Forget ET, Aussies can phone home on the cheap with Woolies’ cut price international calls, promising “no more bill shock”
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Woolworths is flogging their new mobile SIM for phones and tablets, which it says saves you “up to” 90% on global roaming charges for calls, texts and data, and works in 200 countries.
Woolworths Global Roaming SIM costs $29 (with standard and new micro SIM for iPhones 4/5, Samsung S III, etc) and comes with $10 credit.
Phoning from China back home costs $0.46 per minute (normally up to $6 pm says Woolies), from UK is $0.46 per minute and using the Internet in the US costs $1.15 per 100KB, while data in UK is $0.06 (not bad).
Text charges range from $0.14 from UK, to $0.34 from China.
Woollies’ SIM has a UK (+44) number so you can receive texts as you normal would but they must be sent to your roaming UK number.
Woolworths Mobile teamed up with Ireland’s Cubic Telecom on the global SIM pack.
And while you’re on holidays, you can also call local numbers at “close to” local rates, handy if you’re there for a while.
However, your phone needs to be unlocked and less than 5 years old.
And considering us Aussies pay more than most of our international peers when roaming abroad, according to a 2011 OECD report, may be very welcome among Aussie travellers.
Local networks can charge as much as $20 per MB to access the internet via a smart phone or tablet from overseas; even on more competitive plans, the average charge is $12 per MB, which works out to $12,000 to download 1GB of data, Woolies said today.
“Australians love to travel – they’re a very adventurous bunch, but the last thing anyone wants to bring home as a souvenir is a massive mobile phone bill. That’s why we’re launching our own low cost, easy-to-use pre-paid global roaming SIM as a cure for post holiday bill shock,” Graeme Veitch, head of Woolworths Mobile.
The new Global Roaming SIM is available in all 890 Woolworths supermarkets across Australia. Travellers can top up their credit from anywhere online at www.woolworthsglobalroaming.com.au.
Credit lasts for 12 months so you can save some for your next trip.
