SIM card for GSM phone for the french alps

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buzdelabuz - 18 Jul 2006 20:12 GMT

Hello,

I have a Nokia 6280 and I will be doing the Tour of Mont Blanc this
summer, a hiking trip that goes around massif of Mont Blanc, and
crosses France, Italy and Swizterland.

I would like to know which SIM card I should buy for this part of
Europe. I am interested in voice only, if there is data, great, but I
really just want to place call. I will be making may be 10 calls, a few
minutes each.

Price matters, but not that much.

I apologize if this question is already answered somewhere.

Thanks to anybody who can give me info. Links are great if you have
some.

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S. Gione - 18 Jul 2006 20:49 GMT

You might be better off just paying the international roaming rates rather
than buying a pre-paid SIM over there. I assume you will be reporting "all
is well" daily while on the Haute Route, and not giving detailed
descriptions of the scenery you see.

A couple of trips ago, I got a pre-paid sim that cost about $30 (even more
now since the $ exchange rate has eroded). Before my last trip, I did a
quick calc ... the break-even for international roaming would give me about
30 min of time, so I just opted for roaming.

Due to an emergency at home, I exceeded my budget. However, I didn't have
to worry about any pre-paid sim getting cut-off in the middle of a call
because it ran out of funds.

You make the call (pun intended).

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> Thanks to anybody who can give me info. Links are great if you have
> some.

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buzdelabuz - 18 Jul 2006 21:11 GMT

My plan at home is with Verizon (US carrier), which uses CMDA, which is
not covered very well in Europe (unless I am mistaken, please feel free
to tell me how I could use my current CMDA phone and plan on that
trip).

I do have an unlocked GSM phone, but I don't want to get a plan for it.
The pre paid card I can get for Cingular in the US, they told me they
would not be working overseas (again, feel free to correct me if I am
wrong).

Therefore, I only have the option of buying a pre paid card overthere.

Thanks a lot for further information.

> You might be better off just paying the international roaming rates rather
> than buying a pre-paid SIM over there. I assume you will be reporting "all
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
> > Thanks to anybody who can give me info. Links are great if you have
> > some.

Reply to this Message

Michael Wileman - 18 Jul 2006 21:48 GMT

>I do have an unlocked GSM phone, but I don't want to get a plan for it.
>The pre paid card I can get for Cingular in the US, they told me they
>would not be working overseas (again, feel free to correct me if I am
>wrong).

>Therefore, I only have the option of buying a pre paid card overthere.

This is the best bet for short term use:

http://www.breizhmobile.com/boutique/1.php

Only available over the net, so if you don't know someone
there who can accept delivery for you, you're probably out
of luck.

Mike

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S. Gione - 18 Jul 2006 22:52 GMT

I stand corrected ... when you mentioned a sim, my assumption was that you
were already on Cingular or T-Mobile.

> My plan at home is with Verizon (US carrier), which uses CMDA, which is
> not covered very well in Europe (unless I am mistaken, please feel free
[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]
> > > Thanks to anybody who can give me info. Links are great if you have
> > > some.

Reply to this Message

Donald Newcomb - 18 Jul 2006 23:52 GMT

> My plan at home is with Verizon (US carrier), which uses CMDA, which is
> not covered very well in Europe (unless I am mistaken, please feel free
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Thanks a lot for further information.

Verizon actually has a pretty good GSM roaming plan. I think they want you
to buy a special expensive phone but you might want to call them and ask. I
noticed that a couple of dual band (900/1800) Nokia 3310 phones were selling
on eBay for as little as $15 each. Add a local prepaid SIM for about 10 Euro
and you're in business. It's not hard or expesive but you have to know what
to look for. Read up on the subject www.prepaidgsm.net

Signature

Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

Reply to this Message

www.goldno.com - 21 Jul 2006 08:34 GMT

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> Thanks to anybody who can give me info. Links are great if you have
> some.

This might help :)
www.prepaidgsm.net/en/france.html

Signature

www.experimentalist.co.uk/shop/index.php
Australia, New Zealand, USA, German, UK, South Africa, Thailand, Brazil Sim
Cards &
EPIRB.
My help forum
www.experimentalist.co.uk/forum/index.php

Reply to this Message

buzdelabuz - 21 Jul 2006 14:09 GMT

Oh.... This is good stuff. I can even buy from Cingular in the state
before I leave.
Thanks a lot!!
Thanks a lot to the other people who posted as well!!

> > Hello,
> >
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
> My help forum
> www.experimentalist.co.uk/forum/index.php

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richardjamesresearch@gmail.com - 31 Jul 2006 16:34 GMT

If I were in your shoes I would buy a european pre-paid SIM card from
eBay. The card is like $5 and you'll probably get 10 euros worth of
calling on it. Do a search and you will find tonnes of them. You need
not be in a panic if you run out of minutes. Should you need more
minutes, just call the carrier with your credit card and they will top
it up.

You may or may not have a phone number local to the area. I've heard
there is a good Italian carrier (in which case you would get an Italian
number) that does this a lot.

Of course you will need to make sure your phone is unlocked and that it
works on the frequencies used in France - although I don't see that
being a problem if you have a quadband phone.

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> Thanks to anybody who can give me info. Links are great if you have
> some.

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