London Travel Forum

Hi,
Another question sorry,
How does the mobile phone system work in europe? Can we buy a phone card to cover the whole of western europe,and does this give us a new number?
Thanks again

Our mobile phone has worked well in UK and Europe in general.We use international roaming and have fairly modern phones. Actually I check with our provider before leaving if we change phones.(the model that is )
International roaming is an expensive option. The trick with that is to use the + sign so you do not have to worry about dial out codes but when you are on the move you need to check the dialing in codes as they change as do the providers from zone to zone.
Text is the least expensive . Marg

I use a Verizon plan with international coverage - it works seamlessly - a must if you travel overseas - it works in Asia, Europe, and all over the Carribean - not so expensive either- I got each of my kids this service - it saves on calls, as you can text or BB free - and mamma is happy, so peace of mind is high!!!

There are some deal from the likes of Vodaphone, but the costs are still quite high.

The thing is that buying a local SIM card for each country is the cheapest way.

Once you start roaming between countries, the price goes up considerably.

In the UK, there is supermarket called ASDA, this is owned by WalMart. They currently have the cheapest deals around and use the underlying Vodaphone network. It allows roaming across the EU and also supports Internet access.

http://www.asda-mobile.com/?node_id=1.4

There are several options. The easiest in my opinion is simply having a worldwide coverage on your mobile plan. I have verizon with a world plan. Simply go to the store about a week before you plan to leave, they will install a Sim card in the back by the battery, and active the global account.

Once you arrive overseas you should be fine and good to go. They'll give you a support number to call if its not working, and they'll fix it right up.

Hi,

Just to reiterate, you need to be careful if you plan to use your home country mobile number/sim when travelling - International roaming charges can be ridiculously expensive! Additionally, you may have to pay a premium to receive calls as well as making calls.

As one of the comments above suggests, in the UK ASDA and many other supermarkets sell Pay-As-You-Go SIM cards where you do not need to sign up for any long term contracts - you just buy the SIM card together with ~ £10 worth of Credit and you're ready to go. Tesco give you £10 extra free credit if you top up £10 so this may be a good bet. Tesco call charges are comparable to other PAYG plans. The good thing about buying from a supermarket is that you can top-up your credit in the supermarket which may be preferable to registering your credit card details, etc.

These SIM cards will allow you to make and receive international calls but may not have an international roaming facility so may not work in the rest of Europe. I would guess that european countries have comparable PAYG systems and I've certainly seen booths at many European airports selling such SIM cards. There will be a new phone number for each of the new SIMS.

NOTE: Outgoing international calls will probably be significantly higher than if you were on a contract but receiving will/should be free (for you).

For the UK check www.carphonewarehouse.co.uk for details on plans from the big players. Incidently, I've seen billboards advertising Vodafone have cut international roaming charges for this summer so this may also be a good option if you're starting in the UK.

Finally, another option is for you to purchase credit for long distance carriers where you dial an access number and a pin-code before the telephone number. These access numbers can be dialled from mobile phones (local uk number) and I think the cost of the local UK call and the long distance call would be cheaper than if you made the international call directly from the mobile. This credit comes in the form of small plastic credit card size cards which have a scratch off section with the pin code - you can buy these from small grocery and newspaper shops.

And Finally (again!), I *think* the handset needs to be quad-band to work in the UK and Europe if it's a US phone.

Hope this helps and sorry for the verbose reply!
Anil

Thanks for all the help here. I understand global roaming is way overpriced, so needed an alternative. Cheers again