InTouch
Smartcards - © Copyright 2004
Note: If you haven't done so
already, I suggest you read our Cell
Phone Overview article first as this article builds on
it.
What is a SIM
Card?
A SIM card is the heart of the cell
phone. It is equivalent to the phone plug that your desk phone at
home plugs into. It carries vital information such as
the phone number, the carrier that supplies it and accordingly the
rates you will pay when placing or in some cases when receiving
phone calls.
Based on the arrangement you have
with your SIM card vendor or the cell phone carrier, the SIM card
can be postpaid or prepaid. Postpaid SIM cards allow you to
talk all you want and the cell phone carrier will log your calls and
send you a bill at the end of each month. This is very similar
to what happens when you make calls from your home phone. You
usually receive a bill at the end of a given period, usually a month cycle. Understandably, the cell phone carrier
will require a credit card on file and probably some form of credit
approval since they will extend you the service ahead of being
paid and the charges in one month can amount to hundreds of dollars
depending on how much you call, where you call, when you call, and how long. It
is also a function of where you place your call from since there are
usually roaming charges incurred when dialing from outside of your
home (normal service) area.
Prepaid SIM cards are similar to
prepaid phone cards in the way the calling charges are
incurred. You purchase a set amount of credit and
each time you make a call the charges for the call counts against
your credit. You will need to reload or recharge your SIM
card with additional credit as your balance drop. Most SIM
cards have a time limit after which the balance on the SIM card
expire unless you reload or add more minutes. This allows your
balance to carry over to another expiration interval in addition to
the credit generated from the reload. Most balances expire
within 1 year of the last reload.
The convenient thing about prepaid
SIM cards is that they are transparent to the user and the people
calling him. Unlike calling cards, the SIM card once placed
inside the phone acts exactly like a postpaid SIM card except in the
way the calling costs are calculated and charged. Most
prepaid SIMs do not need any pre-dialing setups or codes to enter to
place calls. Callers to prepaid SIM card holders only need to
know their cell phone number to call them.
Local SIM cards are SIM cards
offered by wireless carriers in specific countries. They carry
a local cell phone number and the support is provided by the local
carrier. Most local SIM cards offer cheap local calls and free
incoming calls. Most local SIM card providers offer long
distance calling to overseas phone numbers. Some even offer
roaming where the local SIM card of one country can work to place
and receive calls in another country.
Roaming can be very expensive
though and even if offered it is best avoided if you want to avoid
excessive and unpredictable charges. Receiving a call on an
Egyptian SIM card in Lebanon for example will cost about $1 per
minute when receiving the call in Egypt is free. Calling local
numbers in Lebanon using that SIM card is a lot more expensive
because you will be paying the roaming charges of $1 per minute plus
the long distance charges of approx. $0.75 since it is still an
Egyptian SIM card calling a foreign number. So for such
a call you will be paying close to $2 per minute to call!
Compare that to a global roaming
SIM card. It features one rate for incoming and another for
outgoing no matter where you call and from what country you place
that call. Global roaming SIM cards have roaming agreements
with many local wireless carriers and therefore such cards will work
in most countries in the world. The benefit is that the rate
is known and you will incur no unexpected surprises. Some
global roaming SIM cards offer rates as low as $1/min. for any
outgoing calls (from anywhere and to anywhere) and $0.40/min. incoming
calls. Another major benefit of global roaming SIM cards is
for travelers visiting more than one country in one trip.
Global roaming SIM cards offer the same phone number so your friends
and family will only need to know one number to call you wherever
you travel. Also, You will not need to worry about getting a
local SIM card for each place and change SIM cards at each
destination or put up with exorbitant roaming charges if you decide
to use the local SIM card of one country in another country.
|
We carry local
SIM cards from most countries of the world. Our
website is the most comprehensive site for local
SIM cards on the Internet. We also carry all
available global
roaming SIM cards, namely Hop,
Monaco
Plus, and United
Mobile. If you would like us to help you decide
which SIM card is most suitable for your trip, please give us
a call at 1-800-872-7626 and we will be more than happy to
help you. |
Back to Information
Center |
