Bump...anyone?

I really hope you are right ... I ordered all the stuff: Global Riiing SIM from Telestial, International Callback from Callbackworld ....
Tomorrow the SIM will arrive ... I need it for my Europe-trip.

I wonder why ScottC has no comment on this "Global SIM" matter ....

usually, that is a good sign. All the relevant information has been discussed, people are moving in the right direction, no need for intervention or a smack down.

or, he could just be busy, trying to figure out why we got 200 emails yesterday and how to keep it from happening again.

:-)

how was your experience with this? I just got back from two weeks in China and Hong Kong, and the riiing card and enlinea call back worked flawlessly, pretty much EVERYWHERE.

nmenaker:

The riiing card worked well in Germany, Austria and Italy.
International Callback from Callbackworld was a little confusing when using together with the riiing card....both use callback
nmenaker:
Thanks for posting this services.

FYI I was not happy with KALL88 service. 50%+ of the time time did not forward and when it did the quality was very poor.

subscribing to the thread for future reference

Thanks to all for the ideas. Will post when I try some of them.

Riiing is being merged back into its parent United Mobile: see http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/international.html.

That is, United Mobile is adopting Riiing's pricing. An advantage is that you can buy a SIM directly from their web site http://www.united-mobile.com/website/index.asp

I have questions about cell phone in the US. I checked with the carrier (Verizon). They told me I can't use their phone in other countries. If I do I have to pay a lot of money which I don't have. So what phone do you guys use overseas with the sim cards you talk about?
Any carriers that have something I can use overseas or do you have a specific phone for traveling?
Thanks!

some pricing went up though, like calls in the US, and some other countries. bummer.

still a great card though.

SIM cards only work with GSM phones, which is the technology used by cellphone networks in most countries outside North America (Japan and Korea being notable exclusions). T-Mobile and Cingular are the big GSM carriers in the States. Verizon and Sprint use CDMA technology, which is incompatible with GSM.

A standard "locked" phone from T-mobile or Cingular will not allow you to use a foreign SIM card. You either need to use your T-mobile or Cingular SIM card while travelling (airtime typically costs $1-3/minute, depending on your plan and where you're travelling), or you need to get an "unlocked," tri-band or quad-band GSM phone, which should work with T-mobile, Cingular, and most other SIM cards from carriers in other countries.

I just want to add:

-T-mobile's international airtime is $1.00
-I have a Sony-Ericsson from T-mobile. The coverage in my area is bad, and
T-mobile unlocked my phone (it can be done without cable etc.)
-T-mobil must have an agreement with Cingular/AT&T. Now I get this service where I live, free.

Too bad nobody seems to offer free incoming within the USA.

That's because outgoing calls from landlines in the USA cost the same whether you're calling another landline or a mobile. In countries where incoming is free on mobile phones, the person calling you pays a much higher rate to call you on your mobile than on your landline.

calling party pays is the norm throughout the world, JUST not in North America.