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Save Money In London With Your iPhone

Posted by on Jan 7, 2013 in Phones | Comments Off

Nearly every year, I travel between Helsinki Finland and London UK. The journey takes about 2 to 3 hours and during the travel, the mobile network changes from the Finnish GSM operator to the UK GSM carrier. (If you are going to London, unlock your phone. To do this, order here.) I was shocked to find out that I had spent €100 for a 10 minute phone call I made from Estonia to London. This is crazy because I only pay around €42 per month with included data plan.

Next time I travel, I plan to get an iPhone with a permanent unlock so that I can save money by buying a local prepaid Sim card in London. Most of the mobile carriers in London including Vodaphone, O2, Lebara Mobile, Virgin and Three, sell local prepaid Sim cards.

Prepaid Sim cards offer several key advantages over the contract Sim card that you brought with you from home. First, you are able to place telephone calls and send SMS text messages on your iPhone at local rates. You will save on average 150% of the calling fees normally charge by the mobile carrier that you have a contract with back home.

Second, you will be assigned your own dedicated local telephone number and voice calls are charged by the second, not by the minute as is common with phones under contract.

unlock iphone

Next time I travel, I plan to get an iPhone with a permanent unlock so that I can save money by buying a local prepaid Sim card in London.
CC image courtesy of Mission:Explore

Billing by the second significantly reduces the amount of time you use up from the Sim card, making it last longer.

Lastly, by using a mobile prepaid Sim card in iPhone, there is no need for contracts, monthly charges or credit checks. You can just walk right in, buy yourself a Sim card and pop it into your iPhone. I am going to make it a point to do this in the future.

Using data services abroad of course can be expensive. Not all mobile prepaid cards will support data services, so it is a good idea to check with the local carrier before travel begins or once you arrive at the terminal. You can go to the local currency exchange offices and usually they will point you in a good direction where to buy a local prepaid Sim card.

One good thing to all of this is that incoming calls are free. So if, you truly want to save money, all you have to do is get your friends to call or send an SMS to you, instead of you calling them.

About Veaney McIrvin

Peter Smit writes for Unlock An iPhone, the number 1 iPhone unlock solution. This is a plug & Play hardware unlock that will fully unlock your iPhone!