Germany - FonicThis is a featured page

Fonic Logo Fonic is the discount brand of Telefonica o2 and therefore offers the same coverage as o2, which amounts to nearly 100% of Germany. The o2 network is based on (E)GSM900, GSM1800 (both with EDGE support) and UMTS2100 (HSPA with up to 7,2 MBit/s supported).

Besides very competitive data rates Fonic offers very cheap national and international calling rates, which makes it unique especially for visitors to Germany.

The SIM card can be bought online or at the retailers listed below for €10, usually with an inital credit of €9.99 (advertised as "111 Freiminuten", but provided as regular credit and so can also be used for data service).

Fonic also offer their SIM bundled with a USB modem (a netlocked Huawei E160 or Huawei E161) for ~ € 40. The "Surf Stick" is also available online and at some retailers (see below).
Fonic Surf Stick
picture: Huawei E160 USB modem


coverage
http://www.o2online.de/nw/support/mobilfunk/netz/netzabdeckung.html

O2 Germany coverage April 2010
[+] click to enlarge


voice tariffs
Apart from the very reasonably priced internet access fees (see below for details), they also offer very low priced domestic and international voice calls:
  • € 0.09/min for domestic calls (landlines & mobiles) with a price cap for domestic calls and text messages at € 40/calendar month
  • € 0.09/min to all landlines in US, Canada and EU countries + US and Canada mobiles (full country list here)
  • € 0.29/min to all mobiles in EU countries (full country list here)
  • all calls are billed in 60-seconds increments. As usual in Europe incoming calls are free of charge on the home network (inside Germany).

    SMS tariffs
  • € 0.09 per domestic SMS with a price cap for domestic calls and text messages at € 40/calendar month
  • € 0.19 per international SMS
  • Incoming SMS are always free of charge, even while roaming abroad.

    data tariffs

    • If the SIM was bought separately (not with the "Surf Stick") volume-based billing of € 0.24/MB (billied in 100KB-increments) is preactivated.

    • "Handy-Internet-Flatrate" a monthly data flatrate for € 9,95/30 days with bandwidth throttling to 64 KBit/s after exceeding 500MB (automatically recurring subscription, only available if you are on volume-based billing, but not if you are on the dayflat tariff)
      For activation text "START HANDYINTERNET" to 36642 (F-O-N-I-C) or log onto www.fonic.de and select your tariff from "Tarif-Optionen" (see screenshot below)
      For cancelation text "STOP HANDYINTERNET" to 36642 (F-O-N-I-C) or log onto www.fonic.de and select the volume-based tariff or "Tagesflatrate" from "Tarif-Optionen" (see screenshot below)

    • "Tagesflatrate" (preactivated if SIM was bought in "Surf Stick" bundle)
      Alternatively data tariff can be switched to dayflat , which is charged with € 2.50/calendar day (00:00-23:59 h) with a price cap of € 25/month (introduced in March 2010), so after 10 days of data usage, there won't occur any costs for the rest of the month.
      After exceeding 500MB per day or 5GB per month, bandwidth will be throttled to 64 KBit/s for the rest of the corresponding period.

      To switch to the dayflat tariff ("Internet-Tagesflatrate") text "START TAGESFLAT" to 36642 (F-O-N-I-C). An SMS will confirm activation of the new tariff option. It is essential to wait for the confirmation text message to arrive (can take up to a few hours) as otherwise you will still be on the more expensive pay-per-MB volume option. Alternatively you can also log onto www.fonic.de and select your tariff from "Tarif-Optionen" (see screenshot below).

      To switch back to the volume-based tariff ("Internet-Tagesflatrate") text "STOP TAGESFLAT" to 36642 (F-O-N-I-C) or log onto www.fonic.de and select the volume-based tariff from "Tarif-Optionen" (see screenshot below)

    Tariff choice through www.fonic.de:
    FONIC web portal tariff choice



    where to buy
    Fonic is being distributed through the following retailers:

    SIM cards top up vouchers Surf Stick (SIM+ modem)
    Fonic Partner LIDLdrugstores X X
    Germany - Fonic - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access electronics X X
    JET gasstations X* X
    Germany - Fonic - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access department stores X*
    X*
    Germany - Fonic - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access kiosks/gasstations
    X*




    Germany - Fonic - Prepaid Wireless Internet AccessGermany - Fonic - Prepaid Wireless Internet Accesselectronics X X X
    Müller drugstores X* X
    ProMarkt Kometelectronics
    X X
    real supermarkets X X X
    Staples office supplies X
    X
    The Phone House X X
    * only available at selected locations

    You can find the nearest store here.
    online retailers


    fonic.de X X** X
    amazon.de X
    X
    Notebooksbilliger.de X
    X
    ** German bank account required





    activation

    German residency is not required for activation, however you need to provide a German address (which won't be proven, so you can provide just any existing address). If you have a German bank account you can enable recharging by direct debit, but a German bank account is not required for activation any longer, as it was earlier.

    The SIM card must be activated either
    • by phone at 0800/4636642 (toll free, working hours: Mon - Sat 8 - 20 h)
      or
    • online activation step by step:
      1. go to Website https://www.fonic.de/selfcare/servlet/ActivationInfo
      2. Enter the Mobile Nr. at "Mobilfunknummer" and the "Freischaltungsnummer" as noted on the SIM-Cardholder
      3. then Click "Weiter"
      4. Enter
        • Anrede (Herr = Mister, Frau= Miss),
        • Vorname (First Name),
        • Nachnahme (Surename) then
        • Strasse (Street),
        • Hausnummer (Street No.),
        • PLZ (ZIP-Code)
        • Stadt (City) of your German location
      5. Enter eMail and Geburtsdatum (Birthday)
      6. then you need to choose a Passwort (Kennwort) and repeat it (Kennwort wiederholen)
      7. if you enter the author's phone number (017696100015) or any other Fonic customer's number at "Mobilfunknummer/Aktionscode" you and the other Fonic customer will both get 5 EUR of bonus credit each!
      8. then click "Weiter"
      9. now you can (not obligatory) enter your bank account data (Kontonummer and Bankleitzahl) and activate the checkbox at "Hiermit ermächtige ich die FONIC GmbH widerruflich, alle fälligen Beträge zu Lasten meines angegebenen Kontos durch Lastschrift einzuziehen.", if you wish to recharge your FONIC SIM from your German bank account.
      10. then you may choose how much money it automaticly top up every month - and when (mid of month = Monatsmitte, begin of month = Monatsanfang)
      11. then the confirmation page is displayed. here you must activate the first checkboxes and repeat the Sicherheitscode (displayed right of the input field)
      12. then you must click on "Freischaltung fertigstellen" to finalize the process.
    Video with Activation Process of Fonic Internet Stick is delivered on http://www.mobiles-internet-vergleich.info/Magazin/74/Der-Fonic-Surfstick.html



  • how to top up




    validity
    SIM cards remain active infinitely and credit never expires.

    USSD service codes

    check balance *101# Germany - Vodafone Web Sessions - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access
    top up credit *103*(top up code)# Germany - Vodafone Web Sessions - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access



    disable automatic recharge
    If you have enabled automatