At long last a decent French mobile company

[Chancer]

This looks to be a worthy successor to what NRJ were before they decided to concentrate on the yoof market and shaft all their loyal pre-paid customers.

This PAYG service: http://www.lebara-mobile.fr/en/index.php has really cheap call rates within France and to the UK, the PAYG credit does not expire and the cerise sur le gateau its an English company!

Looks like I will have a mobile again after 3 years without.

 

[Quillan]

I couldn't see which operator they use, it just says a French operator. My old Teleconnect phone was useless in a lot of areas, don't know who they used either. I have to say having had a French Orange mobile phone and now a SFR one the SFR one gives the best coverage round our and adjacent departments.

[Chancer]

Yes I too had that thought Q

[NormanH]

I use Virgin which seems to take the best available signal.

[Chancer]

OK I have found it, their partner is  Bouyges Telecom, I have no idea what their network coverage is though.

The press release for their launch into the French market makes good reading, its certainly understated!

http://www.lebara.com/docs/Lebara-Group-enters-French-market.pdf

Customer service in 22 languages [:-))]

[cooperlola]

Bouyges is really good round here and the only signal which penatrates our thick walls.  I will definately invest the 10€ for a sim card (well, 2.50 when you subtract the calls.) and give them a go.

[Martin963]

....  but I think generally Bouygues is recognised as the patchiest French network.  

Of course there are local variations where one network dominates (for a variety of technical reasons) but Bouygyes have taken some hard nosed decisions as to the "rentabilité" of equipping certain masts where Orange and SFR are already established.

Certainly round here there is a huge hole in Bouygyes (we were with Simyo,   who behaved in a similarly despicabe manner as NRJ) and the portable was less than useless within a 15 mile radius of our house;   it did however work in most other parts of France where we tried it.

I'm not trying to say that Bouygyes coverage is that bad,   but it's got holes in it and you'd need to check carefully for your specific location if it's important that it works chez toi.

[Kitty]

[quote user="Chancer"]This PAYG service: http://www.lebara-mobile.fr/en/index.php has really cheap call rates within France and to the UK, the PAYG credit does not expire and the cerise sur le gateau its an English company![/quote]

My gripes about French mobiles is that (a) Pay As You Go credit expires and (b) calls to the UK are prohibitively expensive.  So this product looks good.  I do have a LeClerc mobile because credit lasts for one year but calls to the UK are a no-no.

Does anyone know what the coverage would be like if taken back to the UK?  What about the cost of calls and texts from the UK to France?

[suein56]

[quote user="Martin963"]....  but I think generally Bouygues is recognised as the patchiest French network.  

Of course there are local variations ...

I'm not trying to say that Bouygyes coverage is that bad,  but it's got holes in it and you'd need to check carefully for your specific location if it's important that it works chez toi.[/quote]

Precisely. Where we are in southern 56 Bouygues is definitely very patchy ... OH has a Bouygues phone which is often worse than useless at home and sometimes just as useless when he is out and about in Morbihan. It worked fine in the shop ...!

Sue

[Chancer]

Cathy the cost of using the simcard in the UK can be found under the roaming section, from memory it wasnt cheap, best to switch to a UK Sim whilst in the UK.

At present I only have a UK sim from Asda, its very cheap in the UK, much less than Vodafone was and even making calls in France and from France to the UK, were I to use it, are less than most French PAYG phones, as it is I leave it switched off here as I dont want to pick up part of the tab if anyone shouldl call it although it is free to recieve texts from the UK.

[Jazzer]

Is there a web page to find out what coverage is like in your area?

[Quillan]

Mrs Q has a LeClerc SIM in her mobile. I noticed when you start it up its says Bouygues for a couple of seconds before the LeClerc name comes up. Her phone only works in some places around the house, usually by the lounge window. My old Orange phone was much the same and I know a neighbour claims he has to go up (and I mean up) in to the village to get any real signal on his Orange phone. The problem I find is that when you look at each of the big companies they all claim to have a massive coverage when in reality they don't. Each one seems to have a few 'blank' spaces around the country but trying to get a straight answer for a specific place outside of cities and big towns is impossible. I think the best thing for Chancer is to find somebody nearby who has a Bouygues phone to see what the signal is like where he lives before committing and making a big mistake like I did with Orange.

[cooperlola]

A UK mobile will often help you in finding the best provider in that it will show whomever's signal is the strongest when it's over here.  As said above, Bouygues is the tops in our house but by the sounds of things this is rare.  Whatever, for ten euros I've decided to try this lot.  I'll keep you posted when my SIM arrives but given that I make about 2 calls a year this could take a while.....  The biggest advantage for me is the fact that I'll no longer be paying Leclerc 1.50 a month for nowt.

[Chancer]

[quote user="Jazzer"]Is there a web page to find out what coverage is like in your area?[/quote]

You could try this: http://www.cartographie.bouyguestelecom.fr/eCouverture/eCouverture.aspx

Probably not going to show you what rooms it will work in [:P], according to it I have full coverage where I live (you need to click on each of the buttons in turn, 3G, GPRS etc) and when I zoom out it does show some non coverage on 3G so perhaps it is telling the truth, only time will tell!

