Pre-paid cellphones are going international: a new “roaming” SIM card lets
travellers make cellphone calls abroad without paying a fortune. Normally,
cellphone users pay heavy charges to make calls while abroad, and most pre-paid
phones can only call their home country. But now British company Mint Telecom
and Swisscom of Switzerland have come up with an answer. When travelling abroad,
you replace your standard SIM card with a new “Mint card”. This lets you make
calls from up to 112 other countries—where Swisscom has bought job lots of
airtime—at a cost of 85p a minute to make calls, and…
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
Fully autonomous drones have killed human soldiers for the first time
2
What is a ‘normal’ memory slowdown, and when should I worry?
3
Toy universe shows that time could be a quantum illusion
4
Understanding anorexia’s grip on the brain could unlock new therapies
5
Wolves seen hunting European bison in rare camera-trap recording
6
Why we should all take quantum physics extremely personally
7
First quantum grandfather clock could probe where gravity comes from
8
Ditching cigarettes for vapes may curb the cancer benefits of quitting
9
Mysterious ‘cold blob’ in the Atlantic suggests the AMOC is weakening
10
Global map reveals the vast scale of underground fungal networks