better value. Check out the internet offers in Germany by Tchibo etc. that are posted all over this forum. I presume your iPhone has 3G as well as GPRS, or is it an old one? If indeed it is only GPRS, even the cheapest German data bundles (which rely on the congested E-Plus network) will still work very well. It is only 3G that sometimes gets a bit slow on those.

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petkow (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Pioneer Posts: 696 Join Date: 01 Aug 2006 Location: Madrid Country:	07-07-2009, 10:24 Yes, I two second the suggestion of national cards rather than an international one. They are so cheap now anyhow (or even free), that you will always be better off financially getting national SIM's. Also, remember that pretty much all "national" SIM's are of course also just as "International" as anything else, as you can roam with them. If you buy a German SIM this year, you can also use it next year elsewhere in Europe, and with the caps on prices within the EU, this is not even too expensive. Better still with something like a German Solomo Pro, incoming rates are only 10c/min anywhere in the EU (and free in Germany of course). You also mentioned SMS. Incoming SMS is always free anywhere on any European SIM anywhere in Europe. Only extremely backwards US networks have the nerve to charge your incoming SMS's to your monthly bundle!! (One of the stupidest things I have ever heard of, especially considering that SMS is sent using surplus bandwidth and also considering the amount of data that is sent in an SMS!!) As mentioned above, especially for extremely cheap data/internet deals, a national SIM is far better value. Check out the internet offers in Germany by Tchibo etc. that are posted all over this forum. I presume your iPhone has 3G as well as GPRS, or is it an old one? If indeed it is only GPRS, even the cheapest German data bundles (which rely on the congested E-Plus network) will still work very well. It is only 3G that sometimes gets a bit slow on those.