Which cell phone/SIM package for college age son?

Hi Jo,

I've been researching this for myself and made up a spreadsheet. The best provider that I have found based on a 5 minute call to the US ($2.00) and a lower cost for the sim card is Geo Sim.

Geo Sim

Bear in mind that you will need to buy an unlocked preferably quad band gsm phone. You can get that on line.

Jo-I'm a mom whose daughter went last year to France for the year. Here is the deal:

For talking between Spain & US - both of you download Skype (it is free) onto your computers. When talking to each other, computer to computer you pay nothing. BUT, you can also purchase $10 of Skype credit. With this your son can call (from his computer) to your home or cell phone. He will be charged about 2 cents per minute. My daughter would call us on the home phone, then we'd call her back on Skype so the rest of the call was free. We used $10 total the whole year she was gone. This is the BEST deal, please look into it - college kids know about it, it is how they can keep up with each other as well. We spoke a couple of times a week. We added video cameras for Christmas and it was even more fun.

Okay - he still needs a cell phone. When he arrives in Spain he should go buy one. I think my daughter spent $100 (maybe less). She bought it in the airport, really easy. It will have the correct sim card for him to have a phone # to use in Spain. He will load minutes onto his phone and reload it when he runs out - no contract. I think she paid 50 Euro cents per minute - but that was only for outgoing calls. So when we called her (using Skype credit on our end - about 5cents/minute) we did not use up her minutes. She texted alot with her European friends, can't remember the deal, but it was cheaper than calling. She and her Europe friends also called each other (in France) with Skype.

Caveat - check the rates yourself for Skype because they may have changed, but again, you pay NOTHING for calls that are made computer to computer - the per minute charges are only when calling a cell/land line.

Hope this helps.

My 19 year old daughter spent a college semester outside London last year. Skype is the way to go. Talk everday for as long as you want for free. Download Skype for free online, your son does the same. You need to buy headsets with a microphone, or at least a microphone, and listen thru your computer speakers. Headsets I got were about $15 each. We also got webcams later--that is fun to see each other, her room, outside the window, etc. You should test call each other before he leaves the country.
She also bought a phone over there. It came loaded with X amount of minutes, then you can add more when needed. She used it in Europe too. It was relatively inexpensive. I don't recall which service it was, but don't worry, the kids figure it out themselves when they get there and ask around a bit. They all got the same thing so they could aimlessly call/text each other--just like home!! Calling the USA using a cell phone can be very expensive with all the roaming charges and international rates. Even land lines can cost a lot, I think 99 cents a minute is considered cheap.
My daughter also went on a month long packback trip thru Europe with another girl. We bought her a EuroRail Pass, the rest she paid for with her own money. They stayed only at youth hostels, which they researched and booked online. There are many hostel websites for research. When traveling, she contacted us only via email. Most hostels have internet service, some for free. There are Internet Cafes also.(can be pricey) She sent us emails about her travels and how she was doing. It's not a phone call, but it was OK, plus you got to give them room to be on their own too. All this was unnerving to say the least, but all in all, school plus the travels, were an invaluable experience for her because she had to figure things out on her own. She back in the USA at school now, but often speaks of her experience, and she has a pile of pictures that would make anyone jealous.

Thanks for the info. Has anyone had experience with arranging for a cell phone with minutes prior to leave the US?? I'd like for him to have a phone right away, as soon as he arrives. I've read other posts online where people have purchased an unlocked GSM phone before leaving and then buying an international SIM card too. Has anyone actually had experience with this and did it work OK once you landed?

Oh, and I forgot to mention that we are not sure if he will actually have access to the Internet while housed with his host family. The living quarters may or may not have it. He can use the drops/wireless while in class, but he may not have any access during the time he's at "home". In that case I'm not sure if we will be able to use Skype. Even with Skype, he still needs a cell phone in order for me to not worry so much!!

Hi Jo,

I just orderded an unlocked Motorola quad band cell phone from this company
Cell Phones

I will be purchasing a sim card from this company.

Sim Card

While I haven't used this company as of yet, my comparison shopping shows them to be the cheapest provider based on a 5 minute call to the US and I just figure that I'll roll the dice and take a chance on them. I feel as comfortable as I possibly could be given the circumstances.

Good luck!

Gonzy,

I am not sure how you can recommend a SIM card from this company geosim? They charge in Sterling Pound (and it comes from the UK), it bears a yearly fee, it is a call back system using voice over internet (so the quality and reliability is not guaranteed) and the phone number associated to it is from the Isle of Man! Do you know how much it costs from somewhere in the US to call such a destination? A lot. There are other options from the US that are more economical. Can you let me know how you did your comparison?

