communication when o/s

[wook2745]

I currently use a telstra blackberry in OZ. What's the best, most affordable option for travel in China, UK and France over a period of 30 days?

 

[samh004]

Welcome to AFF.

The real question for you here is do you expect to be receiving calls or making calls or both? If you’re making calls the best option is to buy a prepaid SIM in the countries you go to probably, assuming your phone is unlocked.

However if you’re receiving calls, then short of giving new numbers to everyone for each country and the dates you’ll be there, you’ll have to keep your old SIM.

You could also consider doing VOIP calls from your computer and there are a few threads (and members) extolling the virtues of an global SIM card that works well in different countries, but I’m not sure on the details of that. I’ve probably also got it completely wrong, but a search for SIM card will probably yield a few threads on the issue.

 

[notzac]

If you're paying for phone expenses out of your own pocket, I'd definitely recommend researching the costs of roaming Blackberry data (and how to go about switching it off if that's what you decide on)

 

[danmancs]

I live in China, and it is very easy to purchase a prepaid sim, and top it up, here. They cost 50 - 100 RMB (8-16 AUD).

To use blackberry though, you'll need a blackberry service, which obviously you'd need to subscribe to, so it isn't really feasable for a short trip.

Another option is to sign up to a VOIP service such as PENNYTEL, which will give you an Aussie local number, which you can then forward to the chinese prepaid number for a flat rate of 8c per call. You could then forward your aussie mobile to that number, and only be paying domestic call forwarding rates +8c.

pennytel also have a bb app which means you can call any australian landline for 16c flat rate per call from a chinese mobile.