Bocagetom Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Dear All,I have a house in rural Noirmandy that I stay at for aprroximately 8 weeks a year in total over 3 separate visits. I currently use my Vodafone mobile to receive and make calls while in France. This is very expensive - approximately £300 for the 8 weeks but don't want to install a landline. The only ntwork I can receive at the house is Orange.I know there is an opportunity to save money by using a Pay as you go Orange simcard to make and receive calls while in France - my mobile is unlocked. Can anyone advise me how best to go about this or refer me to a previous thread where this has been discussed before.Many thanks,Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Trollope Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Simply vist any France Telecom shop (one in every town), present them with your 'phone & they will sort it for you. Orange are FT.Be aware that the cards expire - unlike UK ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 You cannot use one of the NRJ PAYG cards as I believe they run over the SFR network.Orange do a “contract” SIM with no “commitment” for 7€ per month – where the number does not expire. Calls are slightly cheaper than PAYG but not much.Before leaping to commit to too much, there might be some changes on international roaming changes http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5080440.stm Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bocagetom Posted June 21, 2006 Author Share Posted June 21, 2006 Thank you,I guess I'd rather not make a regular monthly commitment but could live with a Top Up of 20 Euros expiring provided the SIM and number did not expire. I'm sure that must be possible to arrange to purchase a PAYG sim at any Orange Shop?I take your point about future reductions in roaming charges. It is good advice not to spend too much when I might only use it for a year or so.Thanks again for your assistance.Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 The Orange 7€ per month is not a contract – you can end it at any time. Remember that the different “top-ups” have different validity. Thus a 10€ top up will expire after 15 days, 20€ expire after 2 months, 30€ after 3 months.I found that, for a mobile where I really don’t make hardly any calls, the 7€ a month was actually cheaper than allowing top-ups to keep expiring – plus you get to keep the same number as credit cannot “run-out” and you lose the number.For example, if not using the phone to make calls, 30€ expiring after 3 months = 10€ per month which is more expensive than 7€ per month. Similarly 100€ expiring after 6 months is 16€ per month whilst is more than twice the 7€ for the monthly based charge (which you can cancel at any time). From what people have said, the SIM does expire and you can then lose the number. I’d check when the number expires once you have no credit left. That’s the main reason I went with the monthly payment – as I did not want to have to keep paying for top-ups just to keep the same number (plus you never have to start worrying about how much credit you have on the phone, etc.). Depending on how often you come to France, do also consider how you will “top-up” when not in France. I have no idea how easy this is (remembering that Orange in the UK will almost certainly not provide top-ups for the French Orange). Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 You might find this site useful if you want a French Orange SIM card. http://www.0044.co.uk/france.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bocagetom Posted June 21, 2006 Author Share Posted June 21, 2006 A big thank you to Ian for explaining the benefits and nature of the ORANGE 7 euro a month contract. If I was there more often it would make sense.Will thank yopu very much for the 0044 website details. This looks like the answer in that I can top it up remotely from the UK and provided I top it up every 6 months I get to keep the number. This will match the 3 or 4 times a year I visit my Normandy home when I make regular use of my mobile phone. I can also access lower rates for incoming calls.Many thanks for your assistance.I would welcome the views of any existing users of the 0044 service before placing my order.Regards,Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friend of stouby Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 We have used 0044 to supply a French SFR sim card with a starter pre-paid credit which appears very similar to the Orange offer. We used SFR as it's part of the Vodafone group and didn't have to think about locked handsets as we use Vodafone in the UK.The service was very prompt, and a small query was answered well and very quickly. We were impressed with our experience with them.......not sure how you can top it up remotely from the UK though?? Jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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