Comments on: Minutel Offers Low Rates for Mobile Phone Calls

By: Nick Botson

Nick Botson — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 08:43:58 +0000

Thanks for the information. I do have a German bank account and German address of residence, but I prefer a “real prepaid” plan.

However, you *don’t* need a German bank account to order the Minutel starter pack. They also offer Paypal. Perhaps, this is an indication that it is not a “quasi-prepaid” plan but a “real” one?

I usually call EU countries so based on your overview article, the best for me would be Fonic or Solomo Pro that don’t have extra set up prices for each call. But I’ll probably go for Fonic since you can buy your cards and credit everywhere and have better data plans that Solomo pro.

Thanks again!

By: Bjoern

Bjoern — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:16:56 +0000

You need to indicate a residence in Germany and must have a banking account or a credit card in order to buy the prepaid starter package of Minutel. And they might check your credit report. I don’t know to what country you want to call, but check our overview at http://www.phone-guide-germany.com/prepaid-plans-international-calls/2306/ for prepaid price plans of German mobile phone providers for international calls.

By: Nick Botson

Nick Botson — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:36:22 +0000

Thanks for the prompt reply Bjoern,

as you suggest on your previous very informative article about real vs. quasi-prepaid plans, it actually matters if Minutel is quasi-prepaid in the case of “travelers, exchange students, business men or people moving to Germany”.

Being an exchange student myself (I arrived in Germany last month and will stay for one year), I suppose that I can’t become a subscriber of Minutel if they indeed offer a quasi-prepaid plan. That’s a pity, since their tariff for calling abroad is the best.

By: Bjoern

Bjoern — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:53:39 +0000

Hello Nick – maybe you are right and my assumption is wrong. It is always hard to say. Since Minutel says, there might be a negative balance on the prepaid account of the subscriber, it sounds as if Minutel bills over a postpaid platform and it is quasi-prepaid. But even if not: It doesn’t really matter because it is low rates for mobile phones that count, isn’t it?

By: Nick Botson

Nick Botson — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:43:41 +0000

Hello and congratulations on the very informative site. I have one question about your article on Minutel. You wrote that it is a “quasi-prepaid price plan”. Did you get that info from their site? I failed to see if it is a normal-prepaid or a quasi-prepaid price plan, since my German is limited.

However, when I looked on your article about the differences of those two plans, Minutel mostly have the same options of the real prepaid plans and not the quasi-prepaid price plans. For example, you can top up your credit with a voucher/code, you don’t need a German bank account to buy their starter pack, it is possible to check your credit balance via the *101# USSD code, their starter pack comes with small amount of credit etc.