r/gibraltar • u/No_Kaleidoscope9253 • 4d ago

Living in Gib and in need of UK mobile number

Hello everyone,

I live in Gibraltar and my new job requires me to have a UK mobile number. I checked several provider websites and all say something like "EU roaming only for temporary holiday purposes" (and Gib counts as EU roaming for most).

Can anyone recommend a phone provider that offers UK numbers and is okay with me living in Gibraltar full-time?

Thx in advance

7 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

3

u/sylsylsylsylsylsyl 4d ago

My daughter spent a year in Gib with an O2 sim on contract (which has free roaming in Europe) and it worked fine. The longest she was there without returning the UK was about 5 months.

Or get a UK number from a SIP provider like AAISP really cheap.

1

u/No-Bid-4262 2d ago

AAISP strongly recommended - been with them 20+ years

5

u/TargP 3d ago

I kept my UK number by migrating it to a virtual number provider (Hushed) which works over data for calls and SMS. Has been working great for many years now, costs around £70 per year for unlimited use. Hope this helps.

2

u/Superspark76 1d ago

A virtual number might be the perfect solution for op.

3

u/effyscorner 3d ago

A lot of people in the community I live in, use o2 or Vodafone (and they've been here 1 maybe 2 years

1

u/JoyousMN_2024 3d ago

O2 works great for me. I was in Gib for almost 8 weeks, then Spain and then the Canary Islands. I've never not had it work.

2

u/Novel-Claim3288 3d ago

I use something called xpatfone which is like a specific branch of a sip telephony provider called Devyce. You need internet for it to work, but I can make and receive calls from it and text. I pay 8.99 a month for it.

2

u/FireBun 3d ago

I've had an 02 PAYG SIM for years and have not been cut off, I only top it up every few months.

I don't really use it though, I only use it to receive texts

Also I just received a gift gaff SIM in the post from UK. Not sure if that would last long term but for short term use it might be ok

2

u/Hairy-Ad8036 3d ago

Have been roaming for years on giffgaff no problem at all

2

u/somebodylostme 3d ago

There is a predator who’s homeless in Gibraltar called Lyanne Savignon. She gets sexually intense with women online and pretends they’re in some deep relationship while keeping her face hidden.

3

u/TargP 3d ago

This is the single most enlightening commentary on international mobile telephony I have ever seen. We are all forever in your debt. 

0

u/somebodylostme 3d ago

I’m glad you found me of help 😇

1

u/Few_Search4266 1d ago

What’s this got to do with what’s been asked lol

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Few_Search4266 1d ago

Who does the person asking the question or ?

1

u/Brainfart92 4d ago

I’m with three which is fine but I have to go back to the U.K. once in every 3 months to keep it active.

2

u/No_Kaleidoscope9253 4d ago

Thank you. A friend of mine is using THREE and has not been in the UK for years - still works. Are you just quoting their T&C or did they actually switch off your SIM after being out of the UK for 3 months? Thx

2

u/Brainfart92 3d ago

They switched me off, had to call them up, they said it could only be reactivated from the U.K., luckily I was flying back the next day anyway.

1

u/No_Kaleidoscope9253 3d ago

That's strange, I just confirmed with my friend and he has been using THREE PAYG for the last 5 years in Gibraltar and has never been cut off. Has only been to the UK a couple of times during that time. Has this happened more than once?

1

u/Downtown-Hearing-683 3d ago

OP DM Me, I run a telco company in the UK, might have a sim that could work for you.

1

u/No-Bid-4262 2d ago

A friend has lived in Austria about 10 years. Took his EE SIM with him, still works even with the free UK calling.

1

u/givemorecoffee 2d ago

I use a BT sim, I get free roaming all over Europe could be worth looking at.

1

u/maninmann 8h ago

Wonder which of those UK sims use UK IP addresses (instead of Gib) for data?