Eu Sim Recommendation Request

bkspero · 14-04-2006, 02:00

I will be studying in Prague for 5 weeks this summer and spending about 10 days traveling thru Ireland, France, Italy, and Austria for 10 days prior to that. Also expect some weekend trips into Germany, Switzerland, and elsewhere. I've spent the last 2 days reading thru information on local and roaming SIM cards, and other issues relevant to phone service, and still don't feel confident that I will make a good selection. Other info, phone is an unlocked Motorola v60 (900/1800/1900). Expect to make calls to landlines and mobiles between and within the countries above and home to the USA.

My intention is to buy a local card for the time I'm in the Czech Republic and a roaming card for other times. I've read lots of good things here and elsewhere about Riing, but some of the other cards, like Travelsim or 0044 Global seem much less expensive for the calls I expect to make. Also Callblue. In particular, I'm not a long talker and the per-call connection charge on Riing makes it less attractive. I can live without voicemail, if necessary.

As for the Czech card, I would also appreciate recommendations as to which service (I am leaning towards a Vodafone Karta).

I invite comments. How is service quality on the different cards? I've read notes that said that some have had issues with Travelsim, but not others. Also with Riing. Nothing much on 0044 or Callblue. Also, will my phone work with those cards. It isn't listed among the compatible phones on the 0044 Global page. And I've read notes saying that some phones work (Siemens) with Travelsim and others do not work as well...but the Travelsim and Telestial (explorer) websites do not list incompatible or compatible phones.

Last, I would appreciate suggestions about where I can purchase recommended cards. Including whether I should purchase the Czech card while in the US, or wait until I get there. I would like to purchase the Roaming card while in the US.

I apologize for all the questions. Usually I'm able to do enough research to get an answer myself. In this case, however, I'm finding that I'm generating new questions faster than I'm answering the old ones.

DRNewcomb · 14-04-2006, 03:14

You seem to have done your homework. If you figure out which of the international SIMs is "best" please tell me. I guess, if people will be calling directly to your international SIM, then it would be best to get one of the IoM-based SIMs with the UK-like phone number. That way they won't be shocked when they get charged $1+ to call Liechtenstein. If people will be calling you via a forwarding service, then UM is fine.

I'd suggest you set up an account with a good US-based VOIP service and callback service before departing. You can buy the international card here in the US. Then you can tell people how to call you before departure. Unless someone just happens to offer the Czech SIM you want on ebay or the for-sale forum here. then wait until you get there to buy it. You can be reached via your international SIM ITMT.

meir · 14-04-2006, 07:30

With international SIM, I would say IoM based cards are currently best to use in Europe. Now about the Czech SIM. It will depends if you will need any special extras like special rate for calls to fixed lines or cheap night and weekend calls. There is always lot of offers around, so I would need more details from your side to be able to reply you correctly.

Effendi · 14-04-2006, 08:00

With CallBlue you don't have free incoming calls in CZ ($ 0.30/min), so it could be a good option for outgoing calls and SMS (cheaper), but not much for receiving them from the US. They are free in Germany and Poland, not in Austria and Slovakia ($ 0.30/min).
Probably Travelsim could be a good idea, it's cheaper to buy and you have free incoming calls in CZ and the countries around (except Hungary, Slovania and Italy). With United Mobile you have more free incoming countries, but you pay more for short calls.

For my trips to CZ I always used my Oskar card, now Vodafone, I think it has mostly 1800MHz coverage in Praha (Meir correct me if I write bullshit!) and I never had problems with it. Unfortunately mine has expired and I don't like Vodafone very much so last month I bought an Eurotel Go just to try another service, which was ok, also on 3G. I think they are all good, maybe Vodafone is still a little cheaper but still has SMS interconnection problems with foreign numbers (IoM cards don't send/receive SMS with Vodafone/Oskar, no problems with Eurotel).

bkspero · 14-04-2006, 17:42

Thanks for the suggestions. But always more questions. VOIP/good US callback service? I know what VOIP is (we don't use it at home), and I recognize callback service from this forum. But when I began researching them it made the SIM card situation seem simple by comparison. They all look and sound good...maybe too good. I saw lots of discussion here about CBW (Callbackworld?). Are they what your experience indicates as a good US based callback service? It doesn't look like they have a local number in the Czech Republic. Are there others that you'd recommend?

Finally, none of the callback sites discuss (that I could find) listed rates to international roaming SIM card-equipped phones. Saw that they include rates to local cell phones. Can callback services be used to access international roaming SIM card equipped phones? If so, how? I've sent some of them emails with that question, but would welcome personal experience as well.

