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But in those cases the sim is still tied to some provider who is managing the agreements for roaming.

by adenner 13y ago

danieldk 13y ago
Indeed. As someone who travels regularly between The Netherlands and Germany, I can say unlocked phones are not really the solution. It's annoying to have to switch SIMs every time you cross the border. Also, most interesting phone models do not have a dual-SIM option. I am actually hoping that this will pressure carriers into removing roaming costs. It is very odd that pay exorbitant costs to use my Dutch T-Mobile subscription in Germany (T-Mobile is a German company), rather than just using calling time of my subscription. That said, roaming costs have dropped a lot, thanks to regulation of the market by the EU. http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/roaming http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/roaming
- riffraff 13y ago
  FWIW, my solution as a frequent country-commuter is to just have two phones. Get a tiny 15€ nokia weighting 60 grams and just use that when abroad in addition to your main one. It is obviously slightly less practical than a single one, but it's better than switching SIMs and as a bonus you can have both numbers "always on".
  - danieldk 13y ago
    Yes. That's what I have now. Since I have a data subscription in both countries, I bought a cheap Huawei Android phone, installed Cyanogenmod and use that.
  - userbinator 13y ago
    That's why dual-SIM phones exist... > Also, most interesting phone models do not have a dual-SIM option. This is the strangest thing. In China, phones are overwhelmingly dual-SIM, and it's actually more difficult to find single-SIM phones (even clones of major-brand devices like iPhones will have dual-SIM); the production cost of adding a 2nd SIM socket is negligible.
  - SyneRyder 13y ago
    Genuine question, is switching SIMs that frustrating? The Nokia trick wouldn't work for me as I use my phone mostly for Google Maps & data, it's far cheaper to swap SIMs than buy an iPhone for each country :) Even in my home country I switch a SIM card between my two phones, depending which phone I need to have 3G access. My tactic when travelling has been to use a global roaming SIM during a long-haul trip (eg so I have some data during airport stopovers), then switch to a local prepaid SIM with a good data allowance once I reach my destination. (Congstar has worked well for me in Germany.)
- igravious 13y ago
  My fellow European, you've seen this I presume: http://www.gsmarena.com/roaming_charges_in_the_eu_could_be_gone_by_2014-news-6125.php http://www.gsmarena.com/roaming_charges_in_the_eu_could_be_g... It may not happen this year but I reckon the days of roaming charges inter-EU are numbered. Numbered I tells ya! Can't come soon enough if you ask me.

But in those cases the sim is still tied to some provider who is managing the agreements for roaming.

by adenner 13y ago

But in those cases the sim is still tied to some provider who is managing the agreements for roaming.

Indeed. As someone who travels regularly between The Netherlands and Germany, I can say unlocked phones are not really the solution. It's annoying to have to switch SIMs every time you cross the border. Also, most interesting phone models do not have a dual-SIM option. I am actually hoping that this will pressure carriers into removing roaming costs. It is very odd that pay exorbitant costs to use my Dutch T-Mobile subscription in Germany (T-Mobile is a German company), rather than just using calling time of my subscription. That said, roaming costs have dropped a lot, thanks to regulation of the market by the EU. http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/roaming http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/roaming

riffraff 13y ago
FWIW, my solution as a frequent country-commuter is to just have two phones. Get a tiny 15€ nokia weighting 60 grams and just use that when abroad in addition to your main one. It is obviously slightly less practical than a single one, but it's better than switching SIMs and as a bonus you can have both numbers "always on".
- danieldk 13y ago
  Yes. That's what I have now. Since I have a data subscription in both countries, I bought a cheap Huawei Android phone, installed Cyanogenmod and use that.
- userbinator 13y ago
  That's why dual-SIM phones exist... > Also, most interesting phone models do not have a dual-SIM option. This is the strangest thing. In China, phones are overwhelmingly dual-SIM, and it's actually more difficult to find single-SIM phones (even clones of major-brand devices like iPhones will have dual-SIM); the production cost of adding a 2nd SIM socket is negligible.
- SyneRyder 13y ago
  Genuine question, is switching SIMs that frustrating? The Nokia trick wouldn't work for me as I use my phone mostly for Google Maps & data, it's far cheaper to swap SIMs than buy an iPhone for each country :) Even in my home country I switch a SIM card between my two phones, depending which phone I need to have 3G access. My tactic when travelling has been to use a global roaming SIM during a long-haul trip (eg so I have some data during airport stopovers), then switch to a local prepaid SIM with a good data allowance once I reach my destination. (Congstar has worked well for me in Germany.)
igravious 13y ago
My fellow European, you've seen this I presume: http://www.gsmarena.com/roaming_charges_in_the_eu_could_be_gone_by_2014-news-6125.php http://www.gsmarena.com/roaming_charges_in_the_eu_could_be_g... It may not happen this year but I reckon the days of roaming charges inter-EU are numbered. Numbered I tells ya! Can't come soon enough if you ask me.