Best mobile operator/plan for Czech Republic + adjacent countries?
 

My nephew is going to a university exchange program in Brno in May for 5 weeks - he has an unlocked iPhone and wants to buy a local SIM card (mainly for texting and data - and a bit of voice). His course takes him to several countries in the region and I'm researching the best provider/plan for him as a gift.

Here's his itinerary (I'm jealous!)

Telc - CR

Brno - CR - he'll be there about 3 of the 5 weeks

Vienna - Austria

Wroclaw - Poland

Auschwitz - Poland

3 free days - might go to Germany or Italy

Prague - CR

Budapest - Hungary

Lednice - CR

Any suggestions are appreciated.

I'm sure you'll get lots and probably the best ones will come from the other kids who are THERE.

Who is is US cell phone provider? If T-Mobile, have him switch to their Simple Choice plan so he can get free texting and free unlimited 2G data while in Europe, plus free WiFi calls to/from the US and 20 cents/minute otherwise.

Andrew -- from Canada I read your earlier posting with interest -- doubt any of our carriers will offer it though!

When I was in Czech Republic in 2012 I bought a Vodaphone prepaid SIM card for use within the country. I think in Czech Republic you must buy SIM cards at phone stores, not at convenience stores (or almost anywhere gum and candy are sold) like you can in Poland or Slovenia. But the stores are easy to find in the larger towns. I bought mine in Olomouc at a Vodaphone store. I had the clerk activate it for me as well so I didn't have to worry about foreign language activation instructions.

A local SIM card is mostly good for local calling; calling the US will eat minutes quickly. That's where Skype is probably a better deal, used via WiFi. You can buy your own US Skype phone number for $18 for three months so people can call you as well; I think it's $2.99/month for unlimited Skype calling back to the US.

I've been looking a Vodafone Czech site today. His main requirement is reasonable roaming charges onsidering the number of countries he'll be ack and forth to. He'll use Skype for calls home and what's app as well.

It may wind up being easier for him to buy separate SIM cards in each country. He can roam with his Czech Vodaphone SIM in the other countries but he'll use up the SIM quickly while roaming. But it sounds like he'll be in Czech Republic most of the time so it might make the most sense for him to have it there vs. buying some sort of multi-country SIM that's more expensive. Since there's free WiFi all over the place, he might get by with not having data in some places and just using WiFi when available, right?

Roaming charges within EU are capped so while it will be more expensive to use outside the Czech Republic, not prohibitively so.

Also he retains the same number so easier for family and friends to contact him.