Anyone done any research as to what's the best mobile network (UK or Irish) for someone spending a lot of time each side of the border? Vodafone (IE) seems pretty good for calls but you get robbed for texts...
Hey I work and live in Omagh and also work and live south of the border ..I have an Pre pay 02 UK phone with an Irish Bolt on it cost £1.99 a month for the bolt on and I can ring Uk numbers and send txts at local rates to the Uk while on the south side of the border or if some one wants to ring me from the North they wont be charged a bomb,
Also have a Post Pay 02 IRL phone with some add on that lets me still use my minits up while on 02 Uk and I can ring Uk numbers from my 02 IRL phone which also dosen't cost me anything just taken from my minits and I can send txts to Uk and it just uses up my allowence of txts.
Only thing is I have to carry two phones bit of a pain but you get used to it!!
I am with 3 ireland and can use my phone in ni or uk for no extra charge as long as i am on 3's network. It would be worthwhile checking out if the reverse is true as the uk tariffs are much cheaper.This would also save having to carry 2 phones.
Decided to go with 3 in the end, seemed to be by far the best option. Getting a UK number with 3 would be cheaper again but have too many people on irish numbers who've to ring me.
Just an update on my experience several months later...
3 are awful. Dealing with them is like banging your head off a brick wall. Their coverage is brutal, my phone is falling apart, the like home feature isn't quite as straight forward as it seems.
Will be moving to O2 or vodafone as soon as I can!
I am with 3 ireland and can use my phone in ni or uk for no extra charge as long as i am on 3's network. It would be worthwhile checking out if the reverse is true as the uk tariffs are much cheaper.This would also save having to carry 2 phones.
I am with 3 UK but might consider moving to 3 Irl next year.
I live on the border and work in NI. I get a 3 UK signal ok when in NI and indeed most of the time when at home. But sometimes (esp weekends) I lose signal and it automatically goes to O2 IRL - I was told I could roam to O2 for free by their customer service a long time ago so I did - but they stopped their agreement with O2 and I was charged as international roaming for any texts or calls I made with them. They now only have an agreement with Orange which I can't seem to receive at all on my phone, North or South.
So I think if I move to 3 IRL then I will use 3IRL and 3UK without too many problems.