Friends traveling to France next month. They will use my two unlocked GSM quad band mobile phones. Should they purchase a SIM card for use in France prior to leaving the USA or wait until they get to Paris? Is there any cost savings in waiting to purchase a SIM card there and what sort of ID do they need to purchase and where do they purchase in Paris? If they purchase SIM card in USA where should they purchase it? I've used callineurope.com while in Italy -- is that the best deal or is there anything else out there in the USA? They can purchase ORANGE card on ebay but don't know much about ORANGE -- does that card then include a France phone number and minutes? They would be calling mostly to keep track of each other while traveling and an occasional call back to the States.

The best deal in French sim cards these days seems to be Lebara..go to their web site lebara-mobile.fr. There is a button there for English...cheap calls to the USA, cheap calls within France...you will find on the web site a guide to where you can purchase the card and other information regarding registration. I haven't used that card but lebara has been very aggresive with low cost sims in many European countries. They are a virtual mobile company and don't have their own towers but use Bouyges (the spelling might be wrong) towers which is the least popular of the French mobile companhies but coverage in Paris should be fine. The usual free reception of calls while within France and they allow roaming throughout the eu using European roaming rates to use up the credit.

I think the card is free so that even though they follow the usual French practice of stealing your remaining credit and invalidating the card in a very short period, it really doesn't matter.

yeah. Definitely get the sim in France. You will pay a premium if you get it outside of France

Agreeing with xyz123 that Lebara is priced very aggressively and is probably the best low cost mobile phone solution. SIMs cost about 10€ which includes call credit and inbound calls are free (as with all French SIMs). For example rates to the USA are .09€ per minute with a .09€ connect fee.

Callineurope can be an easy solution for many but their rates are no longer competitive.

Another place you can check in France is Phonehouse which is the largest independent mobile phone retailer in the country:

www.phonehouse.fr

Does anyone know about 'Free Mobile?

Free.fr offers the best non contract, unlimited voice/SMS/MMS/3G/WiFi SIM available, particularly at 19.99€ which includes calls to the USA.

The catch - I don't know of any way to obtain one unless you have a French mailing address.

sarastro,thanks for your prompt reply . When I tried to research free mobile I thought I understood they have a few brick and mortar locations in Paris. Is the need for an address a requirement?