Hi,
since people have been asking for it, I can offer to bring along German SIM cards for those who are interested.
They'd be Lidl Mobile (on the O2 network). They come with €10 preloaded.
You can activate a data pack if you like, the data pack is €6.95 and comes with 500 MB high-speed (up to 7.2 Mbps) data volume. After the 500 MB are used up, the speed is restricted to 64 kbits. The pack is valid for 1 month and will cancel itself when there are insufficient funds on the card (ie you didn't top up the preload).
Calling fees are 9 cents per minute to any German phone and 9 cents per minute to fixed lines or 29 cents per minute to mobile phones in 51 European and North American countries. (for a list of countries, see here (http://www.lidl.de/de/asset/other/Fonic_eth_de.pdf)).
The cards come in both miniSIM and microSIM, so if you have one of the newer phones that require microSIM like the iPhone 4 or the Galaxy SIII, you can use it without having to punch or cut the card.
The card does not expire, so you can use it again whenever you come back to Germany.
The price of the card is €10 per piece. Payment in advance through PayPal required, unless I know you personally.
In compliance with German law, the card will have to be registered with the network operator before activation. For this I will need your name and date of birth in a personal message.
When interested, PM me please.
I'm still learning this forum, but I would like to get one of those German SIM, if. That is still possible
That's very interesting. I'll check if I can find a micro-SIM puncher first but if I do i'd be willing to get one :3
Sounds interesting. How do you get the data addon once you have the card?
Quote from: SlyCat on 04.08.2012, 16:42:12
Sounds interesting. How do you get the data addon once you have the card?
You can activate it either via their web site or by SMS.
Quote from: DarkenTiger on 04.08.2012, 15:54:20
I'm still learning this forum, but I would like to get one of those German SIM, if. That is still possible
Send me a private message and I'll give you the info you need.
Quote from: doco on 04.08.2012, 20:30:39
Quote from: SlyCat on 04.08.2012, 16:42:12
Sounds interesting. How do you get the data addon once you have the card?
You can activate it either via their web site or by SMS.
Hmm, this will work out much cheaper than using my UK operator with roaming data. I don't need to be contactable by phone out there anyway. Put me down for one :)
Quote from: Reeve on 04.08.2012, 16:23:06
That's very interesting. I'll check if I can find a micro-SIM puncher first but if I do i'd be willing to get one :3
I have a few microSIM cards now, see the updated post. :)
Hey Doco, can my be a iPhone 4 please.
Quote from: DarkenTiger on 07.08.2012, 16:06:12
Hey Doco, can my be a iPhone 4 please.
Okay, I've got you earmarked for one.
Quote from: doco on 07.08.2012, 18:03:13
Okay, I've got you earmarked for one.
AWESOME, I'll make sure to hug ya extra for it... ^^
Nice deal :)
I plan to visit several countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic...
Are there any cheap options to avoid buying SIM-cards in every country?
I need only data services (no voice, sms or other services needed)
@ Basil Lion
Nope, once you leave the country you bought the sim card in its going to be expensive.
@ Nightfox
Thanx!
Hey Doco,
My partner would love one of those SIM card too, for iPhone 4. Could he please get one
Quote from: DarkenTiger on 16.08.2012, 13:52:16
Hey Doco,
My partner would love one of those SIM card too, for iPhone 4. Could he please get one
Have him send a DM wit his details please.
Okay, deadline for this is FRIDAY, AUGUST 24. You need to have paid in full by then.
I may have a limited number available on site, but please pre-order whenever possible.
Quote from: doco on 16.08.2012, 14:15:10
Have him send a DM wit his details please.
hey doesn't have account on there, so if you can give me what you need, and I'll get him to email you, if that is ok?
Well, he can always sign up here. I like to have my information all in one place. ;D
Quote from: doco on 18.08.2012, 11:41:12
Well, he can always sign up here. I like to have my information all in one place. ;D
Ok, next time I speak to him, I'll tell him
Hey Doco i'm husky, Darken told me to contact you on here. What do i need to do now?
Right, I might add some knowledge I gained about German SIM cards this year. A bit late, but it's something that can be useful for next year. Maybe someone can make a page about the known info in a more gathered form.
If you're a foreigner - don't get a "Lidl Mobile Smart" SIM card, as that will require you to have a German bank account. This information was or is not (clearly) informed about on the package itself.
I ended up getting a o.tel.o prepaid SIM card. The card itself costs 4.99€ and comes pre-charged with 5€. However, to get "Flatrate Internet", one'll have to top the card up with an additional 4.90€, as that package cost 9.90€. Although, top-ups are available in sizes of 9, 19 and 29€, so the total cost will be 13.99€. O.tel.o is a Vodafone brand, so it'll use Vodafone's network. The card need to be registered/activated prior to usage, which can be done online. I do not know about the validity time of the card, though, but my other Vodafone SIM card is still valid, just in a somewhat weird limbo state, so didn't bother bringing that one this year.
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone is offering to buy these this year?
Quote from: timoran on 13.07.2013, 04:27:21
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone is offering to buy these this year?
I'm afraid not - it's a real pain to find an operator that has both sensible price plans _and_ allows short-term registrations. Due to some violations of the mandatory registration law, most operators now check the address databases more thoroughly and filter out wrong address data pretty quickly (as I experienced last year), so I guess pre-ordering is not a good idea.
Besides, since the EU is going to axe roaming charges pretty soon anyways, demand may not be that high anymore.
Though I guess if one's *really* desperate, http://www.prepaid-wiki.de/index.php5/K-Classic_Mobil seems to be the best option at the moment... I haven't tried it personally though, because I already have six fucking SIM cards flying around here and don't need _another_ one. :D
Any advice for someone coming from USA? I remember last year everyone telling me you can't buy/activate a prepaid SIM unless you're a German citizen. Is that still true or is there a place you can go that will do it for a USA citizen?
I still have my last year's SIM, and I'm going to use it :D If you people still have yours from last year, make sure you make a call or send an SMS from it, to extend the card's lifetime with another year (Fonic told me so on Twitter) — or of course, just charge it...
I recharged my SIM card from last year by getting a code from www.aufladen.de/en. Also reset the account password to get access to the operators management page.
Quote from: Svedge on 09.08.2013, 08:03:20
I recharged my SIM card from last year by getting a code from www.aufladen.de/en. Also reset the account password to get access to the operators management page.
Are you kidding me? My card emptied out last year and I spent a couple of hours looking for a charge-up kit in the mall, had I known that site existed it wouldn't have been an issue. Oh well.
The Lidl cards can be recharged with Fonic codes ;). Spent a while searching for a site like that ;D.
If I haven't used the card since last year, will it still be active, or do I need to buy a new one?
Quote from: DarkFoxDK on 15.08.2013, 09:03:34
If I haven't used the card since last year, will it still be active, or do I need to buy a new one?
Try to send an SMS from it to your real number -- doesn't cost much even in roaming, and you'll know if it works.
Or just log into your fonic.de account (if you have the Lidl SIM) and take a look, maybe it tells you somewhere on the site.
Quote from: Ralesk on 15.08.2013, 09:11:20
Try to send an SMS from it to your real number -- doesn't cost much even in roaming, and you'll know if it works.
Or just log into your fonic.de account (if you have the Lidl SIM) and take a look, maybe it tells you somewhere on the site.
Ah! Good tip. I just tried and it looks like it's still active. Awesome! ^.^
If you don't have your password, get a new sent on SMS (to the German SIM card) at:
https://lidl.fonic.de/meinfonic
Then you can login to the management page.
Use Google Chrome's built-in translator if you don't understand German ;).
Should be too difficult find the right pages in there ;)