brian.w

Need some info i just purchased a new payg mobile a few weeks ago i plan to use it in oz next year when i go on my working holiday visa.

i have read on this forum that its best to get a payg sim over in oz and to unlock the phone before going away.

can someone tell me im with orange are they in oz and would i be more expensive not unlocking phone and using my phone over there or would i best get another sim.

as i prefer to use orange and have a number that a few people have if i unlocked it what happens with orange and my phone does this harm the phone in anyway and what happens with me using orange do i loose my number and all thats registered with orange and when i keep my sim and return back to uk can the sim be put back into phone and everything work as like before.

im not sure whats involved in unlocking a phone but say i unlocked it and put the orange sim back in again after unlocking it would this lock my phone again.

reason i ask is it would be great to be able to use my mobile right up until i was about to board plane to phone home etc, but if its looked then i could not do this and would not be able to use it till i was in uk and got my new sim.

can someone give me some info about this as i am looking to do this before i go and who can do it are there high street stores that do this if so what is the cost and how long does it take.

please give some info

kentcoast

Rule One (No Don, not the rule one about smiling elderly monks...) - nothing is ever simple....

Firstly (although I've never heard of anyone getting into problems over this). Unlocking your phone can invalidate your contract and is viewed by the mobile telco's as a *bad* thing. Orange in particular include a specific unlocking clause in their T&C's.

That's got that out of the way, so what are the practicalities?

Providing that your phone can be unlocked (and all but the simplest can) it will continue to work with your existing payg sim. You can then take it with you and get a new sim in Oz.

Orange has a reciprocal arrangement in Oz so it's one of the countries where you can use a UK payg sim on roaming, so you can load it up and use it over there (at high rates) until you get an oz account set up.

The Orange website www.orange.co.uk has loads of info on what phones work over there, charges etc.

Whether or not your existing sim works when you get back depends on how long you are away - you'll see on your contract that there's an inactivity clause. They can cancel and reissue your number if its not used for a stated time.

Orange does exist in Oz - logo's are the same etc but as far as I'm aware (help here someone...) it's run as a totally seperate company with no links to Europe.

Hope that helps

Perry

WhiteRose

I 'm happy to be corrected on this, but I also believe that the Orange network in Australia is not a GSM network, so your GSM phone from Orange in the UK will not work on the Orange network in Australia.

Last time we were out there we bought a Virgin Mobile PAYG sim for about $30 - which had $30 of calls included - and used it with a sim-free Nokia 3310, and it was very cheap to call back to the UK.

brian.w

does anyone have a chart or website that shows what payg sim cards in mobile phones in oz cost to make calls within oz and to phone back to uk i hope if i get a sim when over there its got best coverage in most places and works out maybe the cheapest.

anyone recommend a sim?

Wendy&Mike

To call UK from Aus with an orange phone is £1.30 per min.

Buy a sim when you get there.

Mike.

Wendy&Mike

Rates here

Mike.

kentcoast

This gets complicated - you're quite right, for some bizarre reason Orange Aus uses CDMA, I'd forgotton that..

Quick word on phone standards (sure there's a faq somewhere) Most of the world uses one of the flavours of GSM (there are three main ones 900, 1800 and 1900, there are others but they are marginal).

In the UK Orange uses the 1800 band, Voda and O2 use 900 as does most of the rest of Europe. The US and Canada use mostly 1900.

The main players in Aus (Voda, Telstra, Optus/Virgin) use the 900 band.

CDMA is a standard used mainly in asia, setting data is stored internally - it does not use a sim at all.

Phones in the UK are classified as single, dual or tri band. A single band phone is only able to use the band specific to the supplier, dual band supports 900/1800 and tri-band gives you 900/1800/1900.

So, the bottom line: A single band payg phone from Voda or O2 or a dual band phone from orange will, once unlocked be able to take a sim from one of the main players (apart from Orange) in Oz.

Sorry to ramble - hope it helps

Perry

brian.w

i have a sony t68i so no problems there just need to know whats the best sim to get as of coverage when over there and cheap to use to phone home and also while there.

i take it i do nothing to the phone to make it work in another country apart from unlocking it.

t68i is tri band whats all this gps,gprs all about whats that for?

kentcoast

Don't know of a comparison site but iMobile http://www.imobile.com.au/ServiceProvider/ has lins to all the networks and some good info.

GPRS (General Packet Radio System/Service - can't remember which - look it up) is the 'always on' internet connection on your modile. You use it when you look at a WAP page.

Perry