Truphone Local Anywhere is now available!

We are thrilled to announce that Truphone Local Anywhere, the one smart SIM that saves you money and keeps you local home and away, is now available. 

When in a Truphone country with a Truphone Local Anywhere SIM you can:  

• Pay what locals pay for voice, text and data


• Add phone numbers for each Truphone country so friends there can reach you without paying for an international call (even if you are not in the country) 


• Receive calls for free* on any of your Truphone phone numbers 


• Pay less for international calls - from 8p/min 

And when you travel to one of 185 non-Truphone countries, get low cost roaming – from 25p/min in EU.

Our first Truphone countries are the US and UK and we’ll soon be adding others such as Australia, Hong Kong, Spain, The Netherlands and South Africa.

The Truphone Local Anywhere SIM works in nearly any ‘unlocked’ mobile phone, and is available to buy from £14.99 ($24.99). To find out more, and buy one now, click here.

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*Apart from countries where standard operator charges to receive calls apply, such as the USA.

Comments

[JmS]

I just talked with the customer service, and they seemed to think your agreement in the US is not exclusive to T-Mobile. I have very weak T-Mobile service in my area, and am looking around for something better. Truphone is cheaper than prepaid AT&T, but will Truphone SIM access AT&T towers or not?

Thank you, this is potentially a great service. Despite the confusing website. Any plans of adding user-to-user forums?

[JmS]

I was also wondering if I would be able to use 3G with a truphone sim put in an unlocked iPhone? Would SMS work? I thought I saw somewhere on the site that SMS only works on Nokias...

Thank you.

[Heath from Tru]

@JmS -

In the US we work with T-Mobile, however in some parts of the US T-Mobile uses partners, which are also available to Truphone Local Anywhere. If you send a quick email to help@truphone.com with your zip code, our support team can tell you which network(s) you are able to connect to.

Regarding the user-to-user forum, it is something we are looking at doing shortly, and when it is in place, we will put up a post on the blog to let everyone know.

Finally, yes you can use your unlocked iPhone to connect via 3G without any problems. And send text messages without problems. What you may have read about with SMS only working for Nokia is for the Truphone mobile application (http://www.truphone.com/applications), but with the Truphone Local Anywhere SIM, SMS works on any mobile phone as long as it is unlocked.

[Link]

I, too, support the idea of a forum; it'd be a lot more organized than comments here. I spoke with someone on the customer service line and they said that data plans would be something Truphone Local Anywhere may offer in the future. This makes me curious about something:
Using data, calls could be made through VOIP via Truphone applications. Does this mean data plans will persist to be made more expensive so that Truphone Local Anywhere doesn't lose money due to Truphone VOIP? I'm hoping a clear answer is available. I can understand the views from both a yes or no, but I'm just curious for what we can expect in the future.
Also, one more thing: will there be free or reduced price communicating with other TLA users?

[Heath from Tru]

@Link - at the moment we can't reveal too much on data plans, but it will be our intention to offer the best value we can with everything we offer, whether that be data plans or anything else.

On the question of whether calls between Truphone Local Anywhere users would be free or at a reduced cost, this is not currently the case. Calling a Truphone Local Anywhere is the same low price as calling anyone else. It is a good question to ask though, and something that we will consider.

[tszefr]

This is refreshing to have a US offering without US telco mindset. My interest is GSM data service, something we just about don't have on prepaid at a reasonable price. No need here for huge quantities and I would not mess with finding a phone to support the 3G.

The question that I don't see the answer to yet is: How is data service charged? As one poster noted, I would not be happy to use 25 kB and get charged for a megabyte. Ultimately I would use the meg and be happy to pay a buck but it could be a few days. Probably a minimum session charge of a penny would be cool; we just need to know how it works.

[Ennis from Tru]

@tszefr: Thanks for good words. On your question about data, it is charged per session on 100KB increments. 100KB is also a minimum charge per session - currently in the US that would be 10c.

