Even though I had negotiated a good deal for my mobile phone account in the uk, the costs for using overseas are far to high, even when on holiday I have no choice but to make a considerable amount of business telephone calls and receiving and sending emails. I have previously heard that most people buy I pay as you go simm when away, the only problem is that they may not be immediately available in a particular resort. Any suggestions here would be much appreciated.

You can buy one before you go via the internet. You pay more than you would locally, but at least you are in communication as soon as you arrive and activate the sim. I did this last year for Cyprus as I was arriving late 9on the Saturday night.

Hi Lysos,

Can you recommend any particular company?

Hi Data,

There are several, all basically offering you similar deals; basically they buy in sim cards from different countries and sell them on to you, at a mark up, naturally !. I travel regularly to Cyprus and top ups are valid for a year. Can't comment on other countries. You can also buy worldwide sims, usable in virtually every country. More expensive, but obviously, everything is relative. I probably paid @ £15 more than I would have done buying locally after arrival, but I was 'active' as soon as I got in the terminal & registered, so it was worth it to me.

Thanks for that info Lysos.

I joined the FON network, and use a combination of Skype and wireless access via my phone to make calls. It works well for most places I go to.

With FON, you install an open access point in your house, and then you can use other peoples access points for free. It has great coverage in some cities, but not all of them, but if you don't need to be able to make calls absolutely everywhere, its a cheaper option than having to manage tons of sims.