UK Ferry Tickets

It’s good to talk, says the advert.

A call to a loved one or maybe a quick chat with the family can do you the world of good. And if you use your mobile while abroad, it’s also very good for Vodafone, its main sponsor, a Mr David Beckham (that chap who complains of press intrusion while sponsoring many of the consumer durables known to man), and rivals 02, T-mobile and Orange.

The costs of using a mobile phone abroad are nothing short of scandalous. Make just a quick call from some destinations and you can be charged several pounds per minute, or part of a minute. The fees for picking up messages are also exhorbitant and, to add insult to injury, you even get charged for receiving a call!

Ring me while I’m abroad and you’ll find a curt message on my phone telling you I’m out of the country and to please only leave a message if your call is urgent. That doesn’t stop the odd dopey public relations executive from enquiring whether I’ve got their press release about a chef in a Sussex restaurant having a new hat, but it does cut out most of the dross. I’ve got a mortgage to pay and I can’t afford to chat idly to you while I’m sitting on a beach in the Caribbean carrying out important research for my next article, thank you very much.

However, help is at hand. Companies such as SIM4travel and 0044.co.uk are now making it possible for travellers to make local calls at local rates and receive calls free. They sell their own SIM cards, which you just pop into the back of your mobile when you go abroad. The new cards will have a different number, which is slightly annoying, but for a one-off fee of around £30, they could make phoning abroad cheap and cheerful.

I hesitate to recommend these products without using them, but I plan to do just that in the future. If you hear a nice, welcoming message on my answerphone you’ll know that I’m happy with the service and willing to chat while overseas. But I’m keen to know if anyone else has used this service or has any other clever ideas to avoid exhorbitant phone charges while abroad. So drop me a line if you can shed any light on this.
 

Guest Article by Jeremy Skidmore

Thursday, May 17th, 2007