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The Cost of Staying in Touch !

Discussion in 'British Filipino Suggestion Box' started by C3lt1957, Mar 8, 2016.

  1. Markham
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    Markham Guest

    I have a phone and it does have a SIM card. But I never load it nor indeed use it.
  2. jai_ren
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    jai_ren BANNED

    nobody helps themselves to your load balance unless a user stupidly even reads, much less replies to one of those barmy text messages that turn up in your inbox in the Philippines, you almost never get on roaming.

    in fact I think the 'phone companies in the Philipines steal load' cliche is a bit of an urban myth too. It's not just My Way.

    if you are losing load it is frankly likelier to be your girlfriend nattering to her family while you are asleep, or passing them load which they can do in the 3 minutes you are in the CR anytime. How long does it take to pass someone load from one phone that has load, to another one that doesn't. It's about 30-40 seconds.
  3. graham59
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    graham59 Banned

    I don't need to be called stupid or instructed in how to use my phone thanks.
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  4. Markham
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    Markham Guest

    Globe roaming works as flawlessly as Smart's, Whippy, but does have to be requested a full 24 hours before you depart.
  5. Maharg
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    Maharg Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    Our O2 international SIM arrived yesterday. My wife was able to use it last night for her first family argument and the quality was a lot better than Planet Talk as well as the price.

    I used to use a Smart roaming SIM, which wad useful, althoug I did find that I had to keep switching uk signal between O2 and someone else (Virgin I think), depending on where I was. It only worked on 2 networks.

    It was also useful when I went to Phils as I could turn roaming off and take it with me. So I could call her when I landed.

    I tried it yesterday before taking it out the phone to put the O2 one in, but it didn't work. Haven't used it for 3 years so maybe it's been deactivated.
  6. jai_ren
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    jai_ren BANNED

    SMART'S roaming system is really stable and uncomplicated and they haven't changed the basics of it for years (activate it 1 at least hour before you leave the country, and have a minimum of 100 pesos balance) with GLOBE they keep changing the system. They've had at least 3 different systems I am aware of. A few years ago they had it so that you needed a minimum of 300 pesos load, I think they have changed that now to only 100 or 150, in line with SMART.

    but I fail to see why GLOBE need to have you activate roaming 24 hours before departure anyway, when SMART have been able to provide a roaming service activating it only one hour before departure, for about 10 years.

    It means you can't even use your phone for 24 hours before you leave the country. What's that all about? GLOBE do seem to have been making a bit of an effort to improve their roaming service, and it does not seem to be quite as abysmal now as it was before. But there is just something wrong, with GLOBE roaming. They've been tinkering about with it like idiots for years. It's nowhere near as good as SMART's..

    the best thing about SMART roaming is that it doesn't cost you a centavo so long as you use it just to receive text messages, and don't do anything at all else, with it. And I mean anything. No calls. No texts. No anything. Don't even check your balance when it's set to roaming. If you do, it will cost you 20 pesos.

    for text messaging and calls, if you are in communication with people in the Philippines a lot, and you are in the Philippines a lot as well and don't want to change your Philippines number, the best thing is surely to have a dual SIM phone with an inexpensive for foreign calls-and-texts UK Sim card in it like White, Lebara, Lycamobile, or the new UK SMART Sim for outgoing from the UK calls and texts in #1, and a Filipino SMART Sim for incoming texts from the Philippines, set to roaming in #2.

    you can alter the settings on the phone so it is not possible for the #2 Filipino SMART roaming Sim to make a call or send a text inadvertently. If it does, it might run up a large bill.

    right now in the UK, I have 2 SMART Sim's set to roaming. One of them is my main 'normal' Filipino number, which I want to keep and which I take care to have someone in the Philippines load it with 50 pesos per month while I'm away to keep it 'ticking over' as a precaution.

    the other one, I don't have anybody load it, just to see what will happen to it. SMART says that you have to keep loading it with a small amount once a month while you are away, but I don't think in practice that you have to do this. In the past I've not loaded it for up to 4 months while I was away and it still worked perfectly on arrival in the Philippines.

