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How to make cheap international call and text (SMS)
from O2 contract and Prepay

*All Information Provided in Good Faith and you should verify the information independently*

 

O2Contract Mobile has the following features: [Information correct as of 4-Sep-06]

  • Anytime tariff which gives certain number of free minutes per month that can be used to ring Landline (i.e. number beginning with 01,02 ), 0870, 0845, 0800, 0844 and other mobiles (Vodafone, Orange, H3G, T Mobile and its associated MVNO such as Virgin and Fresh).  Anytime tariffs allow your free mins to be rolled over to next month

  • A "Leisuretime All"  and a "Leisuretime plus" tariff  which give lots of off peak minutes (evening and weekends) are not longer available from 1st August.  There is a new leisure tariff (evenings + weekends), which gives you 1000 mins off peak on 12 months contract or 1500 mins off peak on 18 months contract.  These can be used for calling other mobile networks, landlines and 08xx number (0870, 0844, 0845 and 0800).  Leisure tariff doesn't allow your free mins to be rolled over.

  • A 'Free Long Weeeknds Call' feature which is available on £35/month+ price plans (and also on PAYG, but to landline and O2 only, scroll down to PAYG section for more info). The feature allows you to make unlimited minutes of call per month during Sat,Sun and Monday to any UK mobiles or landlines number. (Fair use policy restrict unlimited to 2000 minutes).  Unfortunately, calls to 08xx numbers are NOT covered under this offer.

  • New plans from 1st August also has a rather high 20p/min flat rate charge to all landlines, UK mobiles, 0870,0845,0844 etc once your free minutes are used up.

  • O2 Price List for 0844,0845,0870 numbers :

How to make cheap International Call

O2 contract is SUITABLE for calling international via our 0872 043 1 043 and 0872 043 1 043 service.   You can view a list of destinations for both 0844 and 0870 for more details.  For destinations that are not covered by either numbers, you may want to check out our enhanced service - QX Dial+.

As mentioned above, both 0844 and 0870 are charged as standard call (http://www.o2.co.uk/mobilestariffs/tariffs/specialnumbers), which qualify for free minutes.  However, if you exceed these free allowances, extra mins will attract a rather high 20p/min flat rate.

If you are using leisure tariff, you may be interested in our enhanced service QX Dial+.  As your mins cannot be rolled over, it would be useful to store these unused free mins with QX Dial+ for future use or occasional calls during peak hour.

How to send cheap International SMS

O2 charges 16p/message for sending SMS to international destinations (12p/msg if subscribed to ITS) and doesn't include in free messages allowances.
It would be more cost effective to send SMS to International numbers via QX SMS/VGSMail service at http://www.vgsmail.com. Cost to send an international SMS is currently 4.2p/msg and you can see the delivery status online !

 

- Found an error? Please Tell us at qxdial@qxtelecom.co.uk -

How to Make cheap International call and send cheap international SMS from O2 Prepay

*All Information Provided in Good Faith and you should verify the information independently*

O2 Prepay Mobile has the following features: [Information correct as of 4-Sep-06]

  • Long weekend: You can join "long weekend" by sending "WEEKENDS POSTCODE" to 21300 such as "WEEKENDS SLI4DX" before 31st of Sept.  After you got a confirmation from O2, you will need to top up at least £10.  O2 will send you a confirmation text that your Long weekend is activated.  You can then enjoy free call to landlines (01/02), O2 mobiles for every Sat, Sun and Mon for 2 months within postcode area you selected.

  • More: If you spend more than £10/month, you can switch your tariff to "TalkalotMore".  All call charges are the same but you will get 150 mins extra free if you top up £15 or 300 mins extra free if you top up £30.  To switch, just text "MORE" to 21300.

  • Register: You can get £2.50 call time free if you register with O2 by sending text "Title, full name, house number and postcode" to 21500.  E.g. MR PHIL SMITH 23 EN3 9PX

  • Call to 0870, 0844, 0845 and 0800 is charged at flat rate15p/min.

  • Call to landlines and O2 mobiles is charged as standard call (25p/min for the first 3 min, then 5p/min for the rest of the day)

  • Call to other mobiles is charged at 40p/min.

  • Sending text to UK number is charged at 10p/msg

  • Sending text to international number is charged at 20p/msg

International Call

The best way to make a cheap international call using O2 prepay is via our QX Call.  As call to 01277 770330 will be free during Sat, Sun and Monday (if you join before 31st Sept), you can dial this access number and enjoy an even cheaper rate.  For example, to call China from our QX Call  is only 2p/min via 01277 770330 access.

