I have a pay as you go O2 sim card that I have registered with O2, but I can't use it because it can't be topped up without a UK address (I'll use one) OR a registered UK credit or debit card which I don't have. O2 suggests that I use a friend's CC, but if her CC is forever tied to my pay as you go sim card, neither of us thinks that is a good idea. Does any one know if Orange, T-Mobile, Virgin, vodaphone, any others have same requirements?
Are there better rates locally and to US from UK
than O2?

My phone is an unlocked gsm triband not linked to any carrier anywhere. My plan was to have a UK # and the phone topped up before I leave US.
Appreciate any advice to my question.

Thank you.

Robin - I am very untechnical but I would have thought that your phone could not be topped up without it being in the country it belongs to. Does it not need to be 'back at base' so to speak to register the top-up? If this is the case (and I think it is with my Orange 'pay as you go') there is not much point in buying time before you arrive in England.

With my Orange pay as you go phone I can just go to an Orange shop and buy a voucher(just one of several ways of buying time with them). They don't ask what phone it is for, or my name, or my address. I then just ring Orange's automated system on my phone and type in the number on the voucher. I could use that voucher for any Orange phone - e.g give it to a friend for theirs. Does O2 not have a voucher system like that? If this is the case then your friend could buy you a voucher in advance so as soon as you land at the UK airport you type in the number they give you and you will have instant credit.

Dear Felicity,
Thanks for replying. I suppose O2 has a voucher system, too. US doesn't use gsm system so I am having to learn about sim cards. O2 allows topup online and that is where I am unsuccessful.
I assume you are paying cash for the top up card
Do you get affordable rates to call another country? That would be very important to me.

Thanks again.

We do have SIM cards in the US - but only certain cell providers. I use T-Mobile and have a SIM card.

The difference is that you probably have a contract with your cell phone provider in the US, so do not have to "top-up" (add money to your cell account). And what you are looking at in the UK is a pay as you go system.

They have monthly contracts for cell phones in the UK as we do in the US, but you have to be a UK resident to do that. We now have pay as you go types of phones here and they have some type of top-up.

I have some information on cell phones in the UK on the site:

Cell Phones in the UK

Cell Phones in Europe

You do not get good rates for calling another country. I have information about calling North American from Europe here:

Calling From Europe

International Calling Cards

I call home to North America from UK on my UK cell phone by using an international phone card (ZapTel) and a local access number in the UK (not the toll free - because it is not only NOT toll free from a cell phone, but is a premium rate). This way I just pay as for a local call and then get a cheap long distance rate from ZapTel. I have a note about this on the International Calling Cards page.

Thank you Pauline. As you know, I can't use my Verizon US cell in UK so I bought a triband.

Do you think I can take the O2 sim card(registered to me) and the topup card included in the packet and simply go into an outlet in UK that sells vouchers and pay cash without any requirements?

Yes, I do plan to get an international phone card once I get to UK because I know from experience that they are the most economical way to call to US.

Yes, you can take the top-up card to a newsagent, pay money in cash or by credit card, they swipe the top-up card in a machine, and your phone is updated. I have done this many times with Virgin, Orange and Vodafone - I am pretty sure O2 works the same.

Remember to find out of O2 charges toll free numbers at a premium rate, and if they do, dial a local access number instead of the toll free number. I learned this the hard way in May (after using 20 pounds in credit on the phone very quickly when I thought toll free meant free).

Make sure your triband works on both European bands:
Cell phones in Europe work on GSM 900 or 1800

Dear Pauline,
You've been extremely helpful---Thanks!
My triband does work on both European bands and one US. Have now figured out that calls back to US on UK networks are about J1.25+ unless I buy an add-on to lower the price. Appreciate the reminder of the "free" toll-free nos. if used on a mobile. I'll do the top-up, possibly at Gatwick. Also, get a calling card, too.
Because it was mentioned in the article I read on slow travel, I am aware now that it may help to have another sim if coverage is poor in an area I might spend time. Many thanks.

I would double check the call charges to non-UK numbers as our telecoms regulator Ofcom has just decreed that all the mobile companies in the UK are charging too much for overseas calls.

