MWC Tips: Details On Local SIM Cards That Can Save You Money!
In the next two weeks, we're going to bring you a few different tips to make sure you have a great experience in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress. First up: how to save some money with local Spanish SIM cards. There are cards available from several operators and MVNOs that offer cheap rates, especially for data, which is handy for any demo devices you've got!
A great place to get started for info is the Prepaid Wireless Internet Access wiki page for Spain. This wiki was set up by Martin Sauter several years back, and it's proved indispensable to me during my international travels in a number of different countries. It lists a lot of different options, we'll focus on just a few of them (we should note we can't take responsibility if any of these prices have changed, confirm them at the time of purchase!):
- Yoigo, which offers unlimited internet at speeds up to 384 kbps for EUR1.41 per day, or less if you stay under 1MB. There's also a plan selling 500MB of data at HSDPA speeds (up to 3.2 Mbps) for a month for EUR9.44. After the 500MB, speeds get cut to 64kbps. I've used Yoigo in the past and had no problems with it, and purchased my SIM at a branch of The Phone House.
- Carrefour, which will sell you 100MB of data at full 3G speed for EUR1.18 per day, then limit you to 128kbps after that. It's available in Carrefour stores.
- MasMovil, which offers 1GB for EUR14.95 plus tax or 300MB for EUR5 plus tax on its 7.2Mbps network. It's not clear exactly where the MasMovil cards are available, though a commenter on the wiki says they picked one up at The Phone House.
A few general points: you'll need your passport to buy any SIM card in Spain, and some places may want you to provide a local address. Some of these deals have a few steps required for activation; check out the wiki for more details or help. Finally, be prepared for shop assistants to only speak their local languages; it may be helpful for you to print out the part of the relevant company's web site and take it with you to get what you want.
If you've got any experience with SIMs and plans from any of the above companies, let us know how you got on with them in the comments.