[lazarus]

For IDD calls i would invest in a China Mobile card of some sort, they usually work out cheaper for International calling than local HK cards. Keep a HK card for keeping in touch with your local friends.

Unless the rules have changed, some networks will accept an credit-card or eps banking card, drawn on a local bank account. So long as you can make autopay, they'll be quiet happy. Other than that..

good luck.

[tsuiwah]

Originally Posted by kimchee2

simatai, "'pm" means private message, it's under the "user menu"

kimchee2, which voip provider are you using that offers calls to china for free? did you need to get a converter for the ac adapter (or was it already dual voltage)? Thanks.

[NYHK]

Does anyone know where these systems are compatible with a blackberry. Moving from NY to HK in April and was thinking of getting a BB to keep in touch with Lon and NY - could you use skype / braodvoice through connecting over the internet with the BB???

[goofrider]

Originally Posted by Simatai

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all the valuable information for living and moving to HK! Have enjoyed all the threads and friendly people!

I have recently moved to HK and am using the pre-paid phone cards for local and long distance calls, which is costly. Nobody would let me sign on till I could prove residential status - 3 months of local bank statements! Now shopping for a phone company that offers good rates for someone like me who:

calls US a lot
calls UK a lot
calls China from HK
travels to Shenzhen, China every week

Does anyone have any recommendations for services that offer good International and Roaming rates? I don't have a clue about all the companies out here and which are most reliable. Thanks!

Suzanne

I use SmarTone-VodaFone's PayGo service. It's kinda like a pre-paid/monthly hybrid plan.

http://smartone-vodafone.com/jsp/mob...lish/index.jsp

It works like this: You use normal SmarTone-VodaFone prepaid refill voucher ($100) to add money to your account. Every month, they deduct $10 admin fee + $50 airtime credit from your balance. Once the $50 is used up, they deduct overage from your remaining balance.

1 – 300 mins $0.15
301 – 1000 mins $0.02
1001 mins or above $0.20

IDD calling to China, US and UK is $0.5, and there's no IDD deposits (most post-paid monthly tariff plans require $1000 deposit for IDD).

Outgoing SMS is $0.5, they do add up really fast though, I spent $100 in SMS last month. Now I switched to GPRS for outgoing SMS and there doesn't send to be any SMS charges anymore.

GPRS is $0.10/KB I think.

So, basically, it's like a pre-paid plan with a mininum charge of $50 + $10 admin fee.

I find it the best plan in town. Low airtime and IDD rates with no deposits or prove of residency whatsoever. Airtime, IDD, SMS and GPRS all deducted from the same place instead of requiring you to subscribe to additional packages for discounted rates. And I think they have really good coverage and customer service too. When I went there the day after I landed I spoke little Cantonese. I asked for PayGo at the store, 2 mins later I walked out with a new SIM card in my phone. Didn't try to sell me a new phone or anything. Their website and voice mail system are fully billingual.