[Judith]

Aha, didn't recognise the name until I looked at the site.  Summer 2009 when I arrived at St P on the Eurostar they had a stand in the concourse, and I took a leaflet as I was wanting a UK mobile for my 6wks in the UK, to save using my Le Clerc for UK calls.    Unfortunately I did not find their sales leaflet at all understandable (and I still don't) and I took out a £5 T mobile sim to put in my mobile (vested interest, nephew works for them, but actually their deal was the best for what I wanted!), but this to prove that Lebara are not a newbie service but have certainly been around for over a year..... if that helps anyone at all.

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Wow, only 15 cents a text to the US.

Heaps better than Orange.

[Chancer]

Its sad that I should be so excited about this [:(] but this is France after all [:P]

3 years of holding out for a deal even remotely like what is taken for granted in the UK and when it finally comes it is an English company, well international, probably foreign owned but UK based with the necessary siege sociale in France.

I will only be using the phone once in a blue moon but thats the precise reason I would not squander my hard earned on any of the other operators.

At least it will save all the explanations which are never believed when I am asked for my mobile number.

[Chancer]

I have just ordered on on line and will report back on the progress and what coverage I have.

Have you seen just how cheap it is to call places like Vietnam, India or Thailand? 9cts per minute to land lines or mobiles

Makes the calls within France and to UK mobiles seem expensive now!

One thing that will probably appeal to ex UK people is that it is cheaper at 9cts per minute to call a UK land line than a French one at 15cts per minute.

Editted, having looked at the overseas call rates they are far cheaper in most cases than using a landline, I get free calls to landlines in most countries but their mobile rates are far better, in fact you can call a landline in French Guiana cheaper than caling your neighbour in France!

As long as you dont want to call Diego Garcia too often the rates are really good.

[pachapapa]

[quote user="Chancer"]

I have just ordered on on line and will report back on the progress and what coverage I have.

Have you seen just how cheap it is to call places like Vietnam, India or Thailand? 9cts per minute to land lines or mobiles

Makes the calls within France and to UK mobiles seem expensive now!

One thing that will probably appeal to ex UK people is that it is cheaper at 9cts per minute to call a UK land line than a French one at 15cts per minute.

Editted, having looked at the overseas call rates they are far cheaper in most cases than using a landline, I get free calls to landlines in most countries but their mobile rates are far better, in fact you can call a landline in French Guiana cheaper than caling your neighbour in France!

As long as you dont want to call Diego Garcia too often the rates are really good.

[/quote]

SFR is only one that works chez-moi; T&G Art: 2.7  suggests that credit only carried forward if if credit purchased within a 90 day period.

Looks better than Leclerc.

[Jazzer]

Thanks for the link.However what do the different colours signify-for an ordinary bog standard phone what symbol do I need to check.

[Chancer]

To be fair I think the 90 day non use suspension relates to most PAYG mobiles, at least in the UK you can usually resurrect your number, it was this which sneakily crept into NRJ terms and caused me to lose the credit that I added before they changed their terms, IIRC it was less than 90 days.

I am not sure about the colours, I know I dont have a 3G phone so thought GPRS or whatever it was (global roaming blah blah) sounded like the one for me.

[sid]

It's really irritating that you can't get a PAYG that's got everything! The roaming charges are dear on this one, and you can't SMS whilst roaming. I use this facility a lot (SMS) without making calls, for example when landing at a foreign airport to say "arrived safely" or similar. I don't want to have a separate card for each country!

It looks good value otherwise. I've just lost a load of credit on my VirginMobile simply by being careless with the top-up date; I've sent a begging letter (ha!, some hope!) but if I get no satisfaction (customer service? you're joking) I'll definitely be changing.

Sid

[Chancer]

Ah Sid!

Forgive my ignorance but does that mean that you cannot send or recieve SMS's whilst in the UK for example?

That wont necessarily be a problem for me but its good to be forewarned.

Will I be able to send SMS's to other countries? I guess so from Richards comment re the USA.

[sid]

Hi Chancer

I find it very confusing. Roaming: To me it looks as though a French-purchased SIM can be used for roaming and can receive SMS in the rest of Europe incl UK for 0,13€ but cannot send SMS whilst over there. A UK-purchased SIM can receive in the rest of Europe for FREE and send for 10p. I don't understand why the conditions should be different.

This is important for me, and although I don't make loads of foreign trips, when I do I need to be contactable by the rest of the family. Text is the easiest and if necessary I can then make a phonecall. I'm thinking I'll need 2 SIMS, one for use in France and one for the rest of Europe! (edit, for example if going to Spain, which I do). You have to supply identification too, in the form of a passport or driving licence; this may preclude the option to purchase a UK SIM if you don't live there (or can't provide a UK address).

Sid

[Graham & Brenda]

Can you keep your existing 'phone number? I had a quick look on the Lebara website & couldn't see anything.