Using a Mobile abroad

[Castletine]

Having paid for the pleasure of using my UK mobile in France, I heard that there is a way to purchase a french 'pay as you go' card, get a french phone number and cut out all this 'double pay' silliness that the UK providers insist on charging whenever I use my mobile in France.
Can anyone enlighten me on how I can 'convert' my mobile when I get to France?

Thanks

Jonathan

 

[WayneS]

As long as your mobile is not a UK pay as u go mobile you should be OK. Pay as you go mobiles will only work with a sim card from the same telco as your one.

Also, if you are Orange you may have a problem as they use a differnet frequency.

Main thing is to get the shop in France to fit and test it before you buy.

Cheers

Wayne

 

[sailbadthesinner]

The situation is rapidly changing
but it is probably worth getting a pay as you go phone in france on a french network and giving that number out when you are over there. People may soon stop calling when they realise they are paying alot to call you.
But you can make local calls that will be cheap. How it compares to calling the uk you will have to check the tariff with the local dealer. BUt if you are making lots of local calls get a local network pay as you go.


If it Cooks Flys or Floats, Rent it.

 

[trib]

If the UK situation is anything like the Netherlands ...

New mobiles tend to come with "simlock" code enabled in the software. This means that the software recognises the provider of the sim card and won't work for anything from any other supplier - it's a way the telcos protect themselves from people who get a cheapo subscription with a cut-price, half-decent handset and then ditch the subscription for a pay as you go card.

You can get the simlock removed by some providers after a qualifying period (but they charge a lot) or there are specialist hacking shops advertising on the web to remove the simlock for you (in Holland but I don't know about anywhere else) but that would invalidate any warranty.

If your phone is over 3 yrs old, it probably doesn't have the simlock enabled anyway.

 

[david_bagshaw]

The actual conversion process is to remove the SIM card of the home nework & replace it with the foriegn one.

the sim card is either the size of a credit card on older phones , or about 2 x 1 cm with a corner off on newer ones.

If your present supplier is vodafone on contract, their phones are not locked, cant comment about others as have only had voda.

All the best

David
www.euroboating.net