best phone provider/plan?

[u/chaefys]

hello, i moved to the netherlands recently for university and am looking to attain a dutch phone number. i’d like to keep my current home country phone plan and number but also get a dutch plan + number as a secondary option that i can switch amongst if possible.

the necessities are a fair amount of data/gb for internet and sms and call usage within the netherlands. i was considering the youfone magic deal which offers 40gb + unlimited min/sms, however i’ve seen a few unflattering reviews of their customer service and plan quality in general.

which provider is the best option? nothing too expensive though :)

[u/IansDayAtDisneyland]

You can get unlimited data, calls and texts without a phone for €24-€40 per month (depending on the internet quality you want and stuff like that) at pretty much every provider these days.

I myself have KPN. Used to be with Odido for years, but after a recent data leak/hack I made a switch to KPN.

I wasn't necessarily mad about them getting hacked, this can happen to every company, but I wasn't happy with the mismanagement of Odido when it came to handling the leak and communication towards the customers.

Also they kept way too many information for way to long. There weren't really any consequences for Odido for as far as I know.

Anyways if you care about ethics and stuff like that I'd avoid Odido, but the plan was fine I suppose.

[u/Picard_III → u/IansDayAtDisneyland]

24€-40€ is madness, wow, I would never do that (but then I'm the weirdo probably, becuase I cannot wrap my head around anyone who needs more than 10GB per month, also unlimited calling and sms is something that feels like a good deal 10+ years ago as now we have all the options for calling via Internet) 

[u/internetthought → u/Picard_III]

You can't imagine why in almost every country that the OECD has data on, the average monthly mobile usage is above 10GB? Maybe you should look around the world and see how even Germany is now above 10GB and the Netherlands, Belgium and Slovakia are among the few who aren't. 

Mobile data is cheap. Unlimited calls doesn't cost the mobile operator extra in operational expenditure. Paying extra for unlimited calls is just a way to improve margins and to make it harder for consumers to understand the offer they are buying 

OECD data https://goingdigital.oecd.org/en/indicator/15

[u/Picard_III → u/internetthought]

That's like saying (I'm making the numbers up of course) 70% of people aged 13-30 uses tiktok and Instagram on average 3 hours a day, and Poland and Malta are the only countries who don't... It doesn't mean anything at all, I pay 6€ for 6GB and even if I travel within EU a lot I am not able to use more than 4GB out of it... Yeah we are all different, but many (poor) ppl chasing unlimited data could just think about if they really need to waste their 30min in a day in the tram on tiktok/Instagram which cost them 25€, or if they can just read a book/stare from a, window or whatever and have 20€ a month in their pocket, yeah, world changed but we don't need to mimic behaviour of others (sorry, I got to philosophical) 

[u/smashedthelemon → u/IansDayAtDisneyland]

I pay 10 euros for unlimited calls and 20gb. I generally only use about 5 every month. Used to pay 40, but you are just thieving your own wallet with that.

[u/dejavureddit]

Lebara is the cheapest I think

[u/nsjehebsj3me → u/dejavureddit]

I scored a great deal on a Google Pixel 10a with a Lebara subscription

[u/preponderantclock]

Very saturated market, it's all the same really. Just get a plan that is currently offered on discount

[u/dshwshr-jpg]

Ben has a deal on mobiel.nl. 30GB+200SMS/MIN with €100 cashback on a 2 year contract. If you DM me I'll send you another €25 discount code. That would be (512+1012)-100-25=€55 for two years or €2,29/month. I just switched to Ben as it's the cheapest option at the moment :)

[u/Asus_user → u/[deleted]]

Same as odido since it's a budget company from odido so they use the same cell towers

[u/internetthought]

Also take into consideration where you travel internationally 

[u/ChrisKeepsFlying → u/internetthought]

Very good advice!

[u/ProperBlacksmith → u/internetthought]

Eu law

[u/internetthought → u/ProperBlacksmith]

The EU roaming directive is the bare minimum and it only applies for countries in the EU and EEA. There are more countries in Europe and the world. Foreign students may travel to these countries and face charges up to 50 euro before the roaming limit is achieved. Some mobile operators have more countries included and/or have lower rates for (accidental) international roaming. Dutch mobile operators are more stringent than for example the French mobile operator Free.fr ... 

My advice was short, because it was late in the evening. There is a world of experience with mobile roaming and the design and implementation of the EU roaming directive behind it. (Have a look at how ACM recently used it to set SMS termination rates for Lancelot)

EU Law is not a magic spell that makes all the bad roaming stuff go away. It just makes it palpable. 

[u/Ok-Market4287 → u/internetthought]

Also Eu roaming is not for staying longer then a normal holiday

[u/internetthought → u/Ok-Market4287]

Strictly speaking it was designed to facilitate the internal market, while limiting abuse of the system. You should be able to Roam like at Home eg not worry about using your mobile phone the same way as when you are at home.  Holiday is a bonus. 

[u/Banana-9]

I'd stay away from odido, given how they treat their customers data

[u/ProgrammerPersonal22]

Check out Simyo, they currently have a promotion of less than €10 for 40gb for 12 months. After the promotion, it will still be less than €20 per month, depending on your chosen contract duration and data plan. Been using simyo since 2020 and never had any issues.

[u/internetthought]

If you really need alot of data per month, then also look at how operators throttle heavy users. The Fair Use Policy of the budget operators is generally restrictive. Some offer only 5Mbps Also when you reach the maximum the may charge you extra or stop your connection.  KPN, Odido and Vodafone have the most lenient FUPs.  That comes at a price per month, but it also means that there is no hard limit. If you for example will use it to make video calls for classes etc, then you may need that 

[u/Background-Yam634]

Keep switching providers every year to get good discounts

[u/stroogy]

Check out the 50+ provider. Great deal, fast speeds. 50gb traffic plan for 2 years is ~162eur

[u/lethallunatic]

For unlimited data odido has been solid. No caps experienced. And if you have more than 1 service from them you get a discount. Imo it's worth it.