Hi Helen
Not sure if this helps you. But, I’m in the middle of a small experiment. In my desperation to break free from France Telecom/Orange/Wanadoo, I’m moving towards signing up with Tooway Satellite Internet, for their ‘M’ package at 44,85€/month.
As part of that same process I have signed up with OVH.fr for a VoIP 09 line for 1,18€/month, with mobile usage charged by the second, since I do not want to use a smart phone for other than emergencies.
Then, I’ve just invested in a ‘SIM free’ Motorola DEFY Mini smartphone for £59 from Amazon.co.uk, and if I have understood everything I’ve read to date, I should be able to use this smartphone at any WiFi hotspot and make calls via the OVH number. Alternatively, if I need more use, but without racking up the ‘by the second’ charges from OVH, I can always buy a mini SIM card from any of the outlets mentioned in these exchanges to date.
As I said I’m still in experimental mode, and have not yet received my OVH 09 number. However, my DEFY mini has logged onto my home network via a WiFi connection, so when I do get the number, I’m off to my nearest McDonalds to test out the theory!
A number of those contributing have mentioned Free - I understand their service is good, but it depends on where you live. We live in a rural area where France Telecom copper wires rule, and testing my landline today Free offer me - ‘Freebox non dégroupé - 35,98€/mois’. So add to that the monthly landline charge of 16,00€/month, and the Tooway package plus the OVH VoIP line begins to look attractive.
I should add I'm very much a novice!
You could look at this site Teleconnect . I use them for my landline and internet. They are very helpful, speak English aswell if you need help.
Again, thanks for the info - all very useful.
No - that was really helpful - thanks very much!
Hi Helen, I
I recommend the card from Leclerc mobile. You can top up on line, as much or as little as you need. And unlike most pay-as-you-go sim cards, the credit will last for 6 months. Others only last for a fixed period (eg 1 month), and if you don't use the credit you lose it, or you have to top it up to keep what's left so you end up having lots of credit that you don't need. With Leclerc it works in the UK too (obviously calls/texts cost a bit more when you're abroad). The Free card recommended by Wendy ONLY works in France (I know - I have both! 1 for work (free) and 1 for family/friends (Leclerc).
HI - Would this be "free.fr"?
within the unlimited minutes of free you can also call landlines in the uk in fact most of europe, the us and a lot more countries, I think it is 99 in total. They even allow calls to us mobiles for free. The only problem with the network is a lot of people, myself and my wife included are unable to receive txt msgs from the uk and many other countries (if anyone knows how to fix this it would be great).
But all in all the free network is the cheapest and the fact it is a rolling month to month contract probably makes it the easiest.
Above all, I would definitely keep the UK number!
Then a little thing like this one below: fits in your pocket, it also does not break when it falls from 2 meters onto a stone floor (has often happened), has WiFi and Bluetooth.
Especially in France only WITHOUT CONTRACT (!!), NOT BLOCKED.
Why? Because here in France soon prices will tumble. Subscribing for a 12 month contract, I think, is naive. You order a Sim Card from Free (price 2 € sans...) alternative, the French Virgin. That's it. In a pinch, while traveling, you can even use this little thing as WIFI hotspot and as a modem for your laptop.
Xperia mini pro
Hi Helen
Some thoughts from a long-time smartphone user...
Smartphones for someone like me are a must as I use them for work - helps me keep on top of email and so on when away from my desk, plus I use navigation tools, useful apps and so on. Smartphones are really handy tools - more like mini computers these days. iPhones and some of the other high-end smartphones are really expensive but you can get much cheaper smartphones these days - eg those based on the Android OS. I think only you can decide which to get as it depends on what you like the look of, and which services you want to use. Do you want to be able to access the Internet, check emails, use applications, play your music and watch TV on your phone? If you don't want all that then you can still get more basic feature phones with some of these options.
In terms of deals, Free Mobile and the secondary brands such as Orange's Sosh and Bouygues Telecom's B&YOU are cheap options but do not include a subsidised phone of course and are not contract based. If you want a subsidised or even "free" phone then you are probably looking at 30 euros a month at least (with inclusive data), and a commitment of 12-24 months. I was on Orange and paying 50 euros a month, but have recently moved to Sosh for 20 euros a month. That doesn't include a phone but I get 3 GB of Internet access/data a month plus unlimited calls and texts in France etc. I'm sure others on the forum will have plenty to say about their experiences! FNAC stocks all the different operator plans and phones if you wanted a "one-stop shop" option, or just browse the various boutiques online to see what the different forfaits include. Smartphone plans with smaller Internet bundles included can also be a lot cheaper.
Smartphones can also be use in "tether" mode, which means you can use it as a modem for your laptop (not all operators allow this - and some like Orange charge a fairly hefty fee for this, or did last time I used it). There are also a growing number of multi-SIM plans, whereby you can have one plan that allows the data bundle to be shared between a smartphone and tablet/laptop (eg SFR's Carre plans with MultiSurf).
Anyway, hope that provides some help and sorry if I have told you a load of stuff you already know!
Try the 2 euro Free deal, hubby has that and it´s brilliant for folks that dońt make huge numbers of calls
Who do you have your home internet with?
http://mobile.free.fr/ is Euro19.99 a month but only Euro15.99 if your home internet is with free.fr