I think you can get quite good rates if you make your calls to non-UK numbers through a discount call company. I use Topup2Talk but I think there are others. It means that you have to ring an intermediary number first, which is boring, but the savings are remarkable.

Robin, I spent yesterday morning trying to solve this problem. I have been travelling back and forth to the UK for 13 years and have bought numerous phones and left them there with my children to use so that I don't lose my number..... strangely I often don't manage to get the phone back!! I have spent hundreds of dollars calling myself (because I didn't know what I was doing) or receiving calls from the US, because I was in France, but the phone was a UK pay as you go. I finally bit the bullet yesterday, thanks to the link on slowtrav to Telestial.com. We needed a new phone here anyway, so I bought the phone and a 'passport' sim card which I can use in France and the UK. It seemed cheaper per minute than the other company listed on slowtrav. (60c from France, 33c from UK) I think maybe the calls are a little more expensive using this system, but as I said, having wasted hundreds of dollars in the past, I consider it worth it. Calls from the US don't cost you a thing (not something that always happens on pay as you go). You can register your credit card with them and they have a code number which you call to top up. Maybe they will sell you a 'passport' sim card separately. When we return I shall get on a T mobile plan here, using the same phone. I am hoping this is the answer I have been looking for. Will keep you posted!

Lynne

Lynne, If this helps you or anyone, I'm thrilled
It is no surprise to me that I am not the only one trying to figure out sim cards. I now have 5 replies from O2 in regard to the questions I had.
Today's (and last) tells me that I can top up with vouchers purchased at outlets and call a special # to receive the credit. Using cash not possible. There is an int'l top up line but charges are at int'l rate if cell is used or a foreign landline can be used. I can't use this method because my credit or debit card is not issued in UK. Someone in UK can do it for me using any method.>>>O2 (and others) have add-on
fees for lowering int'l calls (UK-US,etc)---or one could get a UK sim from someone like Telestial, www.0044.co.uk, www.mobell.com before departing home. 0044 is only sold online (mobell,too,I think) and their network is T-Mobile (1800 Mhz). 0044 charges J9.99 + J3.99 S&H but their calls are really cheap. Mobell's cards are free but call charges are higher. Pay now or pay later. Neither cares where the CC/DC is issued.

Nutshell: One can register UK sim card from another country online---but topup not allowed
if CC/DC is not UK or you're not a res (use B&B)
>>>Topup in shops---can actually use a foreign CC.>>>Have another UK sim to make calls home from an online issuer (those listed above) or buy the add-ons from domestic phone cos.
>>>Get a calling card issued in UK and use a landline (not mobile).>>>If going to another country, get a country specific sim card to use or an int'l one.
Tomorrow I'll be confused again! Oh, yes, hope you can get those phones returned (I do under-
stand that scenario).

quote:

Originally posted by beebee:
I think you can get quite good rates if you make your calls to non-UK numbers through a discount call company. I use Topup2Talk but I think there are others. It means that you have to ring an intermediary number first, which is boring, but the savings are remarkable.

The problem I ran into in May was dialing toll free numbers from my Vodafone cell phone. They were not only not "free", but were charged as a premium call (so the package I bought with Vodafone for 100 cheap minutes was not used for these premium calls). I had to dial a toll free number to access my cheap International Long Distance Plan.

Eventually I figured out I should just use it from a land line - or dial the London access number, instead of the toll free number, to call - so I could at least use cheap minutes.

Is that the same Beebee with the plan you use?

From what I remember, this was not the case with an Italian SIM card - you did not pay per minute to call the access number for the International Calling Card.

Lynne, I was looking at that Telestial SIM card too - if you have a UK SIM card, it is very expensive when using it from France. And the per minute rates calling with Vodafone, even calling within the UK, were high.

Pauline, The Sim Card that I bought is called a 'passport' and supposedly works in both the UK and France. It's 33c per minute from the UK and 60c per minute from France. Free for incoming calls, which is what cost me so much money last year with an English pay as you go. We just like to have a phone for the odd call.. and to keep in touch to make arrangements etc. Obviously at that price we won't be chatting for hours! I liked the sound of the plan because I can keep the same number for both France and the UK, plus as long as I make one call on that number (which I can do from the States, although, it wouldn't be that cheap), once a year, I get to keep the number. I am not very good with lots of numbers and different plans, so I am hoping this one is going to be easier and much more straightforward. Of course my Dad is in the UK, so any really long calls can be made from his land line!

