[Idyllchat] cell phones in Europe

[Scott Baldwin]

Judith,

It's true that the Mobal card is not the best choice for someone 
staying in Europe for an extended period, or someone who is using the 
phone a lot.  My daughter would rack up a similar bill!

When this thread began I did point out that using a local SIM is the 
cheapest way to go, but the Mobal option is the simplest route for the 
occasional  user on a shot trip.

$400.00 would be about 260 minutes of usage.  On a two week trip to 
Europe I probably don't use it more than about 15-20 minutes total.

If I were staying for an extended period I definitely would get the 
local SIM.  But that is what is nice about having an unlocked GSM 
phone.  You can pop in a SIM from any carrier and you are good to go!

Cheers,

Scott


On Mar 19, 2007, at 10:27 AM, Judith Sachs wrote:

> Not to make this phone thing more difficult than it already is! 
>
> But our daughter was in Paris for a semester last year and we started 
> out with a Mobal phone ($29.99 at that point, unlocked) and a SIM card 
> from them. We were really enthused until we got the bill at the end of 
> the month - about $400 for the month of outgoing and incoming calls @ 
> around $1.50 a minute. We really didn't talk that much but it was 
> devastating. The problem with Mobal is that it's an English company so 
> the calls outside the UK (whether to and from Europe or to and from 
> the USA) are considered long distance.
>
> So our daughter purchased a French phone with a French SIM card and we 
> used a pre-purchased calling card when we wanted to call her. Much 
> more economical!
> From what I've been reading, it sounds like it's best to get a GSM 
> unlocked phone in the US, then buy the SIM card for the country you're 
> going to.
>
> On Mar 19, 2007, at 1:17 PM, idyllchat-request at lists.untours.com wrote:
>
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> Judith Sachs
> Health Educator, Writer, and Speaker
> 904 S. Front St.
> Philadelphia, PA 19147
> phone/fax: 215-468-0897
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> www.judithsachs.com
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