Prepaid GSM Card Costs in Cambodia
Goals for This Page:
- To help consumers find the best service for their needs at the best price (Best Value)
- To support communication providers who offer value
- To improve the value of communications available in Cambodia
If you want the basics on Prepaid GSM Cards in Cambodia here they are:
Prepaid cards can be the most expensive way to pay for your telephone service. Mobitel charges higher rates for the use of the lower value cards. Care should be taken in buying the card or selecting the service plan in order to avoid these rates.
Prepaid cards can offer competitive rates when the better plans are selected, and can offer (in the case of Samart packages) very competitive rates for out of system calling.
Prepaid cards, in the case of MobiTel, can be used for payment on MobiTel credit accounts and therefore offer an opportunity for people outside of Phnom Penh to benefit from the low rates that the Mobitel hub plan can offer.
Here is a summary of the rates offered by MobiTel and Samart for Prepaid cards:
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To understand how these rates compare it is necessary to understand that as of the beginning of Yr 2000 MobiTel has approximately ten times more users than Samart GSM. In order for Samart to draw customers from Mobitel they must offer better rates within the Samart system and better rates to call from Samart to Mobitel. Note above that the Samart and Shinawatra cards offer calls to other systems for the same price as in system calls and for the same or cheaper prices than MobiTel charges its own users to call other MobiTel Users. If you have a Samart Package D you can call Mobitel CellCard users for less than most of them pay to call themselves!!!
In System Rate for Prepaid GSM Cards
In System rates are the rates that Samart offers to call other phones in the Samart system and that Mobitel charges to call phones in the MobiTel system. Samart offers lower in system rates that save about $20 a month in costs compared to comparable MobiTel rates at ten minutes of use a day. There is little difference between the in system rates for the best four plans.
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Average Costs for Prepaid GSM Cards Including Out of System Calls
Here the per
minute costs used are a calculated average that includes adjustment for higher cost Out of
System calls. Samart has lower In System and Out of System rates, but Samart users
must use the higher Out of System rates more often to call into the MobiTel system
of
hand phones. Samart Package C offers the best costs for less than 5
minutes per day, but the MobiTel $50 plan is the
best rate for an average of between 5 and ten minutes of calls per day.
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In System Rates for MobiTel
If you already have an account with Mobitel or Samart you should look at the rates that they offer and determine the best rate for your usage. Here are the In System costs you can expect for plans that MobiTel offers:
Note that the $10 and $20 MobiTel CellCard plans are significantly more expensive than other plans. If you buy CellCards, it is worth your money to buy $50 CellCards. $50 CellCards are less expensive than the MobiTel Personal plan and, if usage is less than 11 minutes per day, less expensive than the Mobitel Standard plan.
The Hub plan 1 or 2 offer lower costs over 7 minutes of calling a day.
So, if you call less than 7 minutes a day use the $50 CellCard. If you call over 9 Minutes a day use the Hub 2 plan. If you are somewhere in-between use the Hub 1 plan.
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In System and Out of System Calling Costs with MobiTel
When
you use the MobiTel system to call to other networks, and especially when you
use it to call other networks in other provinces, the costs of calls increase
rapidly. Calls on the Hub 2 plan increase from $0.06/min to $0.23/min. Calls
to telephones in other provinces cost $1/min for CellCards. When
Out of System calls are considered the $50 CellCard is less expensive than the
Hub plan until eleven minutes of phone calls per day, and cheaper than the Standard
plan for less than 15 minutes of calls per day. Over 12 minutes of calls a
day use the Hub 2 plan.
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In System Calling with Samart
For
In System rates the Samart Package A is the least expensive only below 4 minutes
of calls a day. Above 4
minutes of calling per day the best deal for a prepaid card is the Package B or
the Package 3 Credit plan. Note that the credit plan offers great savings
if you call more than 4 minutes a day, nearly $60 a month over any prepaid plan
if you call for just 15 minutes a day. At $35 a month the
Package 3 credit plan is an excellent value if you have lots of In System
calling and inter provincial calls In System. The cost of 15 minutes
of calls a day is only $44 per month compared to $100 with the best prepaid plan
and $70 with the MobiTel Hub plan.
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In System and Out of System Calling Costs with Samart
The cost advantages
of the Samart system are reduced when calling other networks . This is due to the large percentage of hand phones that are outside of
the Samart network. Package 1 calls increase from $0.02/min to
$0.23/m into other systems. Although not included in
these estimates, costs rise more slowly when you
use Samart to call other networks in other provinces: the rate for Samart is
$0.33/min vs. the Mobitel CellCard rate of $1/min. Note that from 6 to 15 minutes of calls
per day the Prepaid package1 is very competitive. Below 6 minutes of calls
a day use the Samart Card Package A.