IF you travel abroad on a regular basis, you’ve probably learnt the hard way how expensive cell phone expenses can become once crossing South African borders.
Still, there are ways to save yourself a staggering phone bill if you really need to stay connected when travelling.
Buy a local SIM card
Most travelers don’t realise how easy it is to replace a phone’s SIM card with a local one. Prepaid SIM cards are cheap and it’s easy to load data. Incoming calls are generally free and outgoing calls (local and international) are substantially cheaper as well.
Keep in mind a new SIM card also means a new phone number. If friends and family need to get hold of you, let them know what your new, temporary number while travelling is.
Unfortunately, just like in South Africa, you need to go through the tedious RICA process. To save yourself time and effort, make sure you have the necessary documentation at hand for a painless registration.
Buy a SIM card before leaving
Execmobile or Flyconnected allows you to buy a SIM card before you even board the plane – less hassles when you’re in a foreign land.
Maxroam also provides a prepaid SIM service which can be used in more than 200 countries.
Skype or TruPhone
Register as a Skype user before leaving and buy call credits. Because it’s a data call and not a traditional phone call, calls can cost as little as 2 cent per minute.
Skype is dependent on your internet connection and unfortunately this influences the quality and stability of your calls.
International call cards
Call cards give travelers the opportunity to use land lines, phone booths and in some cases, even cell phones.
Most airports and convenience stores sell these cards which provide relatively cheap international tariffs. You can also purchase an international call card in South Africa.
Switch off your data services!
The easiest, cheapest and simplest solution still remains switching off your data services before you travel overseas.
Even though you’re not intentionally using data, applications could still be downloading updates in the background or try to establish a connection.
More information on service providers’ roaming services:
[BRON: www.about.com en www.moneyweb.co.za]
Indien jy gereeld oorsee reis, het jy waarskynlik al op die harde manier geleer dat selfoonkostes buitensporig duur raak wanneer jy Suid-Afrika se grense verlaat.
Tog is daar maniere om te bespaar wanneer dit steeds noodsaaklik is om per telefoon beskikbaar te wees.
Koop `n plaaslike SIM-kaart
Meeste reisigers weet nie dat hul foon se SIM-kaart met `n plaaslike SIM-kaart vervang kan word nie.
Voorafbetaalde simkaarte is goedkoop en maklik om data op te laai. Inkomende oproepe is normaalweg gratis en uitgaande oproepe (plaaslik en internasionaal) is ook aansienlik goedkoper.
Hou in gedagte dat, wanneer jy `n ander SIM-kaart in jou foon sit, jy ook `n nuwe selfoonnommer gaan kry. Stuur die nuwe nommer aan jou kontakte as jy bereikbaar wil wees gedurende jou oorsese besoek.
Soos in Suid-Afrika, moet jy ook oorsee deur die RICA-proses gaan. Sorg dat jou dokumentasie in plek is om tyd en moeite te spaar.
Koop ‘n SIM-kaart voordat jy vertrek
Execmobile of Flyconnected gee aan jou die geleentheid om `n SIM-kaart te bekom selfs voordat jy op die vliegtuig klim – minder moeite as jy in die vreemde sit.
Maxroam verskaf ook `n voorafbetaalde SIM-kaart wat in meer as 200 lande gebruik kan word.
Skype of TruPhone
Registreer as Skype-gebruiker voor jy vertrek en koop krediete om oproepe te maak.
Oproepe kan so min as 2 sent per minute kos, omdat dit data is en nie `n tradisionele oproep nie.
Skype se enigste nadeel is die betroubaarheid en kwaliteit van oproepe wat onderhewig is aan jou internetverbinding.
Internasionale belkaarte
Belkaarte laat jou toe om gewone landlyn-fone, telefoonhokkies en in sommige gevalle, selfs selfone te gebruik.
Lughawens en gerieflikheidswinkels verkoop dié kaarte, wat relatiewe goedkoop internasionale tariewe bied. Jy kan ook ‘n internasional belkaart in Suid-Afrika koop.
Sit af jou datadienste!
Die eenvoudigste, veiligste en goedkoopste opsie is om alle datadienste af te skakel voor jy oorsee gaan.
Selfs al gebruik jy nie bewustelik data nie, kan toepassings op die agtergrond data gebruik om opdaterings te doen, of `n verbinding te probeer bewerkstellig.
Meer inligting oor diensverskaffers se “roaming” dienste:
[BRON: www.about.com en www.moneyweb.co.za]
