World Wide Simcard

[spiv]

Hello everyone,

is there a Service provider that offers Sim-card usable (at reasonable cost) worldwide?

The idea is to be able to receive calls from family and friends, receive send SMS and the occasional Data connection.
The ability to transfer a phone number would be nice...

[callmecrazy]

Verizon's new phones are both cdma and gsm. You can use them anywhere in the world that has a cell tower... they have varying roaming charges for different regions, but the benefit is you keep your number and you don't have to have your phone unlocked and don't have to buy a new sim for every country.

ATT and TMobile do the same thing, but they are only GSM.

the only other option is to get any GSM phone and have it unlocked so you can use SIM cards from whichever country you visit.

[Sheriff]

Originally Posted by callmecrazy

Verizon's new phones are both cdma and gsm. You can use them anywhere in the world that has a cell tower... they have varying roaming charges for different regions, but the benefit is you keep your number and you don't have to have your phone unlocked and don't have to buy a new sim for every country.

ATT and TMobile do the same thing, but they are only GSM.

the only other option is to get any GSM phone and have it unlocked so you can use SIM cards from whichever country you visit.

x2 what call me crazy said. only thing is if there are countries still using tdma and analog cellular

[whitneycrew]

I have bought SIM cards from Cellular Abroad, based in CA. I have one for all-over Europe ($1 per minute for calling to NA and about .60 for a text to anywhere). When my card needs a top-up I make a free call to Cellular Abroad. Service if prompt and reliable. When I sail to specific countries I sometimes switch out my CA card for the local SIM card so I can make cheaper calls to local marinas. Unlike NA services all in-coming calls using my Cellular Abroad SIM are free.

[spiv]

In my case, I have a 3Gs iPhone, unlocked, so I can use any sim card.

The problem with buying local sim card is that one has to go into lengthy registration processes sometimes without understanding a word of what has been said..... last Sep I was in France and after entering into 4 phone shops , I finally found a helpful shop assistant and bought a local pre-paid SIM for 20 Euros. I made a short call to Italy, then I rung Australia and I was cut-out within 1.5 min of talking. After another hour in the shop I finally understood that I should have waited 1day to make the AU call to wait for some sort of activation.

I bought more and more refills (forget trying to refill over the phone: you get only French instructions ) and ended up spending a lot of money for what was a shocking service, only really suited to make calls within France.
Additionally there was no prepaid card that allowed data reception, so no emails on my iPhone.

One of my friends had a Thuraya sat phone that covers Eurasia, Africa and Australia, I made calls to AU and it was really cheap. My friend said Thuraya plans to expand to USA, so that would make it a really good option for calls, sms and data.
The good thing is that his phone switched to GMS when in reach of local GMS networks.
I don't know much about this service, so I could not recommend it, but it seems a good option.
Does anybody here uses it?

[ActiveCaptain]

OK, how's this for an idea...

Use the Skype's Online Number feature:
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/feat...online-number/

For about $6/month you'll get a phone number local in your country of choice. Now friends and family can call that number and have it connect to Skype to receive the call. If you are in a place where you don't have good data connectivity, use Skype's forwarding service to forward your Skype calls to a real phone number. Now when you change SIM's in different countries (which there's no really good way to get around for reasonable prices) no one needs to know your changing phone number.

Another alternative is to use a worldwide carrier like AT&T. You will generally be able to make and receive calls from the rest of the world but it'll be wicked expensive.

Skype is a pretty good alternative especially if you'll have WiFi connectivity for long stretches.

[callmecrazy]

Originally Posted by ActiveCaptain

OK, how's this for an idea...

Use the Skype's Online Number feature:
Skype Online Number - VOIP Number - Skype

For about $6/month you'll get a phone number local in your country of choice. Now friends and family can call that number and have it connect to Skype to receive the call. If you are in a place where you don't have good data connectivity, use Skype's forwarding service to forward your Skype calls to a real phone number. Now when you change SIM's in different countries (which there's no really good way to get around for reasonable prices) no one needs to know your changing phone number.

Another alternative is to use a worldwide carrier like AT&T. You will generally be able to make and receive calls from the rest of the world but it'll be wicked expensive.

Skype is a pretty good alternative especially if you'll have WiFi connectivity for long stretches.

That's a good idea. But for that specific application, I would prefer google voice, which will take voice mail and forward calls to any number. So you can give out your google voice number, and change sim cards in every country, and still receive calls from everyone without giving out your new number. You just go online and tell GV your new number....

The great thing about skype is the ability to use it with wifi (on android or iphone). So you could actually just buy a phone (or use your laptop), get skype and not even pay for any other services... you are then just limited to wifi availability.

[ActiveCaptain]

I personally use Google Voice every day - I use it as my main number and it rings multiple mobile phones. I would have suggested it except GV is only available in the US right now. The OP is from Australia (I believe).