lfitz44

Can I buy an Irish SIM card for my unlocked quad band GSM phone at Shannon Airport? Which SIM card is best for use in Tipperary? O2, Vodafone, or Meteor? Is there even a difference?

Cowboy1968

Sorry, don't know if you can buy SIM cards at the airport.

But in Tipp, I got coverage from all three MNOs you mentioned. So I guess there is not much of a difference.

Itallian_Chauffer

A few years back, Vodaphone and O2 were about equal and Meteor was slightly lagging in coverage. I suspect they are all about equal, now, though.

As of last June, there was NO SIM/Phone shops in Shannon Airport -- though there IS one in Dublin's. The NEAREST shop where you could/can purchase an Irish SIM is:

Western Cellular Sky Court Shopping Centre, Shannon 061 708869

Vodafone retail 20 O'Connell Street, Ennis 065 6844055 065 6844056

Carphone Warehouse 33 O'Connell Street, Ennis 1800 719 998 -

MG Communications Unit 10, The Business Centre, Shannon 061 364622

There is also a place in Kilrush

The Shannon locations are best if you are heading directly to Tipp ...

Bob

sandra3120

There is a store just outside of Tipp in a new mall that sells SIM cards, and there are two stores in town, in Tipperary Town itself, that sell SIM cards. As for whether Meteor or O2 are better, it actually depends where you are: in some parts of the county, one service is better than another; no different than in the states really.

Although having a local SIM card makes it more economical to call around while you are there, it makes it more difficult for your folks and business associates to reach while you're there. The advantage of having a SIM card enabled phone is that your regular number works everywhere, just about. Having travelled with people who buy local SIM cards and those who don't, it all really depends on how much you will be calling locally in Ireland: if you want ease of communication with stateside people, then don't buy a local Irish SIM card since you'll need to call everyone at home with whom you wish to communicate to give them your new number. If you're going to be on the phone a lot while you're there, it may be worth buying one.

xyz123

The only problem with your suggestion and boy would I love to be able to use my USA mobile in Ireland, the thieves at T Mobile USA charge 99¢/minute rounded up to the next minute both to make and receive calls and those fees mount up rather quickly...

Actually there are solutions to the having your friends have your number "problem"...one is call forwarding...my landline carrier, Verizon, allows me to remotely set call forwarding from my home landline to any number in the world remotely...I get charged the going rate of my ld carrier...then there is a firm called kall8 which will give you a US toll free number which you program to any other number in the world again using the web...there is also voicestick that has dropped its monthly charge after alienating millions of their customers with a $3/month charge and losing 3/4 of their customers...the service gives you a US local number which you can program to ring to a mobile number throughout the world again via the web....lots of good solutions to the problems noted above.

egailc

I checked the Carphone Warehouse in Ireland and for some reason they do not sell sim cards. I bought a Sim 4 Travel sim card at a UK Carphone Warehouse. Check with Sim4travel web site and see if they can mail you one. Incoming calls in Europe are free and fairly cheap to call out. It has a UK phone number. I just got through putting all my numbers on my Sim4travel card for my upcoming trip to Ireland, France and Uk in April.
They also have one just for the Uk that is great to have. Hope this helps.

lfitz44

Thanks to all of you who answered my questions. The information was most helpful.