SIM Card for Paris
 

I've never traveled overseas before. I know there's a forum for "travel technology" but since my question is specific to PHV I thought I would post it here.

I'm looking for a SIM card for my visit in August. I want to be able to use the GPS on my Blackberry and check web pages. Actual phone calls will be very limited (just an emergency contact method is case Mrs. Redtop and I get separated).

Any recommendations on where to get one and what brand or plan to buy?

Are you going to be in France only, or visiting other European countries while you're there?

What model Blackberry do you have and who is your current cellular carrier?

1. What or where is PHV?

2. Does the Blackberry use a standard size or micro-SIM?

Just came back from France, and picked up a couple of SFR sims for 10 euro each, 5 for the sim and 5 in credit. They were prepaid, so the case on the sim could be used for data, text or voice. The one I picked up at CDG in the store across from the RER ticket office and the other I got at an SFR store. Insert and go.

I picked up a French SIM from Orange last year. I used it in my MiFi but I would think it would work in a Blackberry. I think I put 10 euros on it, because I was using it for four days of data and that seemed to be enough.

SFR worked almost fine for me, except data only starts after 72hs of activation

That is strange. I know I had to manually update my apn settings, but it worked for me as soon as I left the store. Maybe I was just lucky?
And as a note, my 5 Euro in credit lasted about 3 days.

Sounds like you used Mobicarte. It should be available for data and voice although I cannot find this on their website which is obtuse as usual.

The best prepaid SIMs when travelling are from Lebara. They are in France, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, UK, Australia and growing.

If you are travelling as a couple, Lebara to Lebara calls are free.

The data and voice costs are the best around.

I have no association with them other than saving money. Their closest competitor is Lycamobile. Usually they have the same pricing. So either will do.

I've used my MiFi in France, Ireland, England and Italy. The only place I had to update the APN was Italy - in every other country, I just popped in the SIM card and it worked fine.

There is a thread on the Lonely Planet Travel Tech forum about someone who has been repeatedly refused the right to purchase a data enabled prepaid SIM without a phone at both Orange and SFR stores. In additional to the 48 hour data waits, they seem to be saying that they no longer do SIM only sales. I have not verified it and am passing it on without recourse.

48hrs data wait is a stupid thing. France have the worst data service in europe it think

http://www.lebara.co.uk/allinone

Unlimited Lebara to Lebara calls + SMS (though there is a cap of 3k minutes & sms messages; valid through 9-30-12), and a total of 300 to apply to minutes (which includes calls to 60 countries), SMS messages or data MB for £10. Really interesting way to do it, and I like how it doesn't force you to buy individual top-ups each for data/voice/SMS.

For infrequent travellers, it looks like the best part may be that if you top up online, the credit doesn't expire.

The only downside I see is that their roaming charges aren't great. For data, they charge the max allowed under the new EU rules.

Edit: Whoops! Those are the Lebara UK rates. On the Lebara FR page, I can't find any reference to this all in one plan. I see that each call has a 0.15€ connection fee. I can't find any rates for data though. Can't imagine that it's not offered, but there's no mention anywhere.

Two years ago, my recommendation for France was a Vodafone IE or Wind IT SIM with a roaming package. It was easier and cheaper than dealing with the French system.

I'm wondering whether the loophole in their system may be the iPad SIMs. They don't seem to be restricted by some of the rules. You don't get voice, but data is becoming increasingly what most of us want.