JJJHM

Hi, can anyone help with a mobile phone dilemma...my handset is due an upgrade, we are looking to move to Oz next summer, I can either stay on my current, cheap tarfiff and make do with a two year old phone, or pay more and update to the latest hand set.
Please can you let me know if I will be able to simply switch sim cards when I get to Oz... if I can't I might as well stick to my current phone... many thanks..

stephenwhite68

should be able to simply switch your sim card and then use your phone over there (might have to get it unlocked though if your with O2 or Orange)

Qui~Gon

If its a contract phone you can bet your life your phone is locked to that network; I've looked at this for my self as I was on pay as you go to O2 network and that was locked to them I was luck it was a nokia phone and I found out how to unlock this on the net. If your phone can be unlocked I would check to see if it uses the same waveband as phone networks in oz,
my o2 one uses the same waveband as optus.

markr1963

AFAIK all UK mobiles work on the same GSM frequencies as OZ so your upgrade should work. As for whether your phone is locked to your supplier my g/f had a similar problem. She had a PAYG with Tesco and wanted a Sim only pack here in Perth. The phone was locked so she contacted Tesco to be told that she would have to pay £30 to top the phone up then wait 28 days for the necessary code Clearly this was no good as she needed to be phoning round for work. She was faced with having to buy a new phone until we spotted a 'phone doctor' kiosk in a mall. For 30AUD and roughly a minute she was up and running Incidentally her phone is a Nokia 3310.

HTH
Mark

JJJHM

Many thanks for the advice, just one more question... if I decided not to renew and upgrade, are PAYG cheaper here or Oz....

thanks again...

Julie

wmoore

Just as an example:-
Nokia 3100 on Virgin Mobile (AU) - $119 (~£47)
Nokia 3100 on Virgin Mobile (UK) - £99.99 (~$250)

That's just one example. It's a bit difficult to compare properly because there are different handsets in both countries, some offer a phone on PAYG, while the other is contract only, etc.

alamo

Have just looked into this myself. Our phones are quite old and cant be unlocked by using a code over the internet they have to be sent away and the prices vary between £10 and £30.
Decided its not worth it so will just get some over there. You might be able to sell yours before you go. Or you could try a search for sim free phones on google or the like.

Al and Mo

markeh

Hiya Alamo,
if they are Nokia's then you can download software from the net that generates the code for free!!!

Regards
Mark

JayDeee

ON another note, usually when you upgrade you are in effect taking out another 1 yr contract (depending on who you are with) so if you were to leave the UK before that contract is up you would have to pay it out.

Cheers
Kala

markeh

Kala,
I think it also depends on if you wonna new phone or not

10 months of the rental often covers the cost of the new phone, so for a little cost you can get the benefits of a new phone, and I give my old one's to the wife & change them to a virgin equivellant where you only pay for the calls (orange phones)

There are some nice phones out now, I like the Nokia 5140, but my phone is only 9 months old and the wife would have a eppy if I had a new one.

Bye
Mark

JJJHM

Fantastic replys... many thanks...

Julie