Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Telephone
Mobile Phones
»French mobile-phone numbers begin with 06 or 07.
»France uses GSM 900/1800, compatible with Europe and Australia, but incompatible
with North American GSM 1900 or the Japanese system.
»It's cheaper to buy a French SIM card and prepaid calling plan if you already have a
compatible handset, or to buy a temporary phone if you're from North America or Japan,
than to use your home plan overseas.
»Unless you have a French bank account for ongoing billing, prepaid calling plans within
France are expensive - about €0.50 a call. Texting costs less.
»Buy your phone when you land in Paris, where more salespeople speak English than in
Provence.
»SIM cards and phones are available at France's three principal companies: Bouygues
( www.bouyguestelecom.fr ) , Orange ( www.orange.fr ) and SFR ( www.sfr.com ) .
»Buy recharge cards at newsagents and tabacs .
Dialing Codes
» Calling France (or Monaco) from home Dial your country's international-access code,
then
33 for France (or
377 for Monaco), then the 10-digit number, without the ini-
tial zero.
» Calling abroad from France Dial
00 for international access, then country code (
1 for US,
44 UK,
16 Australia), then area code and local number, minus any initial
zeros.
» Hotel calls Very expensive and unregulated, usually €0.30 per minute locally.
Phonecards & Payphones
»For instructions on using public phones, push the button engraved with dual flags.
»Public phones accept two kinds of télécartes (phonecards) - cartes à la puce (magnetic-
chip cards), issued by France Télécom for €8 or €15, and cartes à code (cards with free
access number and prepaid scratch-off code). Find cards at post offices, tabacs and news-
agents.
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