GatLoS Posted April 19, 2003 Report Share Posted April 19, 2003 I know this kind of quetion has been covered for Thailand quite well. But what about Europe? I'll be traveling to Germany next month for a couple of weeks and was wondering on the availablility of pre-paid sims for my tri-band GSM. I'll be in the Aachen area, and would like a service that can roam thru various countries, i.e. Germany, Netherlands, Belguim, etc. If available, about how much to start, and avaiablity and cost of recharge cards. Thanks in advance for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 19, 2003 Report Share Posted April 19, 2003 Here's a thread I found on such things. May have changed since then. Here's a link to the Vodaphone(German) Pre Paid SIM card service; http://www.vodafone.de/preise_tarife/callya/tarife/index.html You can translate it with; http://world.altavista.com/ I think the cheapest place to get one may be the Netherlands. I think I saw a SIM pack at the Albert Heijn supermarket for 16 euros.. http://forum.leo.org/archiv/2002_04/21/20020421065856l_en.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsab Posted April 19, 2003 Report Share Posted April 19, 2003 OK, I am not sure if it is still the case, because I left good old Germany a few years ago. But as I know, you have to live in Germany to buy a SIM-Card, even a pre-paid one. You need to register with a passport to get the card activated. Has to do with German Communication Law. They want to avoid that prepaid mobiles are untrackable to a owner, and therefore they could be used for Crimes, if not registered. But as I said, could have changed. But as I know Germany, I DOUBT IT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli13 Posted April 19, 2003 Report Share Posted April 19, 2003 yep liberal netherlands may your best bet as they've got 5 different networks to choose from & on top of that I'm sure numerous others as service providers at least one of them should be able to sell to you one that can roam - just don't ask me which one, how much & where to buy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatLoS Posted April 19, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2003 Thanks for all the info, guess I'll have to check it out when I get there. Might just have to roam with my US number and pay the big bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlton68 Posted April 22, 2003 Report Share Posted April 22, 2003 GatLos, no need to pay for the roaming. All the people from the many places in the world living in germany have mobile phones, and many of them prepaid ones as they don't get postpaid ones for some reason (no job, didn't pay their bill, etc.). Happens to natives as well. One reason why you have to show your passport and also notice your residence in germany when you want to register a Sim is the laws, second it is because of international roaming. Sometimes when calling via roaming the billing to your prepaid account is a little late and because of this you can build up a negative saldo on your prepaid card. You can try to buy a card at the various shops in the area yoiu stay. Might work, might not. If this does not work and you stay some time longer you can get already used and registered prepaid cards via ebay. Officially you are obliged to change the registration with the provider to your name. Thinking of coverage and roaming in europe there are three german providers (and heaps of resellers) that I would take into account: D1 wich is from the former german telekom, or Vodafone, or O2. If you know someone here in germany who trusts you she/he can get you a card under her/his name which might be the easiest way. BTW, do you speak german? Carlton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatLoS Posted April 23, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 No, Not much German, after all I'm American I'll just be there for a couple of weeks, and thought it might make things alittle easier if I had a phone that worked. Not a real necessity, just gee wiz kind of stuff. Thanks for the info though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlton68 Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 Just posted a question with one of the resellers here in germany if a foreigner can buy a prepaid card here without residence. Got a automatic reply that the answer might take up to 3 days. I'll post their final answer when when I receive it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlton68 Posted April 24, 2003 Report Share Posted April 24, 2003 Hi, got a reply today, in fact they called me instead of sending a mail. nice. They told me you should try to buy a card at a store, it depends on the dealer. I guess the resellers are more likely to sell than the providers themselfes. There are four networks: D1 T-mobile Vodafone O2 Eplus D1 and Vodafone are the biggest with good coverage. O2 and Eplus are smaller and have less good coverage. O2 has a cooperation with D1, when O2 is not available they do roaming with D1 and the costs stay the same for you. Funny thing, I have O2 but neither a network at home or where I work. For you I recommend D1 or Vodafone. D1 a XtraCard costs 40? with 15? charged. Valid 6 month. Recharge available at many places (gas stations and many others) are 15? or 30? valid 6 or 12 month. Vodafone is more or less the same costs, but couldnt' find the price for a card without phone, they prefer to sell pakages. What I don't like with Vodafone is that with prepaid cards you cannot deactivate the mailbox. So far I hope this is enough info for you Carlton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatLoS Posted April 29, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2003 Again, thanks for all the info. Hope I've got this problem beat and can start posting. Yup, I'll only be in Germany for a couple of weeks. Might have to make a short business detour to Greece though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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