Thanks again for the great site and the help.

bkspero · 14-04-2006, 17:54

One other issue. About the IoM roaming card. Sorry to show my ignorance, but does IoM stand for Isle of Mann? If so, are those the 0044 cards? Any other brand names? My concern about them is that 0044 do not list the Motorola v60 as compatible with their international cards. Do you have any guidance in that regard? It is a trimode 900/1800/1900 phone (and the 900 is, I'm told, really 900 and not 850), but not on their list. Is it just too old for them to consider, so even though it is (may be) compatible they have not included it? Do you know of anyone who has used it successfully with an IoM card?

It looked to me from other notes on this forum that Callkeyone was another Isle of Mann SIM provider. But when I go to their website they only show this service in the Future Products section.

RTuesday · 14-04-2006, 18:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkspero

One other issue. About the IoM roaming card. Sorry to show my ignorance, but does IoM stand for Isle of Mann? If so, are those the 0044 cards? Any other brand names?

GT-Sim is the other main Isle of Man provider (both 0044 and GT-sim use technology provided by Callkey). One major disadvantage of GT-sim for you is the incoming calls are free in only one country (the country you pick for billing).

Callback providers rates to international sims are the same as to the domestic mobile of that country, i.e. for the Isle of Man ones look at the rates for UK mobiles, for United Mobile it's Liechtenstein mobiles, 09 is Iceland mobiles etc.

This is where 09 (Iceland) is quite good - several callback companies still offer calls from Iceland mobiles to US/UK in the 10-15c/min range (Callbackworld, Enlinea, gphone). So if you're in a country where they have free incoming, you can trigger a callback and then make calls cheaply, but of course it's expensive for other European to call your Iceland mobile.

This is where VOIP comes in. You set up a voip account that can be easily forwarded and that has an incoming number in a major country that is cheap to call (US, UK). You then point that to your Cz mobile while in Cz, your other roaming sim when out the country so you are easy to reach. But that's really only if you need to be easy to reach for business purposes - for general use it's overkill.

DRNewcomb · 14-04-2006, 19:44

The purpose of the callback and VOIP services is to help you save money when mobile.

Right now I'm using VoiceStick.com as a VOIP service. I get a virtual local phone number in my home town here in the US. I can forward this number anywhere in the world from their webpage. That can be the international SIM when I'm trooping about Europe or the local SIM when I'm in the Czech Republic, or to a local landline if I have access to a landline. I can forward my US cellphone to my local VOIP number and when people call my US cell, the phone near me rings. If I'm not near a phone, the calls can go to voicemail and then be sent to me as sound file attached to an e-mail. They also sold me a USB "thumb drive" with their software preprogrammed and a headset. When you plug the stick into any Windows computer, it runs their program, without having to install it first. You can then call all over the world for pennies.

The callback service turns all calls into incoming calls. You trigger the callback and your phone rings presenting you with a US-based dial-tone. With a Japanese prepaid it's cheaper to do this to make local calls in Japan than to dial direct. Callback world also has a way for others to call you for free (they don't pay) in most European countries.

There are a lot of ways to use these things.

meir · 14-04-2006, 21:02

With the coverage in Prague. T-Mobile and Eurotel should have both 900/1800. Vodafone 1800 only. But our house is in first village out of Prague and my wife use 900Mhz only phone for one of her Vodafone SIM cards without problem. If she goes little further closer to the centre, she will loose the signal on 900, But on outskirts should works OK. But once you are in countryland you should have definitely 900 as 1800 is used very often. So make sure your handset can handle 900. Otherwise, younger people use more Vodafone( formerly Oskar). So this is your way.

Przemolog · 14-04-2006, 21:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Effendi

With CallBlue you don't have free incoming calls in CZ ($ 0.30/min), so it could be a good option for outgoing calls and SMS (cheaper), but not much for receiving them from the US. They are free in Germany and Poland, not in Austria and Slovakia ($ 0.30/min).
Probably Travelsim could be a good idea, it's cheaper to buy and you have free incoming calls in CZ and the countries around (except Hungary, Slovania and Italy). With United Mobile you have more free incoming countries, but you pay more for short calls.

Travelsim doesn't have free incoming in Poland either, if we consider Czech neighbours...

