Making phone calls in Hong Kong

Maximilien · 2015-10-02T10:10:07+02:00

Discover tips on getting a landline and choosing mobile operators in Hong Kong, plus insights on average monthly budgets for expats.

Maximilien ViP

Member since 20 June 2013

MaximilienViP02 October 2015 08:10:07

12633

Hi,

When settling in Hong Kong, one of the priorities is to be able to make phone calls.

How to proceed to get a landline installed in Hong Kong?

What are the mobile operators?

What is your average monthly budget?

Thank you in advance for sharing your experience,

Maximilien

Guestposter62152 Guest

Guestposter62152Guest05 October 2015 07:55:54

My experience is that compared to the UK the telcos in HK are much more aggressive in trying to tie mobile customers into a contract rather offer decent PAYG deals (PAYG deals are very poor). The cost of deals here seem much higher also. The best value deal I found is one with 3 that is under 100 hkd per month. It was 69 HKD at the time they sold it to me but a few months in they bumped it up to 81. I wouldn't be surprised if that is their normal practice with this deal as I know someone new to HK currently on a 69 hkd pcm offer from them.

The constraint on this offer though is it only works in HK. As soon as the SIM card goes outside HK SAR the SIM no longer communicates voice nor texts Obviously that will be an acceptable constraint for many people. Its not an issue for me since my needs means using wifi and skype / whatsapp is perfectly adequate (combined with a voicemail message from advising callers to contact me via alternate means).

Whatsapp of course has rendered SMS texting obsolete in HK.