This is a message for O2 bosses if they want to keep O2 company as a global big phone service.

[donecek]

I was thinking I could use an O2 SIM card anywhere around the planet as the O2 company seemed to me to be a very big corporation...

Sadly, once you leave Europe the glory of the O2 company is fading significantly and about this a big O2 company one can't find out even a small trace in the South Pacific area... 

My SIM card can't be used despite the fact I depend on the connection from the O2 SIM card.

I think some O2 services could be provided via its website to keep our O2 SIM cards alive as I remember it used to be possible to use the O2 website for SMS, calling etc.

Please, would you let to know your O2 bosses about that idea as some O2 customers living abroad would appreciate some services like these... Thank you in advance.

[donecek]

Yes, I really agree with you as outside of Europe nobody knows about them...

But they (European phone providers) need to be forced to sign agreements with other phone providers around the planet to cooperate much more than they are doing (or rather not doing) recently...

The more people like me will force their providers to do this the more benefits it will bring to all people in Europe finally, I think...

All mobile phone providers are members of the World Mobile Phone Association, so let them act in the interest of their customers, isn't it?

https://www.gsma.com/get-involved/

[madasaf1sh]

@donecek 

You have more chance of speaking to Telstra and the NZ mobile networks, such as one NZ than a company based 10K miles away..

Or get Vodafone on the Islands to speak to Vodafone UK, as they have the same parent company... 

You could always persuade the Cook Islands Governmen to put in a submarine connection to the interconnects in the Philippines and then join on of the other connections to the EU..  but that would cost millions of dollars....

O2  DO NOT have to sign anything with anyone as they are a commercial organisation, and the GSMA is a trade organisation, and cant force anyone to do anything, as they set standards and do white papers...

[donecek]

Sadly said, some speaking to the local phone providers is not the right way unless you want to involve them to connect European providers...

The very first step must come from the European big providers to ask for cooperation with the local ones because they are much bigger than the local ones...

It has to be the prime interest of European phone providers to expand here, not the opposite...

Local Cook Islands Vodafone company is just a pure franchise with no connection to the UK Vodafone company at all, I tried to do that but they are strange to each other...

So I have to just repeat that the only way how to break the huge lack of connection between Europe and the South Pacific islands is via agreements starting from the European side first...

At least, now, there are fewer blockings to each other (Europe/Cook Islands) since I started a fight with all of them...

Of course, the GSMA is just an association but we can use it to shame them for doing nothing or nearly nothing to globalize the mobile phone market for what they are always boasting of...

[Oxonian]

Noted @donecek, thank you. 👍 

[jonsie]

Who is the 'we' in this thread who can change things

Is this a one-man crusade or an official organisation

You won't 'shame them' into doing anything that they don't want to

[Enlli]

@jonsie All this because they bought an O2 SIM card and thought it could be used around the world, even in a group of islands in the South Pacific 

[madasaf1sh]

@Enlli 

I gave up with the numpty, not sure what he was asking, but the PAYG sim will actually work until you run out of limbs to pay the call charges... 

And think they where wanting o2 to setup a network or an interconnect with the islands....

[jonsie]

My Buddha, there's places in the UK where you can't use an O2 sim card

Manchester, London, Lake District etc etc

[donecek]

Since 2004 I lived in Manchester and since 2005 I've been using an O2 SIM card...  I left Manchester 2023.

The signal from O2 was always good...

[donecek]

No worries you can give up but I will not give up even for you when you need to use your O2 SIM card once you travel to the South Pacific....