Lynne

Pauline, Here's the page that takes you through the process.

Essentially (assuming you are on a Pay As You Go plan) you need to make sure your mobile has at least £3 worth of value on it and then you send them a text which they reply to by sending you two texts. Their reply texts deduct £3 from your SIM card value so you pay in advance for the ability to make cheap long distance phone calls. Then when you want to make your phone call you ring a UK landline number (0207...) plus your international number including all the codes (so if to the States from here - 001 etc). You will pay for the charge to the 0207 number but only at the standard UK rate offered by your mobile company (don't use any of the alternative numbers they offer; they're premium rate numbers and cost a lot more to use). So, if the rate is 25p a minute from your mobile, the call to the States will cost another 1p or so. Each time you make a call they tell you how many minutes are left on your account. You get 300 minutes for your £3. I don't think there is a minimum charge per call but they start counting from the point that you get through to the 0207 number so you will lose some portion of your first minute each time in just placing the call. Even so, at 1p it's not significant.

I was very suspicious when I first tried it but I've actually found it to work remarkably well.

That is similar to how ZapTel works except you order and pay for ZapTel online. Then dial their local access number, pay for a local call on your cell phone, get cheap long distance rates from ZapTel. Topup2Talk has better rates.

But what about when you are in Italy? In my memory, you don't pay on an Italian cell provider to make a toll free number. Is that right?

I've never done it from my Italian phone so I can't tell you the answer to that one. Perhaps someone else knows.

I will post in the Italy forum - thanks!!

In one of my post about UK sim cards, I said that O2 required that I have a UK issued credit or debit card or I couldn't top up online before leaving US for UK.

Orange just sent me an email that they have no such restrictions on their pay as you go service.
I don't have one of their sim cards so I can't test it by trying to topup from US.

Hope this helps someone who may need such info.

There's one other point that is worth making here, although it's probably not relevant to you Robin: There are now many many places where you can bring a phone to be unlocked. It used to be the case that you could find stalls in some of the markets but now there are loads of shops that also advertise their ability to unlock phones.

So if you have a triband phone you need not get your UK or european SIM card before you leave. Just bring your phone with you, unlock it and buy a Pay As You Go SIM card when you get here. You won't be able to give other people your phone number before you go, but you could easily text them or email them the number.

You can get phones unlocked online too. I bought a locked phone in the UK then found a website where I could get it unlocked (paid by PayPal so I did not have to give them a credit card, they email you a code to plunk into the phone). I now use the UK triband phone I got with my US SIM card.

Pauline,

In addition to my O2 UK sim, I ordered a UK sim from www.0044.co.uk because their international rates are so cheap. I won't need to get the O2 international add-on, but will top-up the O2 once I get to UK. I figure if one card doesn't work in an area, maybe the other one will. For anyone ordering with a UK address, 0044 s&h is free. They offer free Nokia unlocking codes with each order. So many deals!

And I will either get a calling card in UK or an access no. of one of the cos. who have them.

Cingular (US) has US sims with their pay as you go. Cingular partners with O2 and Orange (so I've been told). T-Mobile (US) also partners with O2.

Hope this helps someone.
Robin

BeeBee,
I bought a used unlocked phone (900, 1800, 1900) on ebay. It was very inexpensive but I did some looking around on different forums to see what others who had used the same model thought about it. My CDMA phone (Motorola E815) is a dream to use but can't be used in Europe.

You are probably aware that there are many places online that will do remote unlocking. Amazing! Several online forums insist that if one has been a customer of a mobile co. for a while and the phone is paid for, then the customer has a right to the unlock codes to their phone.

Helpful website:
www.gsmworld.com/gsmeurope/index.shtml
click on "roaming". On left side click on "GSM Coverage Maps" and select the country you want.
You'll find networks with their network info, roaming partners, services, frequencies and coverage maps. A good way to figure out which sim card to buy.