🚀 go-pugleaf

<mick_patrick@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:85cvq8$9g0$1@nnrp1.deja.com...
> I'm moving to Australia for a year in a few weeks. I'll need a mobile
> there as soon as I arrive, but would like to get one that I could then
> continue to use in the UK on my return.

GSM 900 will woth here and there... Vodafone or Cellnet there.
>
> Since I need one immediately, with no credit background / bank account
> in Oz, I guess a pre-pay system is the way to go.

Yes...

>
> Looking around, it seems that a lot of pre-pay phones these days are
> sim-locked (eg I can't take my current Cellnet Easylife Philips Diga
> out there - I'm giving it to my parents).

Same here, but there are a few that arent SIM locked if you know where to
look
Try this URL to see a phone that is on Optus prepaid and not SIM locked.
http://www.optus.net.au/mobile/1,1648,1013,00.html and scroll down to the
Mitsubishi MTD-30.
You could take this back to the UK and get a pre-paid card and use it there
in a GSM 900 network.
>
> Can anyone advise me what the best option is:
> 1) What the technical requirements would be for such a dual country
> phone (ie do I need a 'dual-band GSM' unit)?

No need for a dual band phone, apart from being a shitload more expensive in
a pre-paid situation Australia only uses GSM1800 in areas were extra
capacity is required, Australia dosnt have a nationa 1800 network, or an
1800 mhz only network yet.

> 2) How I could get a phone that could be used both in the UK and there?
> I see that Optus pre-pay includes a sim-only package - could I put that
> sim into a suitable phone bought in the UK? If so, what would be the
> best way to buy a phone here to do that? Orange do a pre-pay system
> with no time limit on the vouchers, but they tell me that all their
> phones are sim-locked.

See the above URL for all the info, and the Mitsubishi phone that you could
take back to the UK and use. I dont think there are many pre-paid phones in
the UK that are not SIM locked, best to buy one when you get here.

> 3) Or should I just buy a pre-pay phone in Australia. Can I get one
> there that I could then use with a new UK pre-pay sim when I return to
> the UK?

I say but one here and take it back with you when you go.

> 4) Are mobile phones cheaper in Australia or in the UK?


> 5) What is the cheapest way to just buy a mobile phone that is not
> committed to any particular network or call payment plan, in the UK or
> in Australia?

Prepaid.



--
-Brendon Black
bblack at netcentral dot com dot au
blackbj at dingoblue dot net dot au