Best Cell Phone Provider Cork Study Abroad

So while I was getting ready to go to Ireland I had heard through the grapevine that it was unnecessary to try and bring your own cell phone with you from America and that it was more economical to purchase a pay as you go phone when you get there. This is definitely the case. When I first got to Cork I immediately wanted to get a phone but I did not know which provider to get. I figured that I would just talk to some locals and the new friends that I made and figure it out from speaking to them. I ended up going with Meteor and it was a great experience overall. Meteor gives


great student discounts and also offers free Meteor to Meteor calls and texts so if you can talk all your new friends into meteor as well then this is the way to go because you basically do not pay for anything at all while you are on it. Unfortunately after 30 days they usually require you to top up the 20 euros to maintain the free M2M but I usually just let my intial 20 Euro run dry before I topped up to buy me time. If you do not top up immediately they still will let you have the free talk and text to other meteor people when you run out of credit and decide to top up so there is no rush to refill after your first month of prepaid if you did not use it all.


The other providers that were in Cork were O2, Vodafone, Orange, and 3. These networks were not as cheap with their pay as you go so most students there do no use them. Some people I knew did go with Vodafone because they heard that the service was better but I must say that Meteor did a great job and I had absolutely no complaints at all with them. For the people that are considering taking their phones abroad with them I am not telling you not to do it but I am telling you to get a prepaid phone anyway. This is because most study abroad students are on a strict budget and if you have an international phone their prepaid phones are going to charge them an international call when they contact you even if you are a door over from them. I know a couple of kids who were often out of the loop just because it was a little pricier to let them know what was going on. If you have a data plan on your phone it is still helpful and sometimes you can get cheaper rates from calling the USA on a US phone but honestly I think the best way to go is prepaid because Meteor was great and also to call home for me it cost 15 cents a minute which you probably won't find on a US provider.

Another useful tip for traveling abroad, if you have a phone that is compatible for world travel, is to get it unlocked and then purchase a new sim card for it in the country you are going to. Often the wireless companies in Ireland would give you a free sim card if you deposit 20 Euro on it so this could be a viable option if you are not looking to purchase a new phone and you do not want to spend lots of money on the ridiculous rates that Verizon or AT&T might charge for there international plans. It is almost always cheaper to just buy a new sim card. The important thing is that you need a phone that is global. The Iphone is an example of a phone that works abroad and the Motorola Droid 2 is Verizon's newest global phone. If you are thinking about going abroad soon and are in the market for a new phone I would recommend purchasing it from Amazon Wireless because the prices are even cheaper than you would get at a Verizon or AT&T store. I would also recommend the Motorola Droid 2 for a Verizon global phone. I have one and it is awesome.  Click the link below to check out the Motorola Droid 2 and if you want check out the prices on all the phones, they are super cheap and I am definitely getting my next phone from Amazon Wireless.