I just received a nice email advising of a new SFR service and lower down the screen the new 'improved ' mobile tarifs. As I have a relatively reasonable 12.99€ tarif that covers calls to landlines I usually grin and bear the price of texts to the UK or Ireland. However the text that last year cost 30cts is now 40cts and I really should forget texting or calling swiss mobiles (1,32€/minute ?) !
This has become an issue as my hubby is living out of hotels in the UK as he is on a short term contract and can't get a reasonably priced short term tenancy in London.
I have been looking at the Free 2€ or Free 19.99€ tarifs which seem to be the answer. However I can't find out how much a text from France to Europe or Switzerland costs (only that from Europe or Switzerland to France is 6cts)
Has anyone any idea of the cost of texts from France to Europe with Free and how much their international option costs? Or perhaps I am being a little dim? It strikes me that with their tarifs my husband should change immediately to using Free from the UK but what about little old me stuck here ?
Many thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this.
you can use google hangouts if you have internetcost to phone UK landlines one cent minute or mobiles three cents minute same price froma mobile skypedo a similar deal to start you pay 10€calls are deducted from this
Have Any of you looked at Buoygues?
When I was in my first rented apartment in the Herault. I had only my computer and a mobile phone.
With Buoygues, yes I paid Monthly fee,but all texts and phone calls on mobile they were free, unless I exceeded hours allowed,to England and in France. Problem is I don’t remember how I accessed Internet, perhaps I was with FREE Later on there! I just remember I had great problems with them because I was moving to a department where they didn’t have internet access via fixed line, I had to cancel the contract and return equipment to them! A great palaver ensued! I was in l’Herault from Mar to Oct 2013 then up this way from November 13, that why I needed Buoygues till I was sorted with my phone/internet access and then changed the
We use Free and find them good value, though we don't text a huge amount. If you have their broadband the monthly charge goes down from €19.99 to €15.99 (or €2 to 0). Also calls within the UK to landlines and texts to UK mobiles while in the UK, or calls back to France from the UK (or other EU countries) are free for up to 35 days a year for each country. Also works fine on 3g and 4g and never seem to get extra charges.
Thanks Shirley. Hubby is on some kind of animal PAYG Orange tarif which is quite expensive and then I get hit when he calls me. Think I will go with the Free 19,99euro option unless I can find another special offer lurking somewhere over the next few days !
Thanks Simon, I hadn't seen that. Last time I used the Option Voyage, a couple of years ago, it was valid for three months only, I think.
Helen I have an English PAYG Nokia mobile phone and number here, account payment is with vodaphone and I can top up online from my UK bank acct, or send my friend a text and she will top up and I can refund her account as and when Internet access or computers not playing up! With Vodaphone I also arranged to have roaming so I could use it here!
I receive SFR signal for my Uk mobile from my house.
Europe Zone 1 costs with Vodaphone Euro Traveller on PAYG are :- Cost of texts - 5p. Calls 16p per min to make and 4p pm to receive calls, all with my UK mobile No and SIM card. to/from Zone 1.
Check out Vodaphone online to see all their Services
With my French mobile its on my Orange account. In both cases it was a question of needs must at the relevant times. I’m not being extravagant, and of course the money is still in my UK account all the time I don’t use the UK mobile. Vodaphone are not sim or money, time limited!
SFR and Vodaphone together are much better than anything from Orange, especially if you can get a U.K. Vodaphone SIM card. I rarely use the UK mobile from here but handy in situations like yours and of course when back there! I know not as cheap as you are paying now but thought it worth telling you.
Either I missed that offer or specifically avoided it for my boys as otherwise in the internat they will be online all the time... I did get a virgin tarif for one of them for 3.99€ options were less generous but sans engagement - perhaps I should have looked for 12mo contracts.
Pass me the whiskey first !! Its pretty crazy how the telecoms market has been shaken up since we arrived 10 years ago. We had 2 landlines, one for fax and the other phone and dailup internet 139€ every 2 months with an element of international calls. I took an Orange mobile package of 7hrs international talk time and unlimited French calls and texts at 75€ (wildly overspeced as I found out a few years later when I insisted Orange show me my usage 2-3 hours per month). Now I'm quibbling over tens of euros per month.
At that time my husband was doing some research from home and quickly blew our dialup 2 hours per day quota- a week or so of him surfing cost us 120€ and we had no chance of having broadband. A satellite service sorted that out though it was impossible to download even a small video. I remember asking at Orange about satellite to be told that satellite was for on ships and wildly expensive..... Luckily her collaborateur knew slightly more than she did !
Since then we have moved so we have broadband but I am loath to get rid of my landline (and the UK telecom UK calls package) because I am stupidly snobbish about using the internet for my phone calls !!!
Yes - the limiting factor is the rubbish wifi in hubbie's digs which precludes Skype, viber and whatsapp. However there are a few interesting ways and means - Three, for example offers an OK package for UK based users travelling abroad and communicating back to the UK but not communicating in the country they visit.
Krister, Free Mobile does offer international calls - you just need to put a 10€ deposit into your account for their Option Voyage and Option International - via 'Gérer Mes Options'. You only need to do this once for the lifetime of your account and your bills are initially deducted from the deposit/s.
I recently changed to Virgin Mobile (they use the SFR network) Forfait Illimité for 3,99€/month - unlimited calls / sms / mms to French mobiles and landlines, unlimited international calls to landlines (same countries as all other operators) and an amazing 20 Go of data per month - no contract. Deal was for 12 months - after which I'll shop around again.
We have landline and internet with Orange, since years. Mobile phones are with Free, 2€/month. Over here in rural Cantal, Orange is the mobile network to go with; it's the only one that works inside our house. We cannot get TV over internet, so Orange offers TV by satellite. The Free for 2€/month does not include communication to/from abroad, but for that there are plenty of other no-cost means (landline-to-landline, Skype, Whatsapp, Viber, Telegram, Signal)
However, now our plan is to skip the landline subscription, move the internet to Sosh (Orange's low cost provider, like Red of SFR), and keep our landline number the same. Sosh does not offer TV, so for that we will get a box for Fransat (130€), same satellite as "TV d'Orange par satellite". Monthly cost will go down from about 50 € to 30 €.
The offer from Sosh includes one mobile subscription, so we will transfer one of our Free numbers to that; another 2€/month saving.
In general, I recommend having a look at the offers from the low-cost providers : Sosh (Orange), Red (SFR), B&You (Bouygues). Normally it's the more or less the same, technically speaking, but customer services only online.
Yes, and you can install Skype on your smartphone as well. Another option is Viber. But they do need Wifi...
Just had a major run in with SFR which may go to legal action on our part, but that’s not the point here I know.
How about using a smart phone and then using iMessage or what’s app instead of texts? i use it all the time to my kids in the uk and my brother and sister in Canada.
I think you'll find the €2 doesn't allow you to ring the UK.
I use GiffGaff the UK provider or use Skype
Maybe this might help. There is an option along the top there (a tab) for International and other stuff.
http://www.lebonforfait.fr/comparateur.html
Good idea. Let us knoe your results. I am investigating same subject
Yes, skype.
My loved ones are on every cotinent an chatting withem, for hours costs nothin.
VIVA LA SKYPE
no ipad needed. I can use my laptop too
Thanks Alison. I will probably go for this and then I will attack the thorny landline plus broadband tarifs !
I use Free.fr. Texts to Europe are 19c. UTexts to French mobiles and up to 2h of voice calls to French mobiles, French landlines and Europe landlines are included in the €2 monthly fee. There’s also some 4g internet data included but I haven’t made use if this