# Cell phone service - best options?



## jax2bcn (Dec 21, 2016)

Mods: did a search and didn't find anything on-point. If I missed it, feel free to merge.

Looking to get a local cell phone SIM card (or an entire new phone + SIM).

Based in BCN, so obviously want something with great service in the city - but also would like something that has connectivity all over EU. 

Is there one service/plan that is better for EU travel than the next? 

Any personal experiences here? 

Thx!


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## Buenobaz (Dec 31, 2016)

Jax...cellphone ? What's that?....oh, you mean mobile phone!! Welcome to Europe.
Have no idea about best provider, think Moviestar is the most popular and has the monopoly in Spain, but I too need to know best deal and best company for Alicante province. 
Anyone?


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## Roland_O (Oct 17, 2016)

I use yoigo. They have been great.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

Vodafone has free roaming in Europe and the US on their contracted plans. Here's their coverage map for Spain (scroll down). I don't live in the Barcelona area so I can't speak from personal experience there, but I can tell you that here in Andalucia they certainly have very good coverage. 

Orange has a "Go Europe" plan which you can add for free to any contract and which gives you limited roaming in Europe at a cost of 1€/60 min/day and 1€/100 MB/day. If you contract the most expensive Orange plan you get roaming in EU for free. Here is their coverage map for Spain. Again, I don't know about the BCN area, but around here Orange has excellent coverage in urban areas but it's sketchy out in the countryside. 

Both Vodafone and Orange are biggies in Europe so I would expect them to have very good coverage throughout the EU. My husband has traveled extensively in Germany and France, and with Orange has had no problems with coverage.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

By the way, as long as your current cell phone is unlocked and uses GSM technology and European bandwidths, you should be able to use it here. Phone companies will try to sell you a phone but you aren't obligated to buy. If you're interested in a new phone the best prices are definitely found elsewhere.


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## jax2bcn (Dec 21, 2016)

kalohi said:


> By the way, as long as your current cell phone is unlocked and uses GSM technology and European bandwidths, you should be able to use it here. Phone companies will try to sell you a phone but you aren't obligated to buy. If you're interested in a new phone the best prices are definitely found elsewhere.


Thanks for everyone's replies. Kalohi, very helpful.

I actually have a great international phone (free data in 140 countries, free text, etc). The main issues with my current plan is that calling is 10 cents a minute (USD), and while I do have free data, it is VERY slow (T-Mobile in the states is the carrier). Phone is unlocked but I worry about changing my SIM in my current phone...if I throw in the Spanish SIM, those trying to get in touch with my US number won't be able to, and vice versa.

Will check out Vodafone, Orange, and Movistar! Thanks again everyone.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

jax2bcn said:


> Thanks for everyone's replies. Kalohi, very helpful.
> 
> I actually have a great international phone (free data in 140 countries, free text, etc). The main issues with my current plan is that calling is 10 cents a minute (USD), and while I do have free data, it is VERY slow (T-Mobile in the states is the carrier). Phone is unlocked but I worry about changing my SIM in my current phone...if I throw in the Spanish SIM, those trying to get in touch with my US number won't be able to, and vice versa.
> 
> Will check out Vodafone, Orange, and Movistar! Thanks again everyone.


Sounds like what you need is a new dual SIM phone.


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## jax2bcn (Dec 21, 2016)

kalohi said:


> Sounds like what you need is a new dual SIM phone.


Yep...but as an Apple junkie, my options are limited! Unless I missed something, the iPhone doesn't have a dual-SIM option.

Just for the sake of clarity, if I were to get a dual-SIM phone, how exactly does that work? Do you push a button to switch from one number to the next? Or do both SIMs take incoming call/text simultaneously? 

Know enough about this to recommend a dual-SIM phone?


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

jax2bcn said:


> Yep...but as an Apple junkie, my options are limited! Unless I missed something, the iPhone doesn't have a dual-SIM option.
> 
> Just for the sake of clarity, if I were to get a dual-SIM phone, how exactly does that work? Do you push a button to switch from one number to the next? Or do both SIMs take incoming call/text simultaneously?
> 
> Know enough about this to recommend a dual-SIM phone?


This may help Simple questions: What is Dual SIM and how does it work? | Digital Citizen

Apparently iPhone8 could be dual-SIM, but whether it would be dual-SIM active is another issue.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

My phone must be a dual SIM dual standby because the second SIM slot does not support 4G data. But I don't use the second SIM for the data so it doesn't matter to me. I have a BQ Aquaris M5, by the way, and am happy with it. But it's almost 2 years old so not exactly the latest technology. 

So I can't really recommend a phone. However it seems like nowadays nearly all phones except the cheapest ones have dual SIMs so there are plenty to choose from.


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## jax2bcn (Dec 21, 2016)

Thanks for the advice everyone!


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