To summarise, if you consider free incoming calls then the following SIMs offer you that feature in all the countries you want to visit:
UM (former Riiing) - country code 423 Liechtenstein
09 - country code 354 Iceland

They have no special requirements for handsets. However, with some handsets you must use so-called "menu based calling". This means that you have enter a special menu (provided with your SIM) and then type (or select from the phone book, but only from the one stored on the SIM, not in the phone memmory!) the number you are going to call to.
The calls are charged for each started minute. Setup fee 0.25? applies for any outgoing call (in other words, each first minute is 25 eurocents more expensive than next ones).
SMS seems not to work in 09 yet.

Isle of Man SIMs (UK country code 44) with handset compatibility issues:
Talaphone http://49centscall.com/ (bad reputation on this forum

).
0044 http://www.0044.co.uk/
Geodesa http://www.globalsimcard.co.uk/
The latter offer better call billing (30 seconds, than each 6 seconds), not sure about 0044. None of them applies first minute surcharge.

IoM based gt-sim charges 38 eurocents/min on incoming calls in all countries (except one selected) but it offers also GPRS-based data transmission.

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	(#1)
bkspero (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 9 Join Date: 14 Apr 2006	14-04-2006, 02:00 I will be studying in Prague for 5 weeks this summer and spending about 10 days traveling thru Ireland, France, Italy, and Austria for 10 days prior to that. Also expect some weekend trips into Germany, Switzerland, and elsewhere. I've spent the last 2 days reading thru information on local and roaming SIM cards, and other issues relevant to phone service, and still don't feel confident that I will make a good selection. Other info, phone is an unlocked Motorola v60 (900/1800/1900). Expect to make calls to landlines and mobiles between and within the countries above and home to the USA. My intention is to buy a local card for the time I'm in the Czech Republic and a roaming card for other times. I've read lots of good things here and elsewhere about Riing, but some of the other cards, like Travelsim or 0044 Global seem much less expensive for the calls I expect to make. Also Callblue. In particular, I'm not a long talker and the per-call connection charge on Riing makes it less attractive. I can live without voicemail, if necessary. As for the Czech card, I would also appreciate recommendations as to which service (I am leaning towards a Vodafone Karta). I invite comments. How is service quality on the different cards? I've read notes that said that some have had issues with Travelsim, but not others. Also with Riing. Nothing much on 0044 or Callblue. Also, will my phone work with those cards. It isn't listed among the compatible phones on the 0044 Global page. And I've read notes saying that some phones work (Siemens) with Travelsim and others do not work as well...but the Travelsim and Telestial (explorer) websites do not list incompatible or compatible phones. Last, I would appreciate suggestions about where I can purchase recommended cards. Including whether I should purchase the Czech card while in the US, or wait until I get there. I would like to purchase the Roaming card while in the US. I apologize for all the questions. Usually I'm able to do enough research to get an answer myself. In this case, however, I'm finding that I'm generating new questions faster than I'm answering the old ones.

	(#2)
DRNewcomb (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Professionist Posts: 1,465 Join Date: 27 Feb 2004 Location: Mississippi, USA Country:	14-04-2006, 03:14 You seem to have done your homework. If you figure out which of the international SIMs is "best" please tell me. I guess, if people will be calling directly to your international SIM, then it would be best to get one of the IoM-based SIMs with the UK-like phone number. That way they won't be shocked when they get charged $1+ to call Liechtenstein. If people will be calling you via a forwarding service, then UM is fine. I'd suggest you set up an account with a good US-based VOIP service and callback service before departing. You can buy the international card here in the US. Then you can tell people how to call you before departure. Unless someone just happens to offer the Czech SIM you want on ebay or the for-sale forum here. then wait until you get there to buy it. You can be reached via your international SIM ITMT.

	(#3)
meir (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 269 Join Date: 21 Feb 2006 Location: It's long story Country:	14-04-2006, 07:30 With international SIM, I would say IoM based cards are currently best to use in Europe. Now about the Czech SIM. It will depends if you will need any special extras like special rate for calls to fixed lines or cheap night and weekend calls. There is always lot of offers around, so I would need more details from your side to be able to reply you correctly.

