I'll be in England next month for 10 days and would like to see about renting a mobile phone while I'm there just for calls within the UK and back home to the US. I searched the forum for previous questions but the most recent I found was in 2008. One company mentioned was Telestial. I'm wondering if all this needs to be done before I travel or if one can be obtained when I arrive in London? I did check in various phone stores while in London last year and none offered such a service. I was a little surprised. When looking online there seems to be many that offer phones but I'd like to do business with a tried and true company. Thanks for any help.
linda_j

Why on earth would anyone bother renting a mobile phone in the 21st century?

If your own won't work here (which sounds hard to believe these days too), for about £10-£20 just about any phone shop or supermarket will sell you one with enough credit to keep you going for ten days.

The rich-country wage cost of all the palaver involved with credit checks, legal agreements and managing returns of a hired phone is inevitably going to be a great deal more expensive.

If - understandably - you're worried about the ecological effect of throwing it away after you've used it, most charities recycle them in the Third World. For example: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involve...ringbring.html

Try www.mobal.com

we are going to Ireland this week and I just added international services (voice and text messaging) to our existing phone- you can do this online (at least with AT&T). Then, when we return to the US I'll go back online and remove the international features. Really easy.

Just buy a cheap unlocked mobile and then a PAYG sim when you get to the UK

Hi, Thanks for the responses: Between the time that I posted this question and the time I checked for responses, I talked with AT&T and found out about adding the international services to my iphone and using it there. It sounds affordable. Just have to be sure phone is off so as not to be charged for roaming as it checks data. I'm technically challenged so fingers crossed that I get the instructions right. Thanks again for all your kind help. Linda_j

What Flanneur says. Buy and give away.

<<If - understandably - you're worried about the ecological effect of throwing it away after you've used it, most charities recycle them in the Third World. For example: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/recycle/bringbring.html>>

Or take it into any Oxfam shop. They will either have envelopes to send it on, or they collect them and send them on in boxes of 20 or so.

you want to make sure DATA ROAMING is off not just the phone is off.

To turn off your iPhone's data connection when the phone is roaming to save yourself those big bills, do the following:

* Be sure you've updated to iPhone Firmware Update 1.1.1 or later
* Tap the Settings button
* Tap the General option
* Tap the Network option
* Slide the Data Roaming slider to Off

With this setting off, you'll save yourself from big bills. If you need to use data from your iPhone while overseas, you can turn this option on, but when you're done, be sure to turn it back off to save the costs.
iOS 4: Turn Off All Cellular Data

In iOS 4, Apple introduced an even-more-ironclad way to avoid iPhone data roaming: you can now turn off all cellular data. That means that, with that setting on, the only way to connect to the Internet is via WiFi. To turn off cellular data:

* Tap the Settings icon
* Tap General
* Tap Network
* Slide Cellular Data to "off".

This can work in conjunction with, or separately from, turning off data roaming. Whether you want to turn off one or both will depend on your situation.

I went passed a shop today selling mobiles for £2.49 with a £10 top up.