HI there, has anybody found a solution to getting a French telephone number from the UK and activating it in the UK.
We have looked at various resources such as virtual telephone number and eSims through to prepaid but are finding it difficult.
Virtual telephone numbers appear to have a horrible reputation and seem to be scams. eSims can be obtained but only activated when inside the EU. Prepaid sims the same.
Any ideas please? We would like to order furniture online but without a French telephone number it is not possible to do. Also we would like to make phone calls and receive/send SMS before going and a French number would be much cheaper and more acceptable to utilitiesā¦
If I google ābuy french sim in ukā there seem to be several options so some more info on what you tried and why it is difficult/unquitable might be helpful (to avoid people suggesting things you have already found to be unsatisfactory).
Several VoIP suppliers offer French geographic number as well (though I admit I havenāt tried to rent one from outside of France).
Thank youā¦ will try and give more detail below. Like you googling buy french sin in uk, there are loads of options. That is not the difficulty (why when I put in a space between the word and the colon and then hit return does it put in rofl? Not used to French punctuation on here?)
Anyway, sorry
we want a French sim to purchase here in UK which has a French phone number and we can activate in the UK before we go to France
If we take a more detailed look at all French sims which are readily available they all need activating in EU.
Does that help or should I give you some more info? I donāt really know where I am with this
If you have a French sim or eSim as I understand it no but I could be well wrong. But this is not straightforward as KarenLot saysā¦ You would need to check a bit more I think
Only a partial answer to your question, Iām afraidā¦
We were in a similar situation (in UK, wanting a French mobile number prior to moving). Following suggestions from others (on SF,) Iām embarrassed to admit we simply made up French mobile numbers (eg 06,07) purely to input into French websites eg whenever ordering goods/services. At the same time we applied online for a Reglo Mobile SIM (ie Leclercās own label/brand). They only wanted a justificatif from the French house, which was easy enough to produce (EDF, for example, can churn out a daily justificatif on their website).
The SIM was waiting for us when we arrived in France for a visit and we could immediately activate it. None of the websites ever seemed to ārejectā the fake mobile numbers inputted. We always called French utilities companies from the UK, so they didnāt have to try and call us back, pending the arrival of the Reglo SIM. The latter was, and is still good value at 9,95ā¬ a month for 60G.
I think perhaps I will try the full 00 44 number at first and then without and see what works. If nothing works Iāll just have to find aan English sim somewhere, but donāt really want to.
For what it is worth my sim is a Leclerc/Reglo Mobile one.
Thanks George1. Iāve taken a punt and found an activitated French sim on ebay which I am having delivered to UK. Will see if it works!
I must confess I too have shamelessly made up mobile numbers in order to input on French sites. However Iād like to be able to receive SMS from the websites from which I am ordering furniture and a 4G Box, also from utilities In this instance I need a real number to be sure I get any messages.
Iāve then bought Skype Credits worldwide so I can make really cheap calls to France to be able to contact various businesses. I will be trying it out today/tomorrow.
Iāve spent 29 pounds for both of the above so if it all functions for the next four weeks until we move then it will be worthwhile. Will feedback if I get the French mobile sim and if it works, also how I go on Skype Credits for calls as either might be an option for others in the same boat.
I posted this on the bank thread, but thought it more relevant here,
I used a sim from https://www.lefrenchmobile.com/ when I first came to France, they send you the sim to a UK address as well. They are not the most competitive regarding internet usage, but for setting up your utilities, etc it is invaluable plus you can port your number to a more permanent provider once you settle into you new home.
Get the Eu Bundle Best Europe Sim card - ā¬25 prepaid credit valid in the EU | LeFrenchMobile the sims come pre-activated and should be usable straight away and UK is shown as EU in the valid countries, I got my card 3 years ago and cant honestly say that I used it immediately in the UK, but by reading the countries of usage it should work.
Some websites reject non-numeric characters in telephone number fields, some think that all mobile numbers start 06/07 and have exactly 10 digits.
One or twice Iāve tried 06 12 34 56 78 in the hope that the website will accept it, but it will clearly be invalid to a human only to find out that the &$%Ā£!!! website wants to send the number a SMS to verify
I can well understand the desire for a french mobile - although so far weāve managed without.
If you have a French address you can order your sim online using a VPN you can get one on a free trial. Use Lebara it operates on the Vodaphone system both in UK and EU. Get it delivered to your French address. If you have someone with access to you property get them to put in their French phone and make a call that activates it then get them to post it to you in UK. Roaming is free with Lebara
Hi Ted and thanks for the info. This was a problem to us as nobody has keys to our French property and I didnāt want to give our access code to friends as they are too far away to do the journey. I also wanted to avoid all the delays with posting.
Digitracker, from what I have just read on LeFrenchMobile, you have to make a call within the EU to get your French phone number, but maybe Iām misreading the information.
At last thoughā¦ I have installed the SIM I received and it all works. So I now have a French mobile number to use, can make / receive calls and can receive and make SMS. Thank goodness the risky move of buying it on Ebay worked. I am a bit more than relieved even though it wouldnāt have been the end of the world for 19 quid.
Next is to try the Skype credits for calling France from UK as it is so much cheaper than using a landline or the mobile
even though it wouldnāt have been the end of the world for 19 quid.