Wireless data in france?

August 7, 2009 11:05 AM

Is it possible to buy prepaid wireless data in France?

I'm going to be in France for about 2 weeks and I'd love it if I could use my (jailbroken) iPhone for email, skype and GPS. Is it possible to spend a reasonable amount of money for a reasonable amount of data?

Thanks

posted by aeighty to travel & transportation (4 comments total)

I don't know of any prepaid plan that would give you enough data to use Skype.

If you can limit your usage to maps, e-mail and mobile websites, you can use a Bouygues prepaid SIM, which you can get at any Bouygues Telecom store. The SIM card costs 9€, and you can charge it in intervals of 5€. Data costs 2€ per megabyte (There may be a 10mb for 10€ option as well). I used this for several months in France, and it cost me an average of about 1€ per day, using maps constantly and checking my e-mail and a few websites regularly.
posted by helios at 1:46 PM on August 7

Actually, looking at the Bouygues site, it looks like they have since changed the price to 0,02€/kB (which is 20€ per megabyte).

However, it looks like SFR offers a rechargable card for the iPhone 3G that gives you unlimited access to the internet for 20 days for 20€ (VOIP is not allowed, although it's possible that it will work anyway).
posted by helios at 2:00 PM on August 7

That's perfect helios, thanks!

Do I have to go to an SFR store to buy one, or are there other distributors?
posted by aeighty at 2:47 PM on August 7

If I'm reading that page correctly, you need to buy a SIM card (for 9€) and recharge it with an iPhone plan. If that's the case, then you should be able to do that at any location that sells SFR SIM cards, including 3rd-party shops.

But I'd recommend going to an SFR store if you can, because you're likely to get better service, and it's less likely that someone will try to rip you off. It shouldn't be hard to find an SFR store; they are everywhere.
posted by helios at 4:21 PM on August 7