T mobile phone uk and eire

[TOT]

hi my mobile phone is on the T mobile network

Just recently I have been in and out of UK and Eire quite a few times on a regular basis

From Eire, I telephone and text my contacts both in eire and Uk.

As such my phone bill is HORRENDOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( and I mean HORRENDOUS)

I think thier texts ( make and receive ) are 40p each in eire

and the calls are similar ( make and receive to UK 35 p per minute) from Eire

I need to visit Eire again soon , any suggestions

I need to keep my same number

any suggestions for cheaper options

thanks

[Keef]

Roaming and international calls on mobiles are horrendously expensive.

I understand the EU (or some bit of it) has the matter under review.

Some providers (I don't know about T-Mob) offer a "reduced price" deal, either free if you register, or bigger discount if you pay a fixed amount per month.

Still expensive, but no longer horrendous.

Regular travellers seem to have a wallet full of PAYG SIMs for the locations they visit. It makes local calls a lot cheaper.

[nitro rig driver]

buy a PDA and go voip-as long as you can find WIFI your very very cheap

[ad astra]

If you have a look at the 3 network I think that they allow you to receive calls for free if you are roaming in a country with a 3 network (which includes Ireland). You can also use any prepaid minutes you have on your contract. And if you're pay as you go they seem pretty cheap too.

http://www.three.co.uk/personal/help_support_/network_coverage_/going_abroad_/pay_monthly/destination.omp?cid=31500&plantype=

[Lancelot37]

<< any suggestions for cheaper options >>

Don't use your mobile phone.
I can't understand why people need one other than for emergency use.

I spend about £3 a year on my pay as you go.

[potkettleblack]

Vodafone Ireland has a deal called passport which essentially treats the UK and Ireland as a local area. Not sure if it works the other way though.

[NRU74]

TOT
Try www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones)
Storytelecom or Sim4travel supply Sim cards you can use most places and circa 25ppm per call but free to receive BUT
you'll need an unlocked phone -you can get most of the Nokia unlock codes on the web - the other makes are more difficult and you may have to pay c£15 to your local phone shop for unlocking

[preduk]

I work for O2 at their HQ and I'm fully aware of customers upset of large bills... sadly it happens frequently!

The EU recently set the standards for the calls and these are 35ppm for calls 18ppm to recieve calls and 16p for texts.

O2 at the moment are charging the above costs, however if your an O2 customer you get a thing called the Ireland Bolt On which reduces the cost to 25ppm. We also don't charge you anything for your texts, so say for example you are given 500 texts messages, we take 4 texts from the allowance for every one text you send. You aren't charged anything for recieving them (worldwide).

If you want to keep your number, best thing to do is ask T-Mobile for a "PAC" code and you can transfer your number to any network free of charge.