Czech Republic

9eor9 · **Czech Republic -** 19-05-2012, 15:52

Hi,

Do I need a legal address in Czech Republic to buy a Prepaid SIM? Do I need to register it? Can I also use a hotel's address?

THX

9eor9 · 19-05-2012, 17:19

When I buy a SIM, let's say a Vodafone, are there any activation or any settings necessary?
Or is it "plug and play", means insert SIM, enter PIN and call. I ask this because I don't know one word czech.

kuba.g · 24-05-2012, 23:45

I bought a O2 sim card in Prague last year, no address was needed and the seller spoke excellent English (as usual in the Czech Republic). I only needed to show my passport.

meir · 27-05-2012, 09:19

No need to show even passport, I believe.

Lukas · 05-07-2012, 22:38

Hi, no need of passport or ID card. You can buy prepaid sim almost everywhere but i would recommend you to buy it at an official store of the provider.

NFH · 10-08-2012, 15:05

Does anyone know much about T-Mobile CZ? It seems like a good option, but their web site is only in Czech, unlike O2 and Vodafone, which I guess puts off many temporary visitors.

Their Twist SIM card seems like a good deal, particularly as it says "DobÃ*jÃ*te si, jen kdyÅ¾ potřebujete" (recharging only when needed), it's only CZK 200 (unlike O2) and you get free data with a new SIM card and top-ups.

NFH · 18-08-2012, 10:31

It turned out that T-Mobile was a complete waste of time. They wanted CZK 200 for a mini-SIM, which they would cut to a micro-SIM, and it included only 50MB of data, not enough to last me for 3 days. I therefore went to O2, who sold me a multi-size SIM (where you can break out a micro-SIM) for CZK 150 including CZK 150 of credit, whereby data cost CZK 75 for 150MB for a week. This was ideal, although I noticed that I received a warning by SMS that I had used 80% of my allowance when my iPhone's data counter showed only 70% and just as I left the Czech Republic, another message telling me that I had used all of the 150MB when my iPhone's data counter showed only 11.6MB+120MB sent+received. O2 seems to be the market leader and download speeds were good all over Prague, at around 3-4Mbps. When the wireless internet went down in my hotel one night, I was delighted to find that iOS tethering was enabled as standard, meaning I could connect my laptop via my iPhone. O2 seems like the obvious choice in the Czech Republic. I can't find out their prepaid SIM expiry policy; does anyone know?

NFH · 18-08-2012, 19:48

I found the answer to the SIM validity question. According to O2 | Is the validity of a prepaid SIM card limited in any way? - FAQ "A recharged SIM card is valid for at least one year depending on the sum it has been recharged with. It is necessary to recharge your credit by CZK 500 at least once a year or CZK 200 every half a year so that you can keep on using our services". However it's not clear what happens with a new SIM card to which no credit has yet been added.

NFH · 26-01-2013, 10:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by NFH

I therefore went to O2, who sold me a multi-size SIM (where you can break out a micro-SIM)

I discovered that what I thought was a micro-SIM was actually a mini-SIM punched out. The O2 shop must have done this under the counter without me seeing. I always wondered why it didn't fit into my iPhone 4 very well. After getting an iPhone 5, I asked a friend who went to Prague to swap my SIM for a free nano-SIM as explained on O2's web site, but they simply punched out a nano-SIM and gave it back to him. I'm not impressed with O2 after this.

NFH · 22-04-2013, 22:21

Another friend (Czech) tried to swap my SIM card for a nano-SIM at another branch. It seems they need the outer credit-card-sized card in order to do this. But the first branch had taken that from my first friend and threw it away! I'm going to try to do the swap myself later this week.

I'm very confused by O2 Czech's expiry policy:

CZK 150 buys a new SIM card with CZK 150 of credit and 12 months
CZK 200 buys CZK 200 of credit but only 6 months
CZK 500 buys CZK 500 of credit and 12 months

I just don't understand why CZK 200 buys less time extension than CZK 150. It doesn't make any sense. Therefore I'm better off getting a new SIM card than topping up an existing one. Surely this discrepancy creates unnecessary churn for O2?

	(#1)
9eor9 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 223 Join Date: 10 Apr 2009 Country:	Czech Republic - 19-05-2012, 15:52 Hi, Do I need a legal address in Czech Republic to buy a Prepaid SIM? Do I need to register it? Can I also use a hotel's address? THX

	(#2)
9eor9 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 223 Join Date: 10 Apr 2009 Country:	19-05-2012, 17:19 When I buy a SIM, let's say a Vodafone, are there any activation or any settings necessary? Or is it "plug and play", means insert SIM, enter PIN and call. I ask this because I don't know one word czech.