    SUN's roaming is really limited. They only offer it in a few countries where there is loads of Filipino OFW's like Hong Kong and Malaysia. It's not available in the UK.

    when you are in the Philippines, your UK PAYG Sim can become de-activated too. They vary, but some of them get de-activated after as little as 60 days non-use, and there are not many of them that last longer than 90 days non-use. Call up their UK Customer Service to check before departure from the UK. To make sure they keep activated so they work on return to the UK, you usually have to insert one of them in your phone in the Philippines after maybe 50 days or whenever the limit approaches and use it to send a single text message. That is enough to keep them 'live'.
  7. Izzycam
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    Izzycam New Member

    Planet numbers from a landline are the cheapest, not the sign up deal, the one off ring anybody, anywhere deal. Read the site.
  8. Nick O
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    Nick O New Member

    I use Giffgaf 11 pence per minute from uk mobile to ph mobile, not the cheapest but beats most, just top up with airtime credit as and when needed.
  9. Zachariah11
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    Zachariah11 Member

    How about you get I phones. You use FaceTime . If you both have WiFi signal then you don’t pay anything. I’ve been doing it for 4years.
    On the phone for hours sometimes.
  10. DavidAlma
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    DavidAlma Well-Known Member

    Unless you are using somebody else's WiFi, this will not be free. Data via any of the mobile networks is not especially cheap in Philippines. Additionally, the network coverage sucks in many parts of the country.
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  11. Sanders
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    Sanders Banned

    I agree. FaceTime works well. Or well enough.
  12. bigmac
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    bigmac Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    welcome to the site @Sanders
  13. Sanders
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    Sanders Banned

    Thanks mate.
  14. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    I don't know if it is still available but I used to be able to get unlimited broadband via my Smart SIM for about 1000 peso a month as a data bundle, that was pretty good as I could share it from my phone with all my other devices when we were out and about, kids phones as well, I hope that is still available when I go back as I have 2500 peso worth of load saved up which is currently due to expire in February next year.

    That expiry date surprised me as generally I had to buy 300 peso worth every two months or so in order to keep the load from expiring, just bought 300 peso worth a week ago and got the new expiry date, have checked it multiple times now in my Online Smart account, still expiring in Feb 2019.

    Back in 2004 I was spending vast amounts of money on communications, I spent a lot of time finding the cheapest ways to communicate that were humanly possible.
  15. Anon04576
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    Anon04576 Well-Known Member

    Welcome back John. Dont get in any spats please.
  16. bigmac
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    bigmac Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    oh no--we got both of them back?
  17. Anon04576
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    Anon04576 Well-Known Member

    Ayyy, lets keep an open mind and see where we go.
  18. Drunken Max
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    Drunken Max Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    FB messenger seems to be the best all round messenger that does not require a particular phone type. I use Skype for international calls but not skype to go. As mica is in the Cayman, she keeps her mum loaded up with data and they only call when her mum has a wifi signal. I message her mum all the time ( thank god for google translate ).

    The problem is that because so many Philippinos work abroad and are so family orientated the phone / netowrk see no need to be competitive. Skype calls to Phil are 9.1p per minute and to the US 2.1p per minute, china 1.7p, Thailand 1.7p, Malaysia 1.9p. Who thinks they are taking the piss?

    I think mobile calls in Phil on Phil networks are about 4 pesos a minute
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2018
  19. Bootsonground
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    Bootsonground Guest

    We have been using whatsapp just lately... Best connection we have ever had!!
  20. Stellar
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    Stellar BANNED AGAIN

    SMART to SMART and GLOBE to GLOBE are 6.50 pesos per minute. To the 'other' networks they are 7.50 per minute. For Filipinos, on their wages, this is expensive, and this is why Filipinos almost always register to phone promos if they can. A 20 peso promo might get you unlimited texts to all networks, and also perhaps 20 minutes of calls to the same network. When you can run up the same amount of money, 20 pesos, half what they pay in a Jollibee for an hour's work, just by talking to your mom for 3.5 minutes, it's a no brainer to subscribe to one.
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