how to manage phone expenses when calling from outside Switzerland?

Tech, TV, Mobile, Internet and Geek Corner
1
Hi guys,

I'm with Orange PrePay. It's 10c/text and ~30c/min for calls. This is already ridiculously expensive. Internationally, the price goes up even more. I can't recall correctly, but I think I paid 40c/text and 1fr/min for calls.

I'm worried about how I should go about managing my phone expenses when I go travelling. I'll be going to the UK, Poland, Belgium, and Germany soon, and I was hoping you guys can give me some good tips on how to fix this problem I have.

I'm currently on a PrePay plan because I don't want to get a contract. My options seem to be very limited when being on a PrePay plan.

2
Top up 100.- and get 50.- free? Will help you to cover some of the costs?

Other option would be to use local countries prepay options? (Don't know how long you will be staying in these countries.)

3
Use a mobile with 2 simslots(like a samsung galaxy Y for example), slot 1 will be the simcard from switzerland(yallo for example) , slot 2 can be a prepaid card from the other country (for example UK) , you can switch between the 2 simcards if you need to.

So no big roaming costs (you can receive SMS for free) and call people from

your other simcard.The phone has WLAN included, so you can use this option at

starbucks or mcdonalds for free.

4
Hm, good advice Blackbird and Trikk, but unfortunately, I just have the Nokia prepay phone... Maybe I can go to a phone store in London and buy a sim card there. This sounds like the best bet. I'll only be in London for about ~48hr, so it doesn't really seem worth it. But I don't see how else I can contact others than using a payphone (which nowadays are unbelievably expensive). The 100fr + 50fr bonus sounds like a good idea too, but I don't use my phone that much enough to justify that. Shucks, I am too picky!

5
If you have Access to your Computer and a Network, you could

use Skype. Calls are much cheaper.

6
yeah I think I might just make ends meet with my laptop. Probably the best approach.

7
How to manage your phone expenses when overseas?

1) Don't talk to people on the phone. Unless its absolutely urgent, you don't need to be calling home constantly. I use email almost exclusively when i am on vacation to communicate. Otherwise I follow a 2 minute rule, I use my cell phone to make phone calls in the country i am in to make arrangements. Most reservations, taxis, etc can be made in less than 2 minutes. Its also always cheaper to call the country you are in than to call a number back "home".

2) Text where possible. Incoming texts are free even when roaming. Decide if the topic can be adressed in 1-2 texts or a 2 minute phone call.

3) Check your providers roaming costs before you leave. Most providers have reduced their roaming costs in the EU so its good to know before you leave home. My provider automatically texts me their rates (for that country) as soon as i enter foreign coverage space. See if your provider offers a temporary roaming option. This might cost between 8-20 CHF for 30 days, but it will reduce your roaming tariffs by as much as 50%. If you're a big talker or will be gone a long time, this will be a good option.

4) Put your phone costs into your trip budget. Be realistic and if you have to, reduce other expenses to stay within "your number". This has a nice psychological help because you won't be reaching for your phone to make senseless calls if it might mean skimping on lunch that day

8
thanks kiwiguy! no roaming fees with a prepay, but it also means insanely high prices when I use my phone outside the country. great tips though, I'll keep them in mind for the future.

9
I wonder how we managed without mobile phones in the old days? My advice is to just switch it off if you don't need it.

10
I use skype a lot, don't know if you have a smartphone but if you top up skype credit you can use that on your phone to call phone numbers relatively cheaply and skype to skype is free.

If you do this and stick to free wifi hotspots then you should be fine!

(It did take me forever to talk my parents into using skype though...!)

While you're away, just try to keep your phone usage to a minimum and only use for emergencies! A text to say you arrived fine and will call when you're back is usually all I need!

Happy travels!

11
I recommend looking into www.togglemobile.co.uk , I described their offer >>here<< .

Within Switzerland I use www.sunrise24.ch . When I leave Switzerland I divert my usual sunrise24# to toggle. This way I can receive calls totally free in many countries, at low rates in other countries, and make calls at 3p/min to most European fixed numbers and 9p/min to most European mobile numbers.

Unfortunately, for several reasons, toggelmobile doesn ́t seem very reliable and/or stable to me. Otherwise I ́d change this SIM into my one and only main SIM. Right now I use it "as long as it works"...

12
If you are interested in buying a local SIM card, Comparis has a very interesting article with tips on how to get a foreign SIM card as well as where. (English)

I also remember last year, TIM (an italian mobile provider) had a deal where roaming in most european countries (CH included) was only 15 cents per minute. Some swiss residents started using TIM as a primary provider because their roaming rates were cheaper than local rates in Switzerland!

13
That's the right direction, in my opinion, but the article is a bit superficial. The main thing which isn't covered is the easiness of the activation of a foreign SIM. Also, of course, the easiness of obtaining one.

