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What is average price of prepay SIM?

Discussion in 'International Wireless Forum (Including Canada and' started by viewfly, Mar 15, 2005.

  1. viewfly

    viewfly Mobile RF Advisor
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    This is a question that follows onto Charlyee's question about foreign travel and prepay GSM SIMs.

    What is the average price that people have paid for a pre pay SIM (parts of europe, asia, anywhere) when you buy them locally? On line they seem to average about $50-80 upfront, with some minutes ($10worth) and a 3month expiration date.

    So if your in the UK or Europe for only 3 or 4 days (and don't plan to go back for 6months), and plan maybe 6 to 12 short calls (at $0.99 - $1.29 a minute) is it really worth it? Unfortunately, my own experience is with my own US SIM (and reimbursed) or a company SIM, so I really don't pay for it.

    I'd appreciate your experiences.
     
    #1 viewfly, Mar 15, 2005
  2. Yugopro

    Yugopro Senior Member
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    I don't think it is worth it. You also lose the ability to receive incoming calls on your U.S. line, unless you carry two phones.
    I travel plenty and I use T-Mobile all the time.
    You should check out the thread about Riing Mobile ,Global SIM in international. Don't forget roaming when traveling eats up airtime.
     
    #2 Yugopro, Mar 15, 2005
  3. ShoresGuy

    ShoresGuy Euer WA Experte in Europa
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    #3 ShoresGuy, Mar 15, 2005
  4. Andy

    Andy Diamond Senior Member
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    That's a great deal-at least that's what it looks like. Does anybody on here have any experiences with Riing, or Global SIM?
     
    #4 Andy, Mar 15, 2005
  5. ShoresGuy

    ShoresGuy Euer WA Experte in Europa
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    You might to look here, Andy:

    http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/index.php?showforum=4
    http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=288
    http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=322
    http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=299
    http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=359
    http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=377
    http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=360
    http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=367

    The PrepaidGSM.net forum gives you loads of feedback from some HoFo users and others based in the US and Europe.
     
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    #5 ShoresGuy, Mar 15, 2005
  6. Andy

    Andy Diamond Senior Member
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    Thanks, Shoresguy, I will check it out and let you know.
    This might be something useful for me, since when I go to Europe, I travel through Italy, Switzerland, England, and Germany, most of the time and only have a Swiss and German Sim Card.
     
    #6 Andy, Mar 15, 2005
  7. ShoresGuy

    ShoresGuy Euer WA Experte in Europa
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    #7 ShoresGuy, Mar 15, 2005
  8. Andy

    Andy Diamond Senior Member
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    I think that's the one I posted a while ago asking anybody if they know anything about the company. Shoresguy, would you personally get one of those if you were international roaming a lot?
     
    #8 Andy, Mar 15, 2005
  9. viewfly

    viewfly Mobile RF Advisor
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    Thanks for the great sites. I didn't find them before. I guess each trip calls for a decison on whether to get a local sim or use the home one. Esp. if your hopping from one country to the next every 2 days or so.
     
    #9 viewfly, Mar 15, 2005
  10. ShoresGuy

    ShoresGuy Euer WA Experte in Europa
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    I suppose I would, yet right now I'm staying put in Germany and when I do travel abroad I normally roam on my E-Plus prepaid SIM or use my Vodafone UK prepaid SIM. If I were to embark on a Europe-wide trip, I would certainly take riiing under consideration.
     
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    #10 ShoresGuy, Mar 16, 2005
  11. viewfly

    viewfly Mobile RF Advisor
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    I don't know how it works with prepay and internet, but last month in Paris, I could read my earthlink mail directly from my mobile (via GPRS) just as if I were home. No settings to change or worry about. That is an advantage.
     
    #11 viewfly, Mar 16, 2005
  12. ShoresGuy

    ShoresGuy Euer WA Experte in Europa
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    It depends on the provider and how much they charge per kb/block for subscribers who get charged for GPRS use every time they access the GPRS network without subscribing to a data plan.

    I never have to change my settings either when roaming since I keep all of the WAP/GPRS settings stored in the phone. I simply make sure that when I swap SIM cards that the phone remembers the correct default GPRS access point.

    :)
     
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    #12 ShoresGuy, Mar 17, 2005
  13. ZaphodB

    ZaphodB Signal Go Down De Hole...
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    In general, the SIM costs about $25 and usually comes with 50 or sometimes 100 minutes of airtime. In HK, three.com.hk sell starter packets for HK$98 (US$14) which include HK$97.2 worth of prepaid airtime (326 minutes if you only call with HK, 155 minutes of off-peak calls to the US, 62 minutes of on-peak calls to the US) and the setup.

    Voice mail is HK$15/month (US$2.06/month)
     
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    #13 ZaphodB, Mar 18, 2005
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