Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
FRANCE TELECOM
Remains the major telephone provider for landlines.
Customer service tel:1014
Toll-free English-speaking help line: 08.00.36.47.75
English-speaking line from abroad: (33).1.55.78.60.56
Website:http://www.orange.fr
Inquire about all their pricing plans before subscribing and
check out telephone companies that offer competitive prices for
telephone, Internet, and television packages.
http://www.skype.com (in English) and http://www.skype.
com/intl/fr (in French). In effect, you'd be making phone calls
using your computer or—depending on how you configure
it—your iPhone, iTouch or other smart phones that support
VoIP software. Domestic and international calls to other Skype
customers are always free, and those to other landlines and
mobiles are reasonably priced. It's important to know about
VoIP, for this is the current wave, and if Skype has hit France,
other providers will surely follow.
Check out, too, several services that offer cheap international
calling without a subscription plan:
Minutes Direct; website:www.lesminutesdirect.com.
International calls at the price of a local call. Billed through
France Télécom.
Iradium; website:http://www.iradium.fr. Calling card plan
with competitive rates. Access the website to understand
how the process works and to sign up.
Mobile Phones
The French are great users of their mobiles. Some people are
even choosing not to have a 'landline' (
téléphone fixe
) at all,
using only their mobiles. So, if you have a mobile yourself,
expect people to call you on it, even if you are at home sitting
next to your landline.
France uses GSM 900/1800. Most newer cell phones are
now tri- or quad-band and are now compatible. With a simple
bi-band phone that only accesses GSM 1900, you'll have to buy
a new phone.
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