GSM in France. Roam or Local?

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Stu

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#15261 12-Aug-2007 20:33

Hi All. Not sure if this is in the right place, but it kinda comes under Orange, SFR and Bouygues more than VF. Just after suggestions at this point. Would it be easier/cheaper to stick with my Vodafone NZ SIM and roam when traveling to France, or buy a SIM in France and cut out roaming charges etc? Mainly be needing to keep in touch with the kids back home in NZ.

Cheers!

mike

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#82132 12-Aug-2007 20:44

It's easier to roam with your Vodafone SIM as your kids/friends can txt/call you on your usual number but remember you'll pay for all incoming and outgoing calls and txts so it might be cheaper to get a local SIM, it's 6 years since I was in France so I don't know the local charges. You can check the VF roaming prices here:
GSM Roaming in France

Make sure you know how to manually select a network as you'll see Bouygues is cheaper than Orange/SFR.

Stu

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#82134 12-Aug-2007 20:51

Cheers Mike. Have spent some time going over the VFNZ website to sort out the roaming charges. The problem is I can't read/speak French, so can't figure out what the prices are likely to be using a 'local' SIM.

inquisitor

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#82807 18-Aug-2007 10:56

Neither roaming nor buying a local SIM is good.

The best choice is a SIM card from United Mobile. They offer a prepaid service with British mobile number and don't charge incoming calls while staying in Europe, NZ, Australia and many other countries. Also outgoing calls are comparably cheap (€ 0.29/min to NZ landlines and € 0.59/min to NZ mobile + € 0.29 connection fee per call).

From NZ you can reach United Mobile customers for only € 0,05/min through justvoip.com. Justvoip.com can also be used without broadband connection but with your regular landline (or mobile) phone by their phone-to-phone service.
Anyway even if you don't use justvoip.com I expect most NZ users will reach a UK mobile number cheaper or at the same tariff as French mobile numbers.

A French SIM card would be more expensive as incoming and outgoing call from/to NZ would be more expensive. Beyond that you can use a United Mobile SIM for your next trip and they're planning to offer very low roaming data tariffs in Q4.

I've saved several hundred Euros in the past two weeks while my girlfriend was staying in France by using United Mobile and justvoip.com.

router: AVM Fritz!Box Fon 7390 with Huawei K3765 USB modem attached as GSM voice gateway
VoIP-providers: intervoip.com | sipgate.de (German DID) | sipgate.co.uk (British DID) | sipcall.ch (Swiss DID)
connection: 100/5 MBit/s (DOCSIS 3.0)
mobile devices: Huawei P6 | Nokia Lumia 630 Dual SIM | Huawei: E5832, E1762, K3715, K3765 | Qualcomm Gobi 2000 in Sony VAIO VPC-Z12X9E/X

Stu

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#82817 18-Aug-2007 11:36

Thanks inquisitor. Looks like the way to go. Will look into it.

Stu

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#82850 18-Aug-2007 22:47

Before I spend the euros on a United Mobile SIM card, does anyone know if VF NZ are likely to have SIM blocked my K800i so I can't pop another SIM into it? Cheers

inquisitor

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#82855 19-Aug-2007 00:08

I can' tell you how to find out if your phone is locked without a non-Vodafone SIM, but I found this posting, where a New Zealander reports that his K800i is SIM- and netlocked. So be prepared not to be able to use your K800i with a UM SIM.

There are several unlock services on the web, but afaik they all require a so-called "cruiser cable". Maybe it's cheaper to get a used phone in France.

mike

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#82860 19-Aug-2007 09:01

No Vodafone NZ mobiles are SIM locked, you can double check this by calling 777 before you jet.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

Stu

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#82876 19-Aug-2007 12:17

Cheers guys. Thanks for your help.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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#82877 19-Aug-2007 12:33

mike: No Vodafone NZ mobiles are SIM locked, you can double check this by calling 777 before you jet.

Vodafone did SIM lock phones in NZ but this was all stopped when the mighty Graham Maher set everybody free and abandonded the concept of term contracts and heavily subsidised prepay phones in around 2001/2002. Roll on 5 years and Vodafone have changed their mind and now won't let you get an on account plan without signing a contract. :-(