fatbrit

Love the optimists!

Haroulli

OK i'll rephrase that!

"I'll just order one from Ebay!"

fatbrit

smartiegirl88

I don't think the people in the phone stores over here know what sim cards are. You are right about T-mobile coverage in SC. It's non-existent. I have got Alltel, which seems to work well if you are planning to travel- it even works out in the boonies- most places at least. Verizon and Cingular are fairly popular in the Charleston area as well, as is Suncom for their unplan- basically pay for what you use type plan.

Haroulli

Hello all! Just got back from the US embassy in London my Visa application was succesful

As for fones i think i'll get Cingular as i've seen their sim cards advertised on E-bay.

I've looked at SunCom but i'm a bit confused as to what thier UnPlan is? Is it pay as u go or a monthly bill contract?

fatman

I just got a virgin pay as you go 0.25cents per minute, I'm going to change it for a contract though as you have to pay for incoming calls.
pay as you go is a rip off here. I wouldn't advise anyone to sign up with cingular though, my wife has had a ton of problems with them.

scrubbedexpat099

You get charged both ways whatever you use in the US, unless someone can tell me otherwise.

I have Virgin, UK and US. The UK was not that bad for International calls, the few I made.

I use onesuite now for International calls, land or cell.

Never had a prob with Virgin, but its structure may not suite all.

fatman

I know, but you get your free minutes each month with a contract....
The best solution if you want to talk to yer folks back home is a webcam and broadband. Webcams are only about $30, very easy to set up, and if you've got broadband you pay a flat free, even with a dial up modem you only pay local rate. That's assuming people back home have the same set up.

scrubbedexpat099

Well a Contract costs. Perhaps included minutes may be a better term.

Not for everyone, depends on usage.

Bob

Some high expensive contracts are out there so u don't pay incoming calls...

Haroulli

Hmm now ur confusing me! What i really want is people in SC's opinion and what they use in the way of Pre-paid. Because really what might be good for someone in CO might be complete crap and a waste of time in SC.

So far Cingular looks the most likely as i need a Sim card prepaid thing as i want to use my GSM fone that i have over here! (yes it's unlocked it always has been).

smartiegirl88

The Suncom plan is still a contract, so you are probably not interested in that. Cingular prepaid basically still costs you a set amount a month. I think it starts at about $30. It's not like in UK where you pay $5 at a time. Basically, you pay the set $30 or whatever, and then if you go over what your plan is for that month, you can buy more minutes, but if you don't use them, then you still pay $30 at the same time the next month. I don't think they roll over minutes either. At the lowest rate of $30, you don't get the unlimited nights and weekend minutes either....

I think prepaid is pants for what you actually get, but it's mainly for people who don't have good enough credit to get on a contract- or, if you don't want to be on a contract because you're not going to be here that long.

fatbrit

Think you are looking at this the wrong way. By insisting on clutching on to using your GSM phone, you're greatly restricting your choice. Some of the prepaid phones are as cheap as $40 (example here) so you can just use them while you're here and chuck 'em when you leave. Neither of the GSM carriers give a particularly good deal for non-contract plans, but this is the service you are looking for. Indeed, you would not get a phone with a contract without either a credit history or a hefty deposit.

BlightyBoy

I too could not use my 02 pay as you go triband phone over here after topping it up. I think the problem was that you have to phone them up and enable it for overseas before you go abroad.
I have a question. Does the 02 credit expire after a while?

Shish kebab

The do not use sim's cards here let alone understand what they are. So you will not be able to get it converted. I brought a pre paid phone over from the Cayman Islands that did not use a sim's card but used a battery and I could not even connect that I found out the the phone was only able to work with the one and only phone company in the Cayman Islands. I had to get a new pre paid phone and picked virgin mobile they are a bit cheeper than the others after I looked at them all. Most of them connect over the phone or on the computer and you can top up your phone on the internet. This is the web address if you want to check it out and there lowest top up card starts at $20 and is valid for 3 month. www.virginmobileusa.com