I didn't personally encounter any other place in Europe where they would require an official ID just to sell you a SIM. But activating a SIM can still be a hassle. In Germany, for example, it took me a few weeks to convince the operator (Fonic) that I'm OK to use their services without a proper German address. Before that, the card was blocked.

In France you also seem to enter a valid address if you're activating a SIM via the Internet. Not sure if they block the cards with suspicious addresses though. Mine (Lyca) is OK for more than a month.

In Ireland and the UK they don't need any address, let alone ID. SIM cards are activated immediately and it's up to you if you want to register online afterwards.

Ukrainian and Thai cards don't need any registration either but that's probably not very relevant here.

Other important thing is regular and easy topups. Otherwise, you risk losing your number if you're stuck away from that country for a while.

I never tried topping up Irish numbers with non-Irish credit cards but I some how suspect it's more than likely. I never heard about any restriction on using the foreign credits cards in Ireland. In the UK, however, you can't apparently use a non-UK CC for online topups. From the operators I know, at least two, O2 UK and Three UK, don't allow it.

In Germany, it appears it's actually quite rare to topup by CC as Fonic dosn't allow it and I think O2 DE started allowing it only recently. With a German CC only.

In France, Lyca allowed me to use an Irish CC online without any issues. Also, Lyca's expiry is probably the best in the country: mine shows 8 years from now after only one topup. I did notice that most other prepaid offers are ridiculously short lived in France.

And yes, the rates. I tend to believe that using a foreign SIM can be cheaper than the local one in Switzerland. I think TIM ( http://www.tim.it/estero/dall-estero...paese=SVIZZERA ) now upped their rates to the common EU denominator 29 cent but still it fares well in the Swiss cohort: 45pr Lebara, Lyca; 35rp Yallo; 33rp Orange; 30rp Sunrise, Coop; 29rp Mucho; 28rp M-Budget.

Irish rates are comparable to the Italian.

O2 IE ( http://www.o2online.ie/o2/roaming/co...nd&net=default ) and Vodafone IE ( http://www.vodafone.ie/planscosts/pa...y/roaming/map/ ) put Switzerland in the same EU bracket (though it is officially not part of the respective telecoms agreements, as opposed to other non-EU states in Europe, e.g., Norway and Iceland) while Three IE ( http://apps.three.ie/roaming/prepay/ch ) and Meteor IE ( http://www.meteor.ie/do_more/roaming...europe_zone_2/ ) utilise the Swiss marginalisation with the appropriate rates.

UK operators seem to generally also charge Swiss roaming according to the EU pricing and with a 24p per minute it's not too bad either.

MVNOs usually price roaming here higher so no surprise Fonic DE has EUR 1.29. But Lyca FR and Lyca IE aren't too bold, in fact. Swiss 35c isn't overly steeper than the EU 29c norm.

14
Hiya,,

If you want to talk on the move then you need a voip account and use your data on your phone. Cuts out all roaming charges..

If you have set people you call like fixed locations you can get them to install Skype phones, or another voip provider installed on the phone.

I have the same issue and I installed my own internet pbx, called asterisk pbx you can install it yourself, and if you have a NAS drive from synology its a free package.

Other wise I call 5 different countries, and don't pay anything as I do all my calling over the internet,, Its like having your own private phone network,,, just everyone needs to have internet connections...

Another way is rent voip DID line in example UK, its about 7 Euros a month, if you don't phone out over the line then you are not charged more, if anyone phones that uk number they pay the local charge as normal the call is ported into the internet and normally by the DID provider you can divert the call direct to your local phone then you only pay local charge calling out from internet to local line, or direct to a voip phone then you are not charged,,

Hope Helps..

Mehdi

15
Usually, that's the data charges that are the most exorbitant in roaming

16
Hello,

Roaming means you are using a mobile in a different country or you are calling other countries. If you call over data internet in the country you are in and jump out in another country so no roaming charges apply.,

Other wise if you travel you can get 2 sim cards, and get a mobile that accepts 2 sim cards, this way you can use the correct sim card in the country you are in..

You need to explain better your calling habits so I can understand how you want to route your calls..

Best Regards

John

17
you do not necessarily make a prepayment. When I traveled abroad before, I used Skype, then tried different calling cards. Stayed on this (2-10 cents a minute for me it is an acceptable price). Look for cheap VoIP operators, many have trial access that will allow you to save considerably.

18
We used to spend a lot of time going to phone boxes to find a phone that worked, buying phone cards that sometimes did not:mad

Generally people would not leave messages on answer phones so if you were freelance & needed work you had to sit at home by the phone twiddling your thumbs.

19
if you are using data on your mobile when abroad then you are roaming and as byte has already said, this is normally expensive. You don't pay roaming call charges but you will pay roaming data charges.

20
Probably doesn't help you much but I have Swisscom and I then just use the "cockpit" app to buy data packages when roaming, so you limit the charges. Also you should set spending limits

Good luck