rich8509

Hi all,

My mother in law is going on Holiday to oz for 2 months in August, she is wanting to be able to communicate back to the UK via text messages is this possible?
if so how?
would she need to buy an oz sim?
what region would her phone have to be?
what is the most cost effective method?

many thanks in advance, now hit me with the knowledge.
Rich

emmal

If I remember rightly I am sure all she has to do is use her mobile from over here but when texting she will have to use the english dialing code infront of the mobile number

draper5

Good question. We are off to Oz in July/Aug and were wondering the same thing.
Wasn't sure that the UK sim would work over there and were thinking we'd have to get a cheap sim in Oz. If anyone else has info on this, then love to hear it. Thanks.

sreeby

sure its the same took my mobile on hols to the phillipines,didnt have a problem texting back to u.k.just have to put +44 first

leigh&ivan

Hi Rich.

It is possible to Txt back to the U.K, depends on the phone though, most of the newer models are global, some of the older models 1-3 years are Tri Band which means they work most places globally. Oz shouldn't be a problem.

If she is pay as you go or contract she should contact the provider, T-Mobile, Orange etc as they may need her to enter a roaming code into the phone for it to pick up Oz networks.

Hope this helps.

Ivan

rich8509

Thanks Ivan, so she needs a tri-band phone for starters, i believe she has one of the very rare house brick models not made anymore.

cheers
Rich

Mrs JFW

Yeah rich as I understand it her phone would need to be tri band!

Jackie

rich8509

Thanks Jackie, i'll see if i can get her a deal at the reclaimed brick yard and get her a new one.

tabby

Tri-band is for the states and some other countries but Aus is on the same as UK which is Dual band so all Uk mobiles will work although it will be quite costly ( I seem to remeber £0.50 per txt )

thribble

Absolutely. A new phone, and my advice would be to check that all the numbers have +44 entered in front (without the 0 aswell) before she goes. Experience with people who are not used to using mobiles is that they don't understand why the thing won't work, and explaining it when she's half way round the world is going to be too hard!

Re: the aussie sims, for a short holiday it may not be worth it. Do the research on the web closer to the time though - sometimes you can buy a sim for $20 with $20 credit on it, for example, which may work out cheaper depending how often she intends to text or call. Remember also that when roaming you get charged for incoming calls! Plus, to get a SIM in Australia, you need to be able to give an Aussie address. I'm not sure if a hotel counts- we've had to use our friends addresses on trips in the past.

Definetely check with service provider before leaving, and set the PIN on the voicemail. I've had problems in the past where i've thought I was set up for roaming and wasn't.

Finally, if you get a voicemail and dial the number from abroad to pick it up, it'll want a PIN, usually. Checking the setup with the service provider is worthwhile, as it'll be costly from abroad.

Good lord, that was a lot of typing! Hope it helps!

Mrs JFW

Good advice that thribble, I got caught out too when I couldn't use my phone in New York! Rang service provider when I got back....they clicked a button and said, its activated now!!!!!! aggggh!


Tabby - sorry didn't realise that dual band works in Oz! thanks for the info.
Jackie