4 ms·

Well, I was surprised as a German living abroad in the EU when I went to visit family in Germany and realized that my phone stopped working. My pre-paid card us

Well, I was surprised as a German living abroad in the EU when I went to visit family in Germany and realized that my phone stopped working. My pre-paid card used to work in Germany for 10 years before that but Germany decided to switch it off. So now nobody can reach me whenever I'm in Germany. It's not entirely clear what the advantage of that is.

hef19898 4y ago
Since roaming isn't a thing anymore in the EU, why would you need a German sim card/phone number? And it is not "Germany" that decided that, but rather what ever provider you use.
- jonathanstrange 4y ago
  I wouldn't, and it is decided by new German telecom regulation that went into force last year. The card I'm using in Portugal no longer works when I visit Germany, because it's a pre-paid card.
  - hef19898 4y ago
    Thanks for explaining. I didn't have a pre paid card for as long as I can remember. Strabge so, my son's prepaid card works just fine in the EU outside of Germany... Edit: Just realized, that's not a prepaid card anymore, so forget everything I said...
mousetree 4y ago
Why should the telecom company be obliged to keep your prepaid phone number active in perpetuity? Seems a very reasonable thing to terminate it after some period of inactivity
- jonathanstrange 4y ago
  I'm talking about the Portuguese sim card I'm using in Portugal every day. The German system started to switch pre-paid cards from abroad off, nevermind that my phone number is registered with the Portuguese telecom and they know who I am.
diffeomorphism 4y ago
It is not about "advantage" but the usual security theater: https://www.computerbild.de/artikel/cb-News-Handy-Prepaid-Karten-Ausweis-Pflicht-18141895.html https://www.computerbild.de/artikel/cb-News-Handy-Prepaid-Ka... The header makes it pretty clear "Danger of terrorism! Lawmakers tighten restrictions on pre-paid SIMs". That is of course useless nonsense, but politicians can point at it and claim they did something. Also, something, something, stones, glass houses.

hef19898 4y ago

Since roaming isn't a thing anymore in the EU, why would you need a German sim card/phone number? And it is not "Germany" that decided that, but rather what ever provider you use.

jonathanstrange 4y ago
I wouldn't, and it is decided by new German telecom regulation that went into force last year. The card I'm using in Portugal no longer works when I visit Germany, because it's a pre-paid card.
- hef19898 4y ago
  Thanks for explaining. I didn't have a pre paid card for as long as I can remember. Strabge so, my son's prepaid card works just fine in the EU outside of Germany... Edit: Just realized, that's not a prepaid card anymore, so forget everything I said...

mousetree 4y ago

Why should the telecom company be obliged to keep your prepaid phone number active in perpetuity? Seems a very reasonable thing to terminate it after some period of inactivity

jonathanstrange 4y ago
I'm talking about the Portuguese sim card I'm using in Portugal every day. The German system started to switch pre-paid cards from abroad off, nevermind that my phone number is registered with the Portuguese telecom and they know who I am.

diffeomorphism 4y ago

It is not about "advantage" but the usual security theater: https://www.computerbild.de/artikel/cb-News-Handy-Prepaid-Karten-Ausweis-Pflicht-18141895.html https://www.computerbild.de/artikel/cb-News-Handy-Prepaid-Ka... The header makes it pretty clear "Danger of terrorism! Lawmakers tighten restrictions on pre-paid SIMs". That is of course useless nonsense, but politicians can point at it and claim they did something. Also, something, something, stones, glass houses.