Using the iPhone 4 with Prepaid Micro SIM Card in Germany

24 July 2010 No Comment

Since June 24th the Apple smart-phone iPhone 4 is available in Germany. As before, the operator Telekom (T-Mobile) has the exclusive marketing rights for the new Apple iPhone in this country. Telekom is offering both versions of the iPhone 4 with 16 GB and 32 GB storage capacity for subsidized purchase prices between € 1.00 and € 399.95 only to customers entering or renewing a contract with a term commitment of 24 months. Mobile phone users will also find the Apple iPhone 4 at shops of Apple, mobilcom-debitel, at the consumer electronics retailers Saturn and Media Markt, and at shops of reseller The Phone House. However, these are only distribution partners of Telekom so that customers buying the new iPhone smart-phone here will also have to enter a Telekom contract with a long minimum term commitment. But one month after the iPhone 4 has gone on sale there are some mobile phone providers in Germany offering micro SIM cards with prepaid price plans to iPhone 4 users – here is a short overview.

The Prerequisite Is an Unlocked Version of the iPhone 4

The prerequisite for using the iPhone 4 with a prepaid micro SIM card in Germany is, of course, that you bring an unlocked version of that smart-phone. Either you ask your home provider – for example AT&T in the United States of America – to unlock your iPhone 4 before you travel to Germany or you buy an iPhone 4 without SIM lock Germany at certain retail stores or in neighboring countries such as Great Britain, Belgium or France. When buying an unlocked version of the Apple iPhone 4 at a German cell phone store, be aware of that you get a phone imported from another country and you will probably have to pay a purchase price of € 1,000 or more.

Also, you might have to wait several weeks or even months until you get your smart-phone when ordering a new iPhone 4 now due to supply bottlenecks. For example, Telekom tells its customers that they will have to wait for at least nine weeks after ordering until they get the iPhone 4.

So far, there hasn’t been released a jailbreak for the iPhone 4 which would make it possible to use the Apple smart-phone with any prepaid (micro) SIM card. The rumor persists that an iPhone 4 jailbreak and carrier unlock tool would not be released before Apple rolls out an upgrade to the iOS4 software update to fix the Antenna problem of iPhone 4. The software update is available since July 16th, but we are still waiting for a jailbreak release.

You Cannot Use a Prepaid Micro SIM Card Provided for the iPad

With the iPhone 3G S, it was easy: You just had to pop the SIM card from your old cell phone and insert it into the Apple smart-phone. This doesn’t work with the iPhone 4 because the new iPhone uses the smaller micro SIM card version just like the tablet PC Apple iPad does. But you cannot use any micro SIM card provided for the Apple iPad with your iPhone 4 since most of the iPad micro SIM card offers only allow mobile data connections - it is not possible to use voice with most of these iPad micro SIM cards.

With one exception: You can use the Skype app for making voice over IP calls with the iPhone 4. The new Skype app supports multi-tasking and keeps on running in the phone system’s background and calls can be made over the mobile network via EDGE, UMTS or HSPA or at WiFi hotspots.

Since the metal contacts of regular SIM cards and micro SIM cards are of the same size and it is just the plastic case that is different, you can also trim a regular prepaid SIM card to fit into the micro SIM card slot of the iPhone 4. There are several instructions manuals on the Internet on how to do this without damaging the SIM card. Later, you can use a micro SIM card adapter in order to use the cut-down SIM card in another cell phone with a regular SIM card slot again, if you wish.

Prepaid Micro SIM Cards of German Mobile Phone Providers

Because the iPhone 4 is constantly connected to the Internet, you will need a prepaid price plan for voice and mobile data services. As far as I know, there are three mobile phone providers in Germany offering micro SIM cards with such prepaid price plans for the iPhone 4: Blau and Simyo and Fonic. Buyers have to indicate a delivery address and can pay via direct debit or with credit card. With a prepaid micro SIM card, iPhone 4 users will make mobile phone calls and connect to the Internet over the mobile network of operator E-Plus. With a prepaid micro SIM card of Fonic, iPhone 4 users will make mobile phone calls and connect to the Internet over the mobile network of operator O2 Germany.

The prepaid micro SIM cards of Blau and Simyo can be ordered online at www.blau.de and at www.simyo.de. Simyo customers will get a regular prepaid SIM card first and a few days later the micro SIM card being sought. Existing customers of Simyo can exchange their regular SIM card for a micro SIM card. Until October, Simyo is not charging its customers to have the regular SIM card changed to the micro SIM card. Later on, there will be an one-time service fee of € 10.00 for this.

Blau and Simyo offer pretty much the same rates for mobile phone calls and using mobile data services. Subscribers are charged € 0.09 per minute for mobile phone calls and € 0.09 for each text message (SMS) sent within Germany. They can also choose between different mobile data tariff options (for example, € 0.24 per megabyte or 1 GB data volume per month for € 9.90). They both offer also low rates for international calls from Germany to other European countries and to the US. The prepaid micro SIM card starter package of Blau including credit of € 10.00 costs € 12.90 plus € 6.90 for delivery, the micro SIM card starter package of Simyo with credit of € 3.90 costs € 9.90.

Fonic is offering micro SIM cards in cooperation with to new customers in cooperation with ChrisKeimStore at http://fonic.chriskeim.com. Fonic customers are also charged € 0.09 per minute for mobile phone calls and € 0.09 for each text message (SMS) sent within Germany. For accessing the Internet via GPRS or UMTS over the mobile network of O2 Germany users can choose between different pricing models: € 0.24 per megabyte or € 0.24 per day. The day flat rate tariff comes with a cost limit of € 25.00 per month.

3G Network Coverage in Germany

The German 3G networks of Telekom (T-Mobile), Vodafone and O2 Germany support HSPA with up to 7.2 mbps (download) and 2.0 mbps (upload) in several areas. E-Plus has just begun upgrading its 3G network coverage and capacity with HSPA. Currently, maximum data transfer speeds do not exceed 1.8 mbps (download) and 384 kbps (upload). Please check the network coverage maps of the German operators:

For more information please check:
How to buy the iPhone 4 in Germany

Overviews of current cell phone plans in Germany:
Prepaid Price Plans with Single Tariff for Mobile Phone Calls
Prepaid Price Plans with Community Tariff for Mobile Phone Calls
Prepaid Price Plans with Flat Rate Tariff for Mobile Phone Calls
Prepaid Price Plans for International Mobile Phone Calls
Prepaid Mobile Data Price Plans for Smartphone Users