Hi everyone, I need some advice on getting SIM cards for my upcoming 3-week trip to France, Spain, and Germany. Basically, I'm looking for a SIM on my unlocked iPhone for these countries. My only criteria is cheap internet - I have no need for the voice plan, I only want the SIM so I can email and do Google Maps for GPS. Could anyone recommend some carriers / data plans that I can look into? I would prefer the same carrier for all three countries so I don't have to switch as much, but if that's not possible, country-specific carriers are fine. Also - I currently have a Vodafone Italy SIM (from a previous trip). Does anyone know if this will work in the above countries and what the financial consequences are? I imagine using this would be more expensive, but I can't seem to find information on how much more expensive this would be. Thanks in advance.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32353 posts
Jiuguang, I doubt that you'll be able to find a SIM that will allow data access in the three countries you listed. Although some travellers from North American have managed to obtain data service in Europe at times, AFAIK this is only available for those living in Europe that sign onto contract plans. ¶ You might have a look at * www.callineurope.com/cgi-bin/cie.cgi?b=ok&cid=new&z=(null)&pi=(null)&p=/bb_pda.shtml * (cut & paste the link inside the asterisks). This appears to be configured more for Blackberry users, so you might want to contact them to determine compatibility with iPhones. ¶ If you manage to find a solution for this, you might post another note here as I'm sure others would be interested. Good luck!
Posted by
OP
Pittsburgh, PA
10 posts
I'm not sure how this is different from my trip to Italy - I was able to get the Vodafone Italia SIM with the mobile internet plan (5 euro per week for up to 500MB). I'm just looking for something similar.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32353 posts
Jiugang, I'm surprised that you were able to get a data SIM in Italy, especially with the terrorism laws. I know of one other case where one of the members here obtained a data plan in Germany, but was eventually told that this was only available for people LIVING in the country. Hopefully he'll spot this post and can provide some more specific information. ¶ Unfortunately, I don't have an iPhone yet, so haven't had occasion to look for data plans in Europe (so far, I've only travelled with a basic voice & text flip phone). Good luck!
Posted by
OP
Pittsburgh, PA
10 posts
Ken, what you said just doesn't make sense - if you can buy prepaid SIM cards under these anti-terrorism laws, then surely you can sign up for data plans. I don't see the difference here. In case anyone is wondering, the solution to get prepaid data plans with no contracts (for many European countries) can be found at: http://prepaid-wireless-internet-access.wetpaint.com. I can personally verify the Italian Vodafone solution, as the description matched my Italian SIM exactly.
Posted by
Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
324 posts
Supposed anti-terrorist legislation (which seems to benefit telemarketers more than it harms terrorists) notwithstanding, Vodafone Spain offers pre-paid data plans with more information here: http://360.vodafone.es/TarifaPlana/tarjeta The salesperson might try and pressure you into showing a passport, but even that is no longer obligatory.