In message , at 12:29:56 on Sun, 14 Jul
2019, Clank remarked:
Roland Perry Wrote in message:
That's where the albeit fairly rare dual-SIM phone has a role.
Only, for some reason, rare in the UK.
The reason is obvious: so many phones are either SIM-locked to one
provider, or are fitted with SIMs on non-rollover tariffs, that the
opportunities for fitting a second true-Pay-as-you-go SIM are quite
limited.
But if what you want to do is service two SIMs that you'd have anyway,
on one bit of hardware, then the opportunities open up a bit. Even on
locked phone because (for example) GiffGaff and Tesco both use O2, and
Virgin/Orange/T-Mobile all share EE.
Yes, some of those brands are a bit long in the tooth, but I've managed
to acquire non-contract SIMs for all of them (although the Orange one
expired recently, probably because I'd not used it enough).
To the extent that in the past at least the same model phone has been
dual SIM as standard on worldwide sale but single-SIM on the UK SKU.
Same headline model, but a different part number.
I just checked on orange.ro, and in their current catalogue they
have 122 dual SIM phones, and only 71 single SIM - to add some
hard facts to my anecdata. (It must be around a decade since I
owned a single-SIM phone, but when I was in the UK it was a
feature I had to search for, now it's more or less standard.
Except for Apple of course, but then that's why I switched away
from iPhone in the first place... I think they can finally do
dual-SIM now provided your carrier supports e-SIM for one of
them, though.)
It's easier to switch SIMs on an iPhone than many others, so it's
possibility for those occasions when one finds a holiday let that
doesn't have coverage. But obviously no good for being able to operate
to on-the-fly.
One of the reasons for having a Virgin second-SIM is it authenticates
Virgin wifi (for those also not on Virgin Cable) on the phone.
https://www.virginmedia.com/help/vir...ect-to-london-
underground
In other news, Crossrail will have wifi and 4G when it opens in December
2018. [when ?? - ed]
--
Roland Perry