Prepaid Uk Card

[prion]

So Virgin is not fore me!

IOM cards are expensive for me that I just want a UK mobile number!

So that leaves us with vodafone and orange;

Can they be used firstly from abroad and then topped up also;

[andy]

What do you want to actually use the SIM for? At a guess, it sounds to me a bit like you just want to receive text messages from someone here.

The Orange equivalent of Virgin tariff that DRN mentions was has been unavailable for some time, and they now seem to have abolished all OVP deals (they are contract though)

Virgin has cheaper rates for post-paid by direct debit, but I don't know if that only applies to UK banks. It may have the cheapest data tariff. It does also seem to have an unofficial longer life than the others that expire at 6 months or so without use (incoming or outgoing)

As far as the cheapest roaming goes, Vodafone's Passport scheme now applies in all EU countries. 75p connect fee, then at the same tariff as here, ie 0p incoming, cheapest 5p off-peak (edit - 10p on tariffs now available) to landlines and Vodafone

O2's MyEurope has 35p a minute outgoing and incoming calls. They have recently started a free incoming calls ?5 monthly option, but this only applies to use in Spain (all networks) at the moment; likely to spread throughout Europe next year, (maybe with the same 25p/min calls? - which would be very close to the cheapest roaming way to call all European mobiles)

As far as easy top-up, I think most can have a credit card registered to them, but ask the others about UK only or foreign ones, and you'd then just apply credit from calling the relevant number and menu section. For voucher top-up, Vodafone can use vouchers from foreign Vodafone networks, and O2 can use any from Starmap alliance networks.

I'm not sure about which (if any; I haven't heard) need first use here. Some need registering to enable them (Orange), but even then I expect you could do that by phone from abroad, though you might need a callthrough to reach the freephone number (try via +442002220700)

If you will actually visit sometime, then Mobile World, O2, Orange and T-mobile all have cheap international calls options from 4 or 5 pence a minute (and you could use a calling card via the cheapest country). MW has a pretty short validity though. In the past, O2 had callthrough numbers available on the 100 free minutes a month package, but they've abolished this, though there is an O2 number for off-peak use from one provider, and some T-mobile callthroughs have rumours floating around.

The SIMs are pretty cheap from the networks' websites, like 50p or sometimes free, hence the numbers available on eBay. (On forums, people have been known to complain that there are no so many that all of the ones they got to resell are now virtually worthless!). And I've got a few free ones here.

[prion]

Andy thank you for the reply!

Your guess is right. I do need it mostly for texting from abroad!

So I want a prepaid card that has the longest validity possible, and can be topped from abroad as well as activated from abroad....

Any suggestions;

[andy]

you mean receiving texts, or sending them as well, in which case we probably just need to find the cheapest roaming tariffs for text messages - some are 40p each, and maybe none are cheap

you might look into those firms that can send sms via wap/grps, from around 3 or 5p a go. I had no success registering smsBug on an O2 SIM, and they didn't reply to the last couple of follow-up messages. Babble are apparently doing this, in beta at the moment

[andy]

I have seen it said that the inclusive texts option on an O2 SIM can be used abroad at the rate of 4 for 1, but I'm not sure if this was a mix-up on the thread discussing it - it is certainly true on contracts, but I'd have to ask to confirm about payg

[prion]

Mostly receiving sms from UK. I will use it abroad.

[Motel75]

I think it's a clear case for Vodafone, thanks to the ease of topping it up. Passport is another good reason - Virgin's roaming charges can be steep. You should be able to get an activated card on eBay. Just remember to send an SMS with it every few months and you'll be fine.

If for some reason this is not possible, then go for Virgin, as getting the cards on eBay is easy. Topping up is a bit of a pain, but you can get the cards on eBay and often save money, so it's not that much of a problem.

[andy]

There are sometimes free (?10 at the moment) Virgin SIMs with ?5 credit on, which could be used for 1MB of wap/gprs triggering of calls to other phones. I've got 6 here and would have to check if they all have the ?5.

O2, Orange and Vodafone all have free SIMs at the moment, and T-mobile are 50p, so try entering a foreign address on their websites or send me a PM

[Malkav]

Originally Posted by prion

Mostly receiving sms from UK. I will use it abroad.

if your after uk sim cards will trade ya one for one any uk network? payg only, pm me for details ok

[KiwiSurfer]

Originally Posted by DRNewcomb

I don't know if Orange still does it or not but they used to match other carrier's plans. I was told that you could get an Orange SIM matching a Virgin Mobile plan so it never expired as long as you had credit.

How easy is it to do this? I assume you have to go into a Orange shop to get a deal like this?

Regards,
James