Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

motoyen · May 18, 2009, 09:29 AM

This might be a long shot but I'm in Munich right now and I'll be here for another 5 months. I have a first gen iPhone that I wish to buy a sim card for. I need to know which carrier has a pre-paid plan that includes data. Also since I have the first gen phone I need EDGE not 3G.

Danke

Big Mac · May 18, 2009, 09:32 AM

There are a number of prominent German members of MacNN.

Spheric Harlot · May 18, 2009, 10:08 AM

Best option (according to a friend) is Simyo pre-paid: Mobiltelefonieren für 9 Ct. pro Min. & SMS. Ohne Vertragsbindung, ohne Grundgebühr, ohne Mindestumsatz.

Data option is €9,90 per month up to 1GB, with a €5 discount on the first month.

Otherwise, pure data: T-Mobile web-n-walk, at €4,90 PER DAY that you use it - this is data ONLY, and can not be used for telephony.

T-Mobile has by far the best EDGE coverage in Germany, so you might want to look into T-Mobile discounters such as congstar.de, but I have no idea whether they offer data options on their pre-paid SIM cards.

NB: Of course, your iPhone must be unlocked for any of these to work.

motoyen · May 18, 2009, 10:27 AM

Danke Spheric Harlot!

My phone is unlocked and I did sign up with 02 on their Internet Pack M with their pre-paid option but (1) I think I'm connecting through GPRS and not EDGE and (2) their coverage seems limited as I get a no service message a lot.

Someone else suggested the Simyo company as well so I'll see if I can find their retail store.

Spheric Harlot · May 18, 2009, 03:30 PM

Simyo has rather dodgy EDGE coverage, so you'll be getting GPRS often enough there, too.

O2 is UMTS or GPRS; I'm not sure they have much of an EDGE offering, at all.

Really the best way to go for EDGE is T-Mobile and the house-owned discounter: Congstar.

motoyen · May 19, 2009, 05:10 AM

I'm surprised data rates are so high here. T-Mobile wants €5 per day just for data! I'll check out Congstar.

analogika · May 19, 2009, 05:37 AM

Originally Posted by motoyen

I'm surprised data rates are so high here. T-Mobile wants €5 per day just for data! I'll check out Congstar.

In Germany, specifically, the UMTS frequency were auctioned off in what ended up as a bidding war with providers going completely crazy - some fifteen BILLION euro or so, IIRC. That absurd amount needs to be recouped from the pockets of customers before UMTS becomes obsoleted by WiMax or whatever the next generation is.

We bleed for the idiocy of those ****ing morons.

ghporter · May 19, 2009, 08:10 AM

I'm going to edit the title of this thread so that it's obvious what it's about. Glad you're getting some good feedback, motoyen.

motoyen · May 20, 2009, 04:15 AM

I asked a German friend to phone a couple of the carriers and this is what he reported back to me.

- Congstar offer it, and Munich is covered, though they say it is not always available. That makes sense, as they are the 'discount' branch of T-Mobile, and 'proper' T-mobile customers will get priority. Data costs 35 cent/MB.
- Simyo offer it too, but they are a bit evasive. They are a T-mobile reseller... so will come bottom of the pile when it comes to network access. The tarif is as I outlined yesterday - i.e. cheaper if you need alot of data.

So, basically, you get what you pay for. Best bet is T-mobile if money is not a question, and Simyo comes at the bottom of the pile when it comes to network access/reliabilty, but is the cheapest.

kylef · May 20, 2009, 09:51 AM

I don't know if you get 02 over there, but if you can - I'd consider looking at eBay. There are some iPhone 3G SIMs (that'll work with your 2G) that have not been activated, and you get a year's free data. I'm using one right now.

Spheric Harlot · May 20, 2009, 10:06 AM

iPhones are locked to T-Mobile here, so the only chance to get a 3G SIM card that doesn't incur HORRENDOUS international data roaming charges would be T-Mobile cards that came with an iPhone. I don't really see any circumstances under which anybody might put one up for sale, though.