When my husband and I were in England this past spring, we bought pay-as-you-go mobiles (Virgin Mobile) when we got to London. It only cost us 20p a minute to call the US, 15p a minute to call each other, and 5p to text. Our phones were £10 each and came with £1 of airtime. For my mom to call me, I set up my US Skype number to forward to my UK mobile, that cost me about 25 cents a minute off my Skype balance. You can top up pay-as-you-go phones nearly anywhere.

Hi, Jo. I'm a big fan of Vonage. For about $35 a month, your son can have a LOCAL calling number for you to dial, make all calls to the US for free, AND have a Spanish number his school friends can call him from Spain as a local call. I did this while living in England, and worked great. My family could call me on a local Seattle area number, and I could call them back from free, and I also had a local UK number. Unlike Skype, a computer is not needed, just a highspeed connection, the vonage router and a phone. British phones did work on it as well - not sure if EU ones would... but he can always take a cheap phone from home. I'm researching new cel stuff myself as well. If I find any good deals, I'll let you know!

I just finished posting an answer for another similar question posted on this forum.

I believe, if your Son will be living there for 5 mo, it will be very economical to use Skype if he has access to computer.

Having said that if the need is to have a cell phone service, then you may consider buying a local Spanish SIM card for your Son to avoid expensive International Roaming. You can buy a SIM card online from any International Cell Phone Companies here in US even before your Son leaves. This way you will know the local phone number beforehand + you will pay in local currency(US$).

You can try RebelFone.com , I used their service for my trip to Australia last month and all worked out well.

BTW - these local Sim cards can work in any GSM un-locked phone, in my case I did not had any so I bought a low cost phone from Rebelfone as well.

M

John

If I may respond to your points about the globalsimcard from GeoSIM....

I am not sure how you can recommend a SIM card from this company geosim?

They charge in Sterling Pound (and it comes from the UK)

Yes, but all call credit is in US$.

it bears a yearly fee,

Yes, but unlike many other SIMs of this nature, there are no connection charges, daily access charges nor is the call credit taken away if the SIM is not used.

it is a call back system

Correct. Most, if not all SIMs of this nature use a callback. This is because the cost of the calls is lower than a "standard" SIM supplied by "regular" networks.

unlike using a using voice over internet (so the quality and reliability is not guaranteed)

Wrong. GeoSIM only uses tier one carriers such as BT, ATT, Cable & Wireless. Call quality is as per any major carrier. This is because the SIM uses those carriers and networks.

and the phone number associated to it is from the Isle of Man! Do you know how much it costs from somewhere in the US to call such a destination? A lot.

I suggest checking to see what a US carrier does charge to call a IOM number. Many charge afew cents per minite.

There are other options from the US that are more economical. Can you let me know how you did your comparison?

There maybe a few, but I've not found any that compare overall.

It may be worth looking at the new GeoSIM with a US and UK number on the web site.

I hope this balances some genralisations and assumptions made in your reply.

Ed
CEO, GeoSIM

My friend also went out of the country for a few months. He went to Greece though. But when he went he used RangeRoamer. It's a cheap international phone company. It actually worked out pretty good for him. RangeRoamer isn't that expensive, unlike the other big companies. So check it out, it may be useful for you and your son. :)

Jo as previous posters stated Skype is the way to go when your son has access to a computer. Upon arrival in Spain he can purchase a cell phone with a SIM card for Spain. In the fall of 2007 our son spent a semester in Vienna on a study abroad. He lived in a dormitory and had internet access so we skyped lots. It was great and I could even set it up so that the call would roll over to my cell phone if I wasn't at my computer. The cell phone he used was one we had purchased a month prior on a trip to Italy so we knew it was unlocked. He just swapped out the Italian SIM card for an Austrian one and then whenever he visited other countries he purchased a new SIM. On our trip to Italy this past July we used that phone again (.50 Euro for calls to the U.S., .16 Euro for calls within Italy and all incoming calls free even from the states) and also purchased another phone prior to leaving the states that was to be unlocked, as we wanted 2 phones. We put the SIM in it and it was not unlocked. I highly recommend that he just purchase a phone when he arrives in Spain. Try not to worry as he will have a wonderful experience. Our son wishes he had spent the entire year in Vienna.

This question was posted nearly a year ago. It's likely that Jo's son has already gone on his study abroad trip.