Calling Zambia

A relative is off to Zambia for a couple of months so we're looking at
cost effective ways to keep in touch by mobile. At present they have an
O2 contract - not sure which tariff - but could pick up a local sim
while there, or even get one in advance. We'd probably use texts mainly
but would also want daily contact with short phone calls.

If it's cheaper, having two phones each is acceptable, one for receiving
and the other for sending texts. Has anyone have suggestions as to the
best way to do this?

TIA

--
Ray Ward

Ray <abuse@domain.is.invalid> wrote:
> A relative is off to Zambia for a couple of months so we're looking at
> cost effective ways to keep in touch by mobile. At present they have an
> O2 contract - not sure which tariff - but could pick up a local sim
> while there, or even get one in advance. We'd probably use texts mainly
> but would also want daily contact with short phone calls.

Is the phone unlocked?

Without checking, my guess would be that a local SIM would be miles cheaper.
The local population don't have much money, so if there's any kind of free
market in mobiles then the prices can't be too high. OTOH O2 will probably
charge you a fortune (1.50/min, something like that) for calls.

Indeed, roaming may not even work at all. It may be worth buying several
Zambian SIMs and picking the one which works best where they are (or if the
network goes down).

Maybe also consider an international SIM:
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/international.html
but don't put too much money on it in case it doesn't work.

BTW, don't be surprised if the network is flaky or nonexistent.
Non-arriving texts would be the sort of thing I'd expect.

Theo

---- Original Message ----
From: Theo Markettos <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
Sent: Mon, 28 Sep 2009
>Ray <abuse@domain.is.invalid> wrote:
>> A relative is off to Zambia for a couple of months so we're looking at
>> cost effective ways to keep in touch by mobile. At present they have an
>> O2 contract - not sure which tariff - but could pick up a local sim
>> while there, or even get one in advance. We'd probably use texts mainly
>> but would also want daily contact with short phone calls.
>
>Is the phone unlocked?
>
>Without checking, my guess would be that a local SIM would be miles cheaper.
>The local population don't have much money, so if there's any kind of free
>market in mobiles then the prices can't be too high. OTOH O2 will probably
>charge you a fortune (1.50/min, something like that) for calls.
>
>Indeed, roaming may not even work at all. It may be worth buying several
>Zambian SIMs and picking the one which works best where they are (or if the
>network goes down).
>
>Maybe also consider an international SIM:
>http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/international.html
>but don't put too much money on it in case it doesn't work.
>
>BTW, don't be surprised if the network is flaky or nonexistent.
>Non-arriving texts would be the sort of thing I'd expect.
>
>Theo

Thanks, will look up the international sim option. Yes we have unlocked
phones.

Maybe I should have pointed out that we do have contacts over there,
that's why we could get hold of local sims in advance. The main worry is
the cost of calls, especially to foreign networks or when roaming.

--
Ray Ward

On 28 Sep, 10:16, Ray <ab...@domain.is.invalid> wrote:
> ---- Original Message ----
> From: Theo Markettos <theom+n...@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
> Sent: Mon, 28 Sep 2009
> >Ray <ab...@domain.is.invalid> wrote:
> >> A relative is off to Zambia for a couple of months so we're looking at
> >> cost effective ways to keep in touch by mobile. At present they have an
> >> O2 contract - not sure which tariff - but could pick up a local sim
> >> while there, or even get one in advance. We'd probably use texts mainly
> >> but would also want daily contact with short phone calls.
>
> >Is the phone unlocked?
>
> >Without checking, my guess would be that a local SIM would be miles cheaper.
> >The local population don't have much money, so if there's any kind of free
> >market in mobiles then the prices can't be too high. OTOH O2 will probably
> >charge you a fortune (1.50/min, something like that) for calls.
>
> >Indeed, roaming may not even work at all. It may be worth buying several
> >Zambian SIMs and picking the one which works best where they are (or if the
> >network goes down).
>
> >Maybe also consider an international SIM:
> >http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/international.html
> >but don't put too much money on it in case it doesn't work.
>
> >BTW, don't be surprised if the network is flaky or nonexistent.
> >Non-arriving texts would be the sort of thing I'd expect.
>
> >Theo
>
> Thanks, will look up the international sim option. Yes we have unlocked
> phones.
>
> Maybe I should have pointed out that we do have contacts over there,
> that's why we could get hold of local sims in advance. The main worry is
> the cost of calls, especially to foreign networks or when roaming.
>
> --
> Ray Ward

Some of the global SIMs - those with Isle of Man or Jersey numbers -
are inclusive in your O2 minutes, useful for forward incoming calls to
you.

I'd look at Cloud9, which seems to have slightly better rates direct
than via its resellers, though it just had a slight increase on some
destinations - now free incoming there, outgoing 20p to UK

and you might find other providers to set up your own callback with
either the O2 number forwarded, or to the global or local SIM, thus
outgoing rates from under 10p