	(#4)
Effendi (Offline) The great Dictator! Prepaid Prophet Posts: 2,487 Join Date: 13 Jan 2004 Location: Trieste/Trst Country:	14-04-2006, 08:00 With CallBlue you don't have free incoming calls in CZ ($ 0.30/min), so it could be a good option for outgoing calls and SMS (cheaper), but not much for receiving them from the US. They are free in Germany and Poland, not in Austria and Slovakia ($ 0.30/min). Probably Travelsim could be a good idea, it's cheaper to buy and you have free incoming calls in CZ and the countries around (except Hungary, Slovania and Italy). With United Mobile you have more free incoming countries, but you pay more for short calls. For my trips to CZ I always used my Oskar card, now Vodafone, I think it has mostly 1800MHz coverage in Praha (Meir correct me if I write bullshit!) and I never had problems with it. Unfortunately mine has expired and I don't like Vodafone very much so last month I bought an Eurotel Go just to try another service, which was ok, also on 3G. I think they are all good, maybe Vodafone is still a little cheaper but still has SMS interconnection problems with foreign numbers (IoM cards don't send/receive SMS with Vodafone/Oskar, no problems with Eurotel). Working Prepaids: IT: Wind, Vodafone IT, UNO Mobile; SM: Prima; UK: 3, Virgin; INT: TravelSIM, Truphone. Deceased Prepaids: CZ: Oskar, Eurotel; SK: Orange; DE: E-Plus, Aldi, Simyo; GE: Geocell; AM: Armentel; PL: Heyah, Plus; LT: Tele2; LV: Amigo; EE: Elisa; UA: Kyivstar; NZ: Vodafone; INT: UM, UM+, ICQSim. GSM/3G Phones: Nokia Lumia 630 dual sim

	(#5)
bkspero (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 9 Join Date: 14 Apr 2006	14-04-2006, 17:42 Thanks for the suggestions. But always more questions. VOIP/good US callback service? I know what VOIP is (we don't use it at home), and I recognize callback service from this forum. But when I began researching them it made the SIM card situation seem simple by comparison. They all look and sound good...maybe too good. I saw lots of discussion here about CBW (Callbackworld?). Are they what your experience indicates as a good US based callback service? It doesn't look like they have a local number in the Czech Republic. Are there others that you'd recommend? Finally, none of the callback sites discuss (that I could find) listed rates to international roaming SIM card-equipped phones. Saw that they include rates to local cell phones. Can callback services be used to access international roaming SIM card equipped phones? If so, how? I've sent some of them emails with that question, but would welcome personal experience as well. Thanks again for the great site and the help.

	(#6)
bkspero (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 9 Join Date: 14 Apr 2006	14-04-2006, 17:54 One other issue. About the IoM roaming card. Sorry to show my ignorance, but does IoM stand for Isle of Mann? If so, are those the 0044 cards? Any other brand names? My concern about them is that 0044 do not list the Motorola v60 as compatible with their international cards. Do you have any guidance in that regard? It is a trimode 900/1800/1900 phone (and the 900 is, I'm told, really 900 and not 850), but not on their list. Is it just too old for them to consider, so even though it is (may be) compatible they have not included it? Do you know of anyone who has used it successfully with an IoM card? It looked to me from other notes on this forum that Callkeyone was another Isle of Mann SIM provider. But when I go to their website they only show this service in the Future Products section.

	(#8)
DRNewcomb (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Professionist Posts: 1,465 Join Date: 27 Feb 2004 Location: Mississippi, USA Country:	14-04-2006, 19:44 The purpose of the callback and VOIP services is to help you save money when mobile. Right now I'm using VoiceStick.com as a VOIP service. I get a virtual local phone number in my home town here in the US. I can forward this number anywhere in the world from their webpage. That can be the international SIM when I'm trooping about Europe or the local SIM when I'm in the Czech Republic, or to a local landline if I have access to a landline. I can forward my US cellphone to my local VOIP number and when people call my US cell, the phone near me rings. If I'm not near a phone, the calls can go to voicemail and then be sent to me as sound file attached to an e-mail. They also sold me a USB "thumb drive" with their software preprogrammed and a headset. When you plug the stick into any Windows computer, it runs their program, without having to install it first. You can then call all over the world for pennies. The callback service turns all calls into incoming calls. You trigger the callback and your phone rings presenting you with a US-based dial-tone. With a Japanese prepaid it's cheaper to do this to make local calls in Japan than to dial direct. Callback world also has a way for others to call you for free (they don't pay) in most European countries. There are a lot of ways to use these things.

	(#9)
meir (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 269 Join Date: 21 Feb 2006 Location: It's long story Country:	14-04-2006, 21:02 With the coverage in Prague. T-Mobile and Eurotel should have both 900/1800. Vodafone 1800 only. But our house is in first village out of Prague and my wife use 900Mhz only phone for one of her Vodafone SIM cards without problem. If she goes little further closer to the centre, she will loose the signal on 900, But on outskirts should works OK. But once you are in countryland you should have definitely 900 as 1800 is used very often. So make sure your handset can handle 900. Otherwise, younger people use more Vodafone( formerly Oskar). So this is your way.