Sweden Filter: Telenor and SMS to US, and a little more

August 5, 2009 2:41 PM

1. Why won't my sms's go through 2. Any way to permanently change all my numbers to have a +1 in the front? 3. Help with roaming charges

I just arrived in Sweden and got a Telenor card for my unlocked iPhone. I can sms people in Sweden just fine, but my sms to numbers in France will fail without telling me, and my sms to number in the USA will fail before its even sent out even if I put the +1 in front of the numbers.

Also, is there an easy way with google/iPhone to auto put +1 in front of all my US numbers without me doing it manually? I know t does it for calls, but I want to permanently update the numbers.

Finally, if someone can help me figure out on the Telenor site what happens if I make calls or use the internet with my prepaid card in other countries in Europe, that would be great. I don't speak Swedish, eep!

posted by hipersons to Technology (4 answers total)

... if someone can help me figure out on the Telenor site what happens if I make calls or use the internet with my prepaid card in other countries in Europe, that would be great. I don't speak Swedish, eep!

Unless you have some odd prepaid plan, it either works and the card is charged, or it doesn't work and nothing gets charged.

But why not just call them or drop by the nearest Telenor store? If you're in Sweden, the odds of you stumbling upon a Telenor representative that doesn't speak enough English to help you sort this out is pretty low.
posted by effbot at 2:48 PM on August 5, 2009

Well, you already bought it, Telenor is more industry oriented and never have had good deals for private consumers.
But for you, in Pay As You Go SIM card (called as KontantKort), there are 3 plans (and you haven't mentioned which one you have) so rather than mentioning all 3 plans here, I would rather recommend you to visit nearest Telenor Store and talk to the sales rep.

And if you are not happy with their response, head to Tele2 Store and buy Tele2 Comviq Kompis, they have the cheapest international call rates, for first 30 days and then it shoots up like hell unless you top it up. But the top up can be as cheap as SEK 75. Mobile surfing is as low as SEK 9 a day and trust me thats dirt cheap. (I have this plan and I don't work for them)

Hope this helps.
posted by zaxour at 1:59 AM on August 6, 2009

A quick correction, I mentioned Tele2 Kompis, it should be Tele2 Amigos.
posted by zaxour at 10:09 AM on August 6, 2009

Well, with the Amigos card, you seem to pay about 5 SEK/minute when calling from EU countries (outside Sweden) to other EU countries, and half that when receiving calls. Telenor's cards have similar rates.

Amigos is quite a bit cheaper if you're calling to the US, though, especially from Sweden.

(But if you plan to spend much time on the phone, get Skype with SkypeOut for the relevant countries. You can probably buy an entry level Asus EEE-PC for the money you'll be saving, and it comes with Skype preinstalled :-)
posted by effbot at 1:31 PM on August 6, 2009