You are probably aware that there is such a thing as an international SIM for mobile phones. There are numerous offers on Google, so I will not list them here.

However, it is a bit of a hassle to read through all the small print, so I was wondering if anyone had recommendations or warnings they would like to share.

Personally I would like an International SIM for a second mobile with the following features:
-Receive calls in many countries without having to pay roaming fees.
-Receive SMS free.
-Have a permanent contact number (where it does not cost a mint to receive calls).

Desireable features of such a product would be:
-No expiry date for the SIM or credit (so I don't suddenly go on holiday to find my card has expired).
-Low initial cost (some of the offers out there are fairly exhorbitant reaching into $100s of dollars for a SIM! There seem to be offers for about $20 too).
-Swiss number (so it is also reachable cheaply from within Switzerland).
-US number (since these are reachable cheaply worldwide)

Other factors:
-Facebook does not send free SMS alerts to Swiss numbers, so a UK number would also be useful.

I apologise if this has been covered before, I could not find it by searching, but I think recommendations for cheap / free roaming could be of use to many people on this forum. Reading the brochure and trying the product itself often leave very different impressions.

Anyone?

There's one I keep seeing in Switzerland. The logo is blue. Forget the name. Are you sure these providers can do what you want? I mean you're practically asking for a SIM that has a US & Swiss (maybe UK) number where you can travel anywhere in the world and never nothing/not pay very much.

That's asking a bit much isn't it in a world that nothing is for free?

If I am in a country for a considerable time, I normally purchase a local SIM card. To dial-out abroad I use Skype To-Go. As I work I don't really care too much about the odd charge here or there so I set up call forwarding from my Swisscom contract SIM to this pre-pay new SIM abroad (cost is slightly cheaper than roaming so it seems).

Thanx 4 asking this, I am looking 4ward 2 the helpfull responses.
By the way, as far as I know, noone charges for incoming SMS in roaming! Or do they?

I've never experienced it, but I have "heard" otherwise.

One option I have found useful is Vodafone Ireland. It costs you 79c to phone or receive a call. Afterwards they charge you the local rate. With Vodafone UK have a similar offer but with Vodafone Ireland you can get 50mb internet for 99c per day in most countries which is very handy if you have a smart phone but yeah for calling I'm sure there are cheaper offers

Is that service called Vodafone World? Partner networks like SFR and Swisscom also offer(ed) it.

http://www.abroad.vodafone.co.uk/vodafone-world/

Since making the OP. I have come to belive that nobody charges for receiving SMSs while roaming. This means that I could use any UK Mobile to receive free SMSs from Facebook for example - I would not need an international SIM for that.

Post here if you disagree.

A local SIM works if you are staying in a country for a while, but if you are moving between countries frequently then it is tiresome to communicate a new number all the time.

The whole point of a Global SIM card is to enable cheap / free roaming with a number in the country of your choice.

There are plenty of services available which offer this quite cheaply, I don't want to advertise them blindly (just look on Google). I could buy one and try it out. However I thought it would be useful information for the forum if someone has experience of these services and a recommendation / review. Especially someone living in Switzerland.

Hi Midas,
check out www.togglemobile.co.uk
Hope that´s sort-of what you were looking for?

EDIT: Sorry for resurrecting this burried thread - not even sure how this happened?