Our QX Call product caters for this purpose and you can begin making/receiving call in just a few (<4) hours and in 3 simple steps.

  1. Signup at http://www.qxtelecom.co.uk/qxcall

  2. We will email you with your PIN number within 4 hours (during 8am-8pm or by 11.30am next day, including weekends). You can also specify phone numbers that we will use to auto-identify you with (if you make calls from these phone numbers, you will not be asked to enter the PIN)

  3. You can then dial 01277 770 300 and then enter pin if appropriate and then press using your keypad 00xxxxxxxxx and wait to be connected.

However, the best way to call international number cheaply and conveniently would still be with O2 contract (scroll up for more details).  If you are interested, you can have a look at many fantastic offers on O2 mobiles.  Some deals will give you almost all your line rental back - practically free phone, free line rental and free international calls via 0844 5840100 or 0870 1190200 (depending on your destinations).  Depending on your usage pattern, we can recommend which tariff is suitable for you.  If you need any advice, just send us an email to O2advise@qxtelecom.co.uk.

Alternatively, if you have accessed to a landline (BT, NTL and Telewest), you can dial 0844 5840100 directly if your destination is allowed.  BT, NTL and Telewest charges 5p/min to call this number 24/7.

International SMS

As O2 charges 10p/msg for sending to UK number and 20p/msg for international, we would recommend our SMS service which is only 4.2p/min to send an SMS to UK or international numbers.

 
Other useful O2 FAQ [A=answer]
  1. SIM Card
    1. What is O2 Default  SIM PIN ? [A] 0000
    2. If have entered my SIM pin several times wrongly and it is now locked. What should I do? [A] You need to get a PUK code from O2, which can be obtained from http://www.o2.co.uk/puk/. 

       

  2. SMSC Number: [A] +447802 000332 (contract) or +447802 092035 (for pay & go)

     

  3. WAP and GPRS

    1. O2 APN for Internet over GPRS/3G: mobile.o2.co.uk,  O2 APN for WAP over GPRS/3G for contract: wap.o2.co.uk,  O2 APN for WAP over GPRS/3G for PAYG: payandgo.o2.co.uk
    2. Username: o2wap (contract) / payandgo (PAYG).  Password: password
    3. Session type: Continuous / permanent
    4. Authentication: Normal
    5. Security: Off
    6. Port number: 8080
    7. Incoming (POP3) server: mail.o2.co.uk. Outgoing (SMTP) server: smtp.o2.co.uk
       

  4. Topup and Credits

    1. To check your prepay balance: use hotkey 2 or key *#10# then press the call button and your call time balance will be shown on your display. Alternatively, dial 4444 FREE from your mobile phone to hear your balance.

    2. There are several ways to top up your O2 credit: visit http://www.o2.co.uk/mobilestariffs/tariffs/topup for details

    3. You can borrow £1 credit from O2 when your credit is below £0.50.  You have to pay back in 7 days from your next top up.  If you pay back after 7 days, O2 will charge extra £0.25 fee on top of £1.  To borrow a quid from O2, just call 4444 free from your mobile and select the ‘Lend Us a Quid’ option.

       

  5. Customer Care

    1. Prepaid: 08705 678 678 (standard rate) or Short code 4445 (hot key 9) from your mobile phone (20p/min).

    2. Contract: 0870 586 0860 (if you purchase mobile from store), 0870 600 3009 (if you purchase mobile online), 0800 03 21 402 (if you are a "select" customer)

       

  6. Voicemail

    1. Voicemail number: 901

    2. Turning off voicemail: 1750; Turn on Voicemail: 1760;

    3. Turn on voicemail abroad (contract): Dial 1780 before you leave UK and you will receive your Personal Voicemail Retrieval Number, or dial +447802 090 100 via you are abroad.  If you don't set this, the caller may not be able to leave you a voicemail.
    4. Default Voicemail pin is: 8705
    5. (Pay & Go) Some destinations don't allow you to ring 901, you can dial *111*901# instead.

     

  7. Roaming
    1. (Contract) For tariff of £35/month, you will get International Traveller Service (ITS) added free.  Otherwise, you could join ITS for £2.99/month.  You can check out O2 roaming rate here.
    2. (Pay & Go) You can get 1st min and 1st SMS free each week.  You don't need to do anything to get this.  For the roaming charges rate for Prepaid, click here.

     

  8. Others
    1. If you want to perform a master reset of clear the call log on a mobile phone, you will usually be asked to enter a security code. This code can be found in the manual. But commonly, it is 000000 (6 zeros) (Verified on O2 Motorola RAZR V3i).

 

Any other question?  Try the FORUM and we / other member will try to answer you query.