International Roaming on Pay as You Go?

I'm told some networks (like Orange) won't allow customers to have
international roaming unless they are on a contract.

I'd like to be able to use my phone in the middle east and in Russia.
Can anyone tell me which networks do allow calls to be made and
received whilst abroad? (and also whether it is true about Orange's
attitude)

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› See More: International Roaming on Pay as You Go?

On 25 Jan, 15:16, [email protected] wrote:
> I'm told some networks (like Orange) won't allow customers to have
> international roaming unless they are on a contract.
>
> I'd like to be able to use my phone in the middle east and in Russia.
> Can anyone tell me which networks do allow calls to be made and
> received whilst abroad? (and also whether it is true about Orange's
> attitude)

UK PAYG only works with some international networks because of the
requirement for acurate up-to-date billing. As a consequence, Orange
(like all other UK networks) can only allow PAYG users to roam in a
subset of places that their contract customers can roam.

Also every UK network has different agreements with different
international networks and so you really need to check the countries
you plan to visit to see which UK networks allow roaming (PAYG or not).

As a genaral rule, Virgin offer the best "PAYG" coverage when you sign
up to pay by direct debit, plus the calls are cheaper too!

On 2007-01-25 15:16:17 +0000, [email protected] said:

> I'm told some networks (like Orange) won't allow customers to have
> international roaming unless they are on a contract.

Tosh. All Orange PAYG are automatically set-up for international roaming.

>
> I'd like to be able to use my phone in the middle east and in Russia.
> Can anyone tell me which networks do allow calls to be made and
> received whilst abroad? (and also whether it is true about Orange's
> attitude)

You can check most networks roaming details on their websites -
www.orange.co.uk/away is the one for Orange. If the country is listed,
and you have a compatible handset, it should work fine - just to be
aware of the hgher cost.

Chris

On Jan 25, 4:31 pm, Chris Boyd <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 2007-01-25 15:16:17 +0000, [email protected] said:
>
> > I'm told some networks (like Orange) won't allow customers to have
> > international roaming unless they are on a contract.

>Tosh. All Orange PAYG are automatically set-up for international roaming.
>

What I should have specified is that I hear the international roaming
net is wider for contract than it is for pay as you go. And
unfortunately it looks like this is true. Following the links you have
provided I can see that a PAYG Orange customer is told to f*** off if
he wants to make or receive calls in the UAE:

http://www2.orange.co.uk/servlet/Sat...8629&x=17&y=11

but a Vodafone PAYT customer has no problems (other than a massive £2
a minute phone bill)

http://www.abroad.vodafone.co.uk/ind...e=1&costs=true

So it looks like the networks do vary according to what service you are
signed up to (i.e. all PAYG customers have to sit on the back of the
bus). I'll have a look at the other providers and post back later

On 25 Jan, 19:11, [email protected] wrote:
> On Jan 25, 4:31 pm, Chris Boyd <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > On 2007-01-25 15:16:17 +0000, [email protected] said:
>
> > > I'm told some networks (like Orange) won't allow customers to have
> > > international roaming unless they are on a contract.
> >Tosh. All Orange PAYG are automatically set-up for international roaming.What I should have specified is that I hear the international roaming
> net is wider for contract than it is for pay as you go. And
> unfortunately it looks like this is true. Following the links you have
> provided I can see that a PAYG Orange customer is told to f*** off if
> he wants to make or receive calls in the UAE:
>
> http://www2.orange.co.uk/servlet/Sat...mon%2FUtils%2F...
>
> but a Vodafone PAYT customer has no problems (other than a massive £2
> a minute phone bill)
>
> http://www.abroad.vodafone.co.uk/ind...&me=a1&nu=1&le...
>
> So it looks like the networks do vary according to what service you are
> signed up to (i.e. all PAYG customers have to sit on the back of the
> bus). I'll have a look at the other providers and post back later

I'm hoping to visit India in the Spring and have a Virgin telephone on
a Pay-as-you-go basis. Will this work for me, do you think?

