There are companies out there that will sell you a “travel sim”.. you might find one in the UK.. They basically wholesale pre-paid SIM cards, they will be with whichever wholesaler they buy through… ultimately carriage will most likey be with Telstra, Optus . If you are wanting to use it before landing in Australia you may need to get it pre-activated. As normally activation requires access to the carriage providers network. I have done this many times when travelling to avoid the higher roaming costs – both in terms of preactivation, and activtion while still in the plane on arrival.
But as NB states, you can probably just buy a SIM when you land. Just make sure that your handset is compatible with your device. Not all phones support the 3G or 4G frequencies used in Australia so you may need to do a bit of homework before you leave.
In any event, you will be able to port the number to another carrier so you won’t be stuck with whoever you choose.
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This article has been archived by Slow Travel News for your research. The original version from Expat Forum can be found here.