	(#3)
kuba.g (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 228 Join Date: 24 Oct 2010 Country:	24-05-2012, 23:45 I bought a O2 sim card in Prague last year, no address was needed and the seller spoke excellent English (as usual in the Czech Republic). I only needed to show my passport. Mobile internet sim cards: INT: abroadband, NL: Simyo, bliep, BE: Colruyt Mobile, MEDIONmobile, LUX: Orange, PL: mBank Mobile, DE: Congstar, MEDIONmobile, IE: Vodafone, CH: OK Mobil, SwissCom, SE: Telia, ES: MÃ¡sMovil, GR: Cosmote, IT: TIM, RO: Vodafone, RS: mt:s, BY: Privet, UA: Kievstar, MD: Moldcell Feel free to consult me about sim cards in the Benelux and Poland.*

	(#4)
meir (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 269 Join Date: 21 Feb 2006 Location: It's long story Country:	27-05-2012, 09:19 No need to show even passport, I believe.

	(#5)
Lukas (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 1 Join Date: 05 Jul 2012 Country:	05-07-2012, 22:38 Hi, no need of passport or ID card. You can buy prepaid sim almost everywhere but i would recommend you to buy it at an official store of the provider.

	(#6)
NFH (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 322 Join Date: 11 Apr 2012 Location: London Country:	10-08-2012, 15:05 Does anyone know much about T-Mobile CZ? It seems like a good option, but their web site is only in Czech, unlike O2 and Vodafone, which I guess puts off many temporary visitors. Their Twist SIM card seems like a good deal, particularly as it says "DobÃjÃte si, jen kdyÅ¾ potřebujete" (recharging only when needed), it's only CZK 200 (unlike O2) and you get free data with a new SIM card and top-ups.

	(#7)
NFH (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 322 Join Date: 11 Apr 2012 Location: London Country:	18-08-2012, 10:31 It turned out that T-Mobile was a complete waste of time. They wanted CZK 200 for a mini-SIM, which they would cut to a micro-SIM, and it included only 50MB of data, not enough to last me for 3 days. I therefore went to O2, who sold me a multi-size SIM (where you can break out a micro-SIM) for CZK 150 including CZK 150 of credit, whereby data cost CZK 75 for 150MB for a week. This was ideal, although I noticed that I received a warning by SMS that I had used 80% of my allowance when my iPhone's data counter showed only 70% and just as I left the Czech Republic, another message telling me that I had used all of the 150MB when my iPhone's data counter showed only 11.6MB+120MB sent+received. O2 seems to be the market leader and download speeds were good all over Prague, at around 3-4Mbps. When the wireless internet went down in my hotel one night, I was delighted to find that iOS tethering was enabled as standard, meaning I could connect my laptop via my iPhone. O2 seems like the obvious choice in the Czech Republic. I can't find out their prepaid SIM expiry policy; does anyone know?

	(#8)
NFH (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 322 Join Date: 11 Apr 2012 Location: London Country:	18-08-2012, 19:48 I found the answer to the SIM validity question. According to O2 \| Is the validity of a prepaid SIM card limited in any way? - FAQ "A recharged SIM card is valid for at least one year depending on the sum it has been recharged with. It is necessary to recharge your credit by CZK 500 at least once a year or CZK 200 every half a year so that you can keep on using our services". However it's not clear what happens with a new SIM card to which no credit has yet been added.

	(#10)
NFH (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 322 Join Date: 11 Apr 2012 Location: London Country:	22-04-2013, 22:21 Another friend (Czech) tried to swap my SIM card for a nano-SIM at another branch. It seems they need the outer credit-card-sized card in order to do this. But the first branch had taken that from my first friend and threw it away! I'm going to try to do the swap myself later this week. I'm very confused by O2 Czech's expiry policy: CZK 150 buys a new SIM card with CZK 150 of credit and 12 months CZK 200 buys CZK 200 of credit but only 6 months CZK 500 buys CZK 500 of credit and 12 months I just don't understand why CZK 200 buys less time extension than CZK 150. It doesn't make any sense. Therefore I'm better off getting a new SIM card than topping up an existing one. Surely this discrepancy creates unnecessary churn for O2?