Need a phone in the UK.
September 14, 2011 11:17 AM   Subscribe

Help me choose a mobile phone for domestic and international calls in the UK.

I'm moving to London for year in about a week, and I need a phone. I'd like to make fairly frequent calls to the US; other than that I don't care about plan or phone features. I looked at plans for some of the major carriers but I'm not very good at understanding those things. Any help would be appreciated.
posted by Partario to Shopping (4 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Get a pay-as-you-go account.

Do you already have an unlocked gsm phone? If not, get one before you leave or go to Carphone Warehouse upon your arrival and buy on there.
posted by k8t at 11:27 AM on September 14, 2011


You can get a pay-as-you-go phone from any provider and then get a 3rd party provider such as Call Cheaper. Dont know if thats the best. It is what I use when I need to call my parents in the US from my UK mobile.

There's been other threads on this. Here's one.
posted by vacapinta at 11:28 AM on September 14, 2011


Best answer: I would suggest that you choose from Lebara (at 5p/min)or Vectone (at 3p/minute) sim cards and not go for a dial through options as suggested by others because depending on which pay as you go provider you go with you will end up using a lot of money dialing the call through number which is charged. Lebara/Vecton will call the USA direct from your sim at the quoted rate with no extras.

One additional benefit with Vectone is that for a fixed fee you can have a USA incoming number so you can receive calls from your US callers using their inclusive or local minutes.

The underlying carriers for both these sim cards are the usual carriers you will get a contract with.

Second alternative is to get a monthly contract with loads of local minutes and use Rebtel app (if you use an iphone/android/blackberry phone).
posted by london302 at 12:55 PM on September 14, 2011


I moved about a month ago and have found it incredibly difficult to get a contract phone. I still don't have one and it's looking likely I'll have to wait months. (New arrival, zero local credit score.)

Right now I'm on Lebara and I love the 1p a minute calls to NZ landlines. I imagine it'll be similar for the US. My boyfriend is on Lebara too which makes calling & texting him practically free.
posted by teststrip at 11:58 PM on September 14, 2011


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