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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 sw

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.

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.