We have a group of people going to Paris over the New Year Period (6 days). We are staying in different places and would like to keep in contact with each other. Does anyone know how the mobiles work over there? Can we take our Nokia phone and buy pre-paid SIM cards over there? And how much will it cost? Can I do a similar thing in the UK?<BR><BR>Thank you

Sophie,<BR>I presume from your email address that you will be travelling from Australia?<BR>In which case your Nokia phone will work perfectly well all over Europe and England. All you need do is contact Telstra - 018 018 287 - as your phone needs to be connected to Ready Roam before you leave.<BR>I have used mine extensively over the past few years with no trouble at all.

We want to call mobile-to-mobile within Paris without paying the fee of going via Australia. Is it possible to join up with a French server so we are only paying local mobile rates not international mobile rates.

Check out Debitel, France Telecom, SFR -- I think those are the biggies in mobile there. They should all have websites. I understand what you need, I had the same problem here in the US. <BR><BR>Don't know how phones are set up on "your" side of the globe, but US phones are generally one band and Europe another. If this is the case, make sure you change the band before trying to call or your phone will be useless!! And I would also use your cell provider as a back up, just in case. I'm noting this more for Americans -- I've found the US to be lagging behind in the mobile phone area, so some may not know that their cell phones may be useless in Europe unless they are multi-banded (NOT multi "mode"). <BR><BR>Sorry I can't help more!

Right, I am assuming:<BR>a) You have dual-band 900/1800MHz handsets, and<BR>b) Your phones are unlocked.<BR>Then, yes, you can buy SIM cards in France. All three networks sell them SFR-La Carte, Bouygues-nomad, Orange-spot. The SIM card itself costs around 250F (41 euro), with a call credit of around 140F (21 euro). Call costs around 3.30F/min (0.50 euro). SMS around 1F (0.15 euro) per message. Tariffs vary depending on how much you recharge the card, and validity is around 2-6 months outgoing, 9-12 months incoming. They can be used in UK, either free or for a service charge of 65F (10 euro).<BR>Your best bet is go to one of specialist mobile phone shops like The Phone House (subsidiary of UK Carphonewarehouse), which has numerous branches in Paris (also inside Virgin Megastores in r de Rivoli and Champs-Elys&eacute;es) and get staff to explain and set it up for you (including UK use).<BR>In the UK, you can buy SIM cards for all four networks, but easiest for you may be Virgin cards (in Virgin stores and elsewhere) for 10 pounds with 5 pounds credit.