Cheap Mobile calls UK to Australia???.

I will probably have to go to the UK for about a month for compassionate reasons at end of October 2008 and will need phone communication back to Australia, presently I’m with Telstra with an unlocked Palm Treo 750 running WM6, which is a 3G compatible phone.

Because the phone is unlocked I presume I will be able to get any pre-paid sim to work.

I have no experience with overseas use and have heard some real horror stories of call costs, can someone give me some pointers for the UK & Northern Ireland services, i.e. which carrier has greatest cover, which is cheapest international calls, I have heard of cheap phone cards does this apply to mobiles? etc. etc. basically anything related.

I’ll have some other things on my mind when I arrive so would like to find out before I go just to save on the stress levels.

Appreciate any help .

Hi, I've just joined this site, so I've just seen your question. I hope I'm not too late, cos I have some advice for you. Go to a 3 store in the UK and pick up either a Skype S1 or Skype S2 phone. The S1 costs around £30, the S2 costs around £70. Set up Skype account on the phone, if you haven't already got one. Get your friends and relatives to set up Skype accounts on their computers in Australia. Top up your Skype phone with £10 to activate it. Then you'll be able to Skype your friends and relatives free of charge. The £10 will last 3 months (90 days) if you don't spend it, or you can use it for calls, texts, etc. You can also buy a £5 internet add on which will last 30 days and keep an eye on your emails directly from the phone, as well as sending/receiving emails from and to the phone. After the phone and top up are paid for there is no further cost. You may be able to use the phone in Oz when you get home, I'm not sure about that, but a sales rep in store should be able to advise you.

Nice read! A very useful information about it.

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As the treo's operating frequencies are GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA radio GSM bands: 850/900/1800/1900 UMTS bands: 850/1900/2100 it will work in the Uk.

If your handset is unlocked then a simple purchase of a payg sim card in the Uk will work as the fone will just adjust to the new network.

You can purchase calling plan cards etc that offer lower call costs to places oversea and some of the networks also offer good calling costs.

Some of the networks in the Uk are ;

02
Vodafone.
T-Mobile.
Virgin {which uses the T-Mobile Network}
3
Tesco.
Fresh.
Orange.

Google each one to see which offers the best calling plan.

If your handset is locked and you dont want to go thro the process to unlock ,then speak to your network for roaming costs or buy a payg basic fone in the uk which can start at as little as £14.00 for a basic no frills handset.
Take care.

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