Tuesday, July 21, 2015

My Poland Relocation: Polish SIM Card & US VoIP Service

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I bought a new dual-SIM GSM phone back in the US for my use here in Poland. Before I left, I took my crappy work phone's US SIM card and set it up on this phone (which involved a phone call to AT&T). It'll probably work for at least two weeks, which is likely when my large but disorganized former employer will automatically deactivate their SIM. But hey, they're automatically paying for it too - and they've paid for my international use in the past without question. Smile

With that likely two-week deadline in mind though, today I began my hunt for a Polish SIM card. Even if my former employer never deactivates their SIM, which is possible, I'd still want a Polish SIM, so that I can show girls a local Polish number. Two sites were quite useful:

http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Poland

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/p...one-europe

(Both sites may also be useful for other countries.)

Based on these sites, I decided to go with Lycamobile. Here's why:
1) Cheap data rates in Poland
2) Uses the Plus network in Poland, which is supposedly the best, according to the first site (supported by the fact that my work SIM automatically chose Plus to roam on)
3) Free SIM in any size sent to a Polish address by ordering online
4) Online account management in English (yeah, bad for learning Polish, but want to hit or beat that likely two-week deadline)
5) Many agencies (resellers) around the country
6) Ability to roam/transfer to select other countries, mostly in Europe
7) Valid for 6 months without recharge (most were only 30 days)

If the SIM doesn't arrive within a week, or if my work SIM gets shut off before that, I can just head to their nearest agent (likely a convenience store).

As for transferring my US # to a VoIP service (no sense paying for US cell service if you aren't in their coverage), I'm going with RingTo. Their number porting service is fast and free (I submitted my request a few hours ago and just got an e-mail saying the transfer will happen at a certain time on July 6). That contrasts to Google Voice ($20 to port in) and Talkatone (seems you must e-mail to port your number). Reason for keeping my US #? To keep it active, and to also be able to send/receive calls/texts for free with family/friends in the US (though apps like Facebook Messenger pretty much do this anyway).

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