International calls with T-Mobile DE?

[snaimon]

Two things:

1. Last year I bought a SUNSIM (much like SOLOMO) card from USA shortly before I left and had it delivered to the (small) hotel where we were staying. Took a bit longer than I anticipated, but it did arrive and everything worked out fine.

2. One thing you might consider if you are going to be making multiple or long calls back to US is a T-Mobile NON-STOP card. 29 ecents for up to 2 hours to a landline. Now you can find services like ENJOYPREPAID and CLONCOM that have local numbers and rates of 5 US cents per min back to the US. Usually you can make a second or multiple calls WITHOUT HANGING UP. So, a call of > 5 minutes or longer (29 ecents + 25 US cents) would be cheaper than a 5 minute call with SOLOMO (9 * 5 = 45 ecents). This is MY plan.

Stan

[patik]

Originally Posted by dg7feq

they only sell online.

Grr! And I take it 01051mobile is not accepting new customers? That leaves United Mobile (which sounds like a big pain in the rear, and a bit awkward) or one of the more expensive carriers using a prefix (such as T-Mobile).

Is it possible to have it shipped to a hotel? I know what dates I'll be in Munich, should I just order it X days ahead of time and let the hotel know?

[patik]

Originally Posted by snaimon

Last year I bought a SUNSIM (much like SOLOMO) card from USA shortly before I left and had it delivered to the (small) hotel where we were staying. Took a bit longer than I anticipated, but it did arrive and everything worked out fine.

May I ask how long it ended up taking? Did you just notify the hotel ahead of time and they held it for you?

Originally Posted by snaimon

2. One thing you might consider if you are going to be making multiple or long calls back to US is a T-Mobile NON-STOP card. 29 ecents for up to 2 hours to a landline. Now you can find services like ENJOYPREPAID and CLONCOM that have local numbers and rates of 5 US cents per min back to the US.

That sounds good. Just so I'm clear, you're saying to buy a T-Mobile Non-Stop sim, pop it in the cell phone, and use that to call the landline number that EnjoyPrepaid/Cloncom give you? Sounds pretty reasonable. I'm guessing you can buy those T-Mobile sims readily in Munich?

I'll be in Austria first for 6 days and I plan to get an eety sim for that. Also, my phone is a Blackberry -- I don't have service now (I got it on ebay), but I was looking forward to Solomo's cheap data rate, though the voice options are first priority -- internet access would just be icing on the cake.

[snaimon]

I BELIEVE I ordered the SIM on Tuesday and we arrived on Friday. No SIM Friday. No SIM Saturday. I think it arrived on the Monday. Now luckily, I had a SIMYO SIM (Germany) and a UM SIM. So we had something to work with - there were only two of us. Yes, I told the hotel owners. My wife is from Duesseldorf and we have been staying in the same small hotel, private owners, for years now.

Yes, that should do it with the T-Mobile NONSTOP card. I bought a card on Ebay Germany with 0 balance and had it shipped to me. I will have to change plans when I arrive or online shortly before we leave here.

Our German friends might want to weigh in on which they think is better, SOLOMO or my NONSTOP T-Mobile route. I think D1 900 offers better coverage vs the vistream 1800.

As I wrote, there is a breakeven point on a single call. If your outbound calls are going to be short and sweet and at different times, then solomo is probably the way to go. You have to overcome the 29 ecent initial charge. If, on the other hand, you can make long calls or multiple back-to-back calls, then the NONSTOP is the way to go. My wife has a cousin and since they don't talk much during the year, their calls are usually > an hour. Well, even the SUNSIM rate at 8 ecents per minute is still 4.80 euros. See why I am going to give my wife the NONSTOP SIM?

Stan

[snaimon]

Local CLONCOM #s in Germany:

(40)2999-9111 Hamburg English
(30)2555-5111 Berlin English
(69)1200-9099 Frankfurt English
(711)299-9111 Stuttgart English
(89)1436-7111 Munich English
(221)988-8111 Cologne English
(211)368-7115 Dusseldorf English
(511)443-9111 Hanover English

Rate is 5.5 cents per minute. I think you can start with $10.

Local Enjoyprepaid #s

Germany Local Access Numbers
City (NDD+City Code)
Local Number Additional Rate
Per Minute
Berlin (0+30)72616-7062 $0.02
Berlin (0+30)2555-5111
Bremen (0+421)185-4111
Cologne (0+221)988-8111
Cologne (0+221)6501-0519 $0.02
Dortmund (0+231)550-3111
Dresden (0+351)445-2111
Dusseldorf (0+211)5407-3636 $0.02
Dusseldorf (0+211)368-7115
Essen (0+201)487-9111
Frankfurt (0+69)1200-9099
Frankfurt (0+69)58999-0566 $0.02
Hamburg (0+40)2999-9111
Hamburg (0+40)80902-0522 $0.02
Hanover (0+511)9361-2507 $0.02
Hanover (0+511)443-9111
Leipzig (0+341)499-9111
Munich (0+89)24443-2627 $0.02
Munich (0+89)1436-7111
Nurnberg (0+911)491-8111
Stuttgart (0+711)299-9111
Stuttgart (0+711)49081-3024 $0.02

Rate = 2.5 cents on Emarld plan (I have this plan)

Best initial signup/refill is $50, however. Otherwise they deduct $2 on a $20 signup.

see cloncom.com (cloncom connect)
they may have cheaper rates using other cards.
enjoyprepaid.com

ALSO, I would not recommend BOTH cards at the same time. I think they conflict as they are from the same provider, NOBLECOM.

Stan