Ennis from Truphone

[Gabriel]

Is there a list with the networks Truphone is roaming on in various countries?

[New_to_tru]

I am looking at different companies, since my contract has ended with my cellular company. I am in the USA. Am I reading this correctly - does it cost $.15 per minute to receive a call in the USA?

[Heath from Tru]

@Gabriel - there is not a public list of the networks used to roam in specific countries. If you email the country/countries you are interested in to help@truphone.com they might be able to help

@New_to_tru - that is correct. With our local US rates (which you will get by default as a US resident), you will pay $0.15/min to receive a call.

[replica watches]

will it be supported by the N97?
thats a very nice idea

[RS Search]

Thanks for teaching me these.

[Gabriel]

Good day.
I am trying to find out why Truphone is not able to get on the T-Mobile 3G bands in the USA. I have a 3G phone from them (works on 3G with Tmo or ATT sim cards. My vodafone prepaid sim is also able to pull 3G with that phone in the US) Truphone only gets EDGE. I emailed customer care a few weeks ago....no response.

[Gabriel]

Nevermind. It has been fixed in the meantime; the 3G and the incoming messages altogether. Great job Truphone :)))

[Andy]

Is it possible to port my Truphone local anywhere number to another US carrier? I like the number but I've given up on the service for my international roaming needs. Nothing bad, just found another solution that works better for me.

[Heath from Tru]

@Andy - at this stage, you can't port a number out to a US carrier. It will be possible at a later stage, but not yet. What is it that you found a better solution for with someone else? (always interesting to find out).

[Supra Shoes]

I just talked with the customer service, and they seemed to think your agreement in the US is not exclusive to T-Mobile. I have very weak T-Mobile service in my area, and am looking around for something better. Truphone is cheaper than prepaid AT&T, but will Truphone SIM access AT&T towers or not?

[Chanel 2.55 handbags]

@Andy - at this stage, you can't port a number out to a US carrier. It will be possible at a later stage, but not yet. What is it that you found a better solution for with someone else? (always interesting to find out).

[Heath from Tru]

We have one already! Check out http://getsatisfaction.com/truphone

[Tracey]

I have purchased a truphone card from a distributor.
I wanted to check if I am in the US and a friend calls on my UK number from the UK will the call be treated as if it were a local number? i.e. UK to UK call and therefore on their usual UK to UK rate from their own provider?
I tried asking helpdesk this but he just kept saying that he couldn't comment on what another provider would charge...which wasn't the question I was asking!
Your website states:
How much does it cost other people to call me on my Truphone Local Anywhere numbers?
Truphone numbers are just like any other network operator numbers so anyone calling will be charged exactly the same as they would usually be charged to call a UK or US number. (but wanted to have the ambiguity of "or US" number removed. Will they be charged as if I'm in the US if they call my UK number?

I also wanted to be able to buy a membership pack but was told that it probably wouldn't be possible to add it to my existing Truphone SIM because I didn't buy from the website but from a distributor - is this correct?

[John Patterson]

Hi

Just really like last comment. Want to use in US to keep in touch with family around theme parks but to also make and receive calls to UK. Now i can pre order sims with Virgin to collect on flight over. Can i use straight away also still not sure of charges as reading diff comments with diff costs. Last few years cost me a fortune with t-mobile,(£1.20 min to make and receive).
Thanks in advance of any info given

[Paul]

My understanding is that you now need to use the phone every 30 days in order to avoid inactivity fees. Is it sufficient to check your balance by calling 303, or by receiving a text message (which is currently free)?

Another question. When I look at the rate chart, I don't see anything about receiving a call from a cell phone. Is this free, or was this rate accidentally left off the chart?

[Maddie]

Does it cost to send and listen to your voice mails and does it cost to call truphone services? thanks x

[Trey Smith]

Wow...i love this idea.

[software download]

T-Mobile has lots of good features. But there are lot many things which most of people don't like about them. Anyhow good sharing from your side. Keep it up!