Kind regards

Audrey
www.frogend.blogspot.com

"Mad Old Bat" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> I'm hoping to visit India in the Spring and have a Virgin telephone on
> a Pay-as-you-go basis. Will this work for me, do you think?

Why not go to the Virgin website and look for yourself?
More reliable info than what folks might "think" on here!


--

J B

Mad Old Bat <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm hoping to visit India in the Spring and have a Virgin telephone on
> a Pay-as-you-go basis. Will this work for me, do you think?

Virgin PAYG works with roaming if you sign up to their Direct Debit plan.
Instead of topping up, it deducts your monthly call costs by DD. That way
you don't run out of credit (I think the problem is that roaming partners
might not submit their charges for some days, so it's easy to go 'overdrawn'
on your PAYG). Presumably you can switch back to topups when you get back.

(Though a local SIM might be cheaper, depending on use)

Theo

On 25 Jan, 19:37, "Mad Old Bat" <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm hoping to visit India in the Spring and have a Virgin telephone on
> a Pay-as-you-go basis. Will this work for me, do you think?

It appears you will have no problems:

PAYG by top-up only:
http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/callC...ymentPlan=PAYG

PAYG by direct debit or top-up:
http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/callC...lan=payMonthly

On 26 Jan, 12:16, Theo Markettos <[email protected]>
wrote:
> Mad Old Bat <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > I'm hoping to visit India in the Spring and have a Virgin telephone on
> > a Pay-as-you-go basis. Will this work for me, do you think?Virgin PAYG works with roaming if you sign up to their Direct Debit plan.
> Instead of topping up, it deducts your monthly call costs by DD. That way
> you don't run out of credit (I think the problem is that roaming partners
> might not submit their charges for some days, so it's easy to go 'overdrawn'
> on your PAYG). Presumably you can switch back to topups when you get back.
>
> (Though a local SIM might be cheaper, depending on use)
>
> Theo

Thank you Theo most helpful - and its nice to meet you here. What a
small world. It seems there are not many of us on the Internet after
all :-)

On Jan 26, 12:16 pm, Theo Markettos <theom
[email protected]> wrote:
> Mad Old Bat <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > I'm hoping to visit India in the Spring and have a Virgin telephone on
> > a Pay-as-you-go basis. Will this work for me, do you think?Virgin PAYG works with roaming if you sign up to their Direct Debit plan.
> Instead of topping up, it deducts your monthly call costs by DD. That way
> you don't run out of credit (I think the problem is that roaming partners
> might not submit their charges for some days, so it's easy to go 'overdrawn'
> on your PAYG). Presumably you can switch back to topups when you get back.
>
> (Though a local SIM might be cheaper, depending on use)
>
> Theo

A local SIM card will certainly have cheaper, by a factor of ten or
more.

Info on SIM tariffs, and network links on
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/india.html

On 26 Jan 2007 22:36:43 -0800, Mad Old Bat <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>On 26 Jan, 12:16, Theo Markettos <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>> Mad Old Bat <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> > I'm hoping to visit India in the Spring and have a Virgin telephone on
>> > a Pay-as-you-go basis. Will this work for me, do you think?Virgin PAYG works with roaming if you sign up to their Direct Debit plan.
>> Instead of topping up, it deducts your monthly call costs by DD. That way
>> you don't run out of credit (I think the problem is that roaming partners
>> might not submit their charges for some days, so it's easy to go 'overdrawn'
>> on your PAYG). Presumably you can switch back to topups when you get back.
>>
>> (Though a local SIM might be cheaper, depending on use)
>>
>> Theo
>
>Thank you Theo most helpful - and its nice to meet you here. What a
>small world. It seems there are not many of us on the Internet after
>all :-)

Worth noting too that in some, if not all, locations Virgin is also
cheaper when you pay by Direct Debit.

And when you return you can still top up by voucher, your bill will show
up as having voucher credits on it.

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