Czech Republic

[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.

[barafear799]

hi,

You guys on here appear extremely knowledgeable about all this - whereas I am a complete novice - could you possibly answer a few novicy questions for me please:

I am off to Prague in just over a week, and in order to save money, I think buying an o2 simcard is the way to go:


I have an unlocked old HTC Wildfire phone - reading about the problems with sim card sizes, is this likely to be a problem for my phone ?
Am I right in thinking that the simcard costs 150 CZK (but comes with that as credit) and if I were to need to make a local call (ie: in Prague) - this would cost me 6 CZK per minute? (I'm slightly confused by the two tariff options).

And finally, I would also be interested in purchasing the 150 MB data option for 75czk? I assume that would come out of the initial 150 CZK credit (Assuning I had not spent it on calls).

actually - one more important question - will I have to go through a process with my phone in order to sort out the internet settings? I remember when I first unlocked it and put in a UK simcard I did.

And if I did have to do this - would I have to go through the process all over again when I returned to UK and replaced it with my UK sim card?

Many thanks in anticipation.

B

[NFH]

Originally Posted by barafear799

I have an unlocked old HTC Wildfire phone - reading about the problems with sim card sizes, is this likely to be a problem for my phone ?

No, quite the opposite. They want to give you a standard 2FF mini-SIM.

Originally Posted by barafear799

Am I right in thinking that the simcard costs 150 CZK (but comes with that as credit) and if I were to need to make a local call (ie: in Prague) - this would cost me 6 CZK per minute? (I'm slightly confused by the two tariff options).

Yes, the SIM card costs CZK 150 and includes the same amount of credit. Yes, calls are either CZK 6.00 or CZK 5.60 per minute depending on which of the two tariffs you choose. The weekend one might be advantageous if you want to send SMS to Czech numbers or call other O2 numbers (mostly starting +420 72).

Originally Posted by barafear799

And finally, I would also be interested in purchasing the 150 MB data option for 75czk? I assume that would come out of the initial 150 CZK credit (Assuning I had not spent it on calls).

This is the really confusing bit. The price you see is weekly but the allowance is 4-weekly. Therefore if you buy the 1GB option for CZK 90 per week, you will get 250MB each week. Make sure you cancel it after a week. There is also a default daily option of CZK 30 for 30MB per day if you're there for one or two days more than a week.

Originally Posted by barafear799

actually - one more important question - will I have to go through a process with my phone in order to sort out the internet settings? I remember when I first unlocked it and put in a UK simcard I did.

I don't know about your HTC Wildfire, but my iPhone reads the APN etc from the SIM card. Whenever I switch SIM cards, I don't have to change the APN manually.

[NFH]

Tesco Mobile have just launched in the Czech Republic. Their daily data price of CZK 20 for 50MB is more favourable than O2's price of CZK 30 for 30MB.

Unfortunately their SIM validity policy aligns with other Czech networks rather than with Tesco Mobile in the UK and Ireland. It is no better than O2, requiring top-ups every 6 or 12 months. In Tesco Mobile's FAQ, it says:

Jaká je platnost kreditu, který dobiju?
Každé dobitÃ* kreditu má platnost 6 měsÃ*ců od data dobitÃ*. Pokud před skončenÃ*m Å¡esti měsÃ*ců nedobijete kredit, zůstatek VaÅ¡eho kreditu expiruje a nebude možné ho použÃ*t. Expirovaný kredit lze obnovit dalÅ¡Ã*m dobitÃ*m.
UpozorněnÃ*: Pokud nedojde k dobitÃ* v průběhu 12 měsÃ*ců od poslednÃ*ho dobÃ*tÃ*, platnost SIM karty vyprÅ¡Ã*, kredit propadne a SIM karta i s telefonnÃ*m čÃ*slem bude deaktivována.

Jakou má vaše SIM karta platnost?
VaÅ¡i SIM kartu je potřeba zaktivovat do data uvedeného na obalu. Po aktivaci SIM karty je platnost nastavena na 12 měsÃ*ců a každým dobitÃ*m kreditu je tato doba vždy automaticky prodloužena na dalÅ¡Ã*ch 12 měsÃ*ců.
Pokud si nedobijete kredit vÃ*ce než 12 měsÃ*ců, může být SIM karta deaktivována.

They only offer combi mini/micro-SIMs, no nano-SIMs.

[lover08]

I used O2 in Czech Republic. We traveled also to different cities by train and
There was great to have Internet in train (slow speed in inhabited areas and good speed in all medium cities)

If you have time before travel you can order SIM card online on ebay (make a search on ebay.com there are sellers that sell Czech SIM cards)
I bought one with 50 CZK and topped it up at home with credit card 800 CZK to activate 3GB Internet and few calls/SMS I also activated this bundle online before I came to Czech

[bboi]

So if im looking for unlimited data for about 1o days what prepaid plan would be best. And if there is not unlimited plan, what is the best suggestion for data.

[lover08]

Take O2 operator

They have these options:

3GB - 550 CZK
10GB - 800 CZK
(I think it is impossible to use more than 10GB in 10 days)

Step 1: but SIM card O2
Step 2: Topup ammount
Step 3: activate bundle

Step one: you can buy in Czech or you can buy in advance
on Ebay
Step two: Topup online in advance or Topup in Czech O2 or small kiosk
Step three: activate bundle online if you bought in advance or send sms
IVML to 999000 (for 3GB) or IVMXL to 999000 for 10GB

Cheers

[HappyCamp]

Are there any other viable options for travelers besides O2? Any MVNOs I should look at? I am possibly going to be in Prague for two weeks. So a plan with at least 1GB of data would be good. Looks like the O2 plan is 550 CZK ( $28 ) for just the 3GB of data and I assume about 150 CZK ( $8 ) for a SIM card. So looking about about $36 to get up and running for data. Cheaper would be nice of course

[HappyCamp]

Originally Posted by HappyCamp

Are there any other viable options for travelers besides O2? Any MVNOs I should look at? I am possibly going to be in Prague for two weeks. So a plan with at least 1GB of data would be good. Looks like the O2 plan is 550 CZK ( $28 ) for just the 3GB of data and I assume about 150 CZK ( $8 ) for a SIM card. So looking about about $36 to get up and running for data. Cheaper would be nice of course

Replying to myself. T-Mobile seems like a possibly reasonable option if I can trust Google Chrome translate

200 CZK ( $10.24 ) for a SIM card with 200 CZK credit. And then 241 CZK ( $12.34 ) for 300 MB of data which is valid for 30 days. For a total of $22.58. Then if I run out of data I assume I can add another 300 MB for 241 CZK. I kind of doubt I will use more than 300 MB during two weeks as I will be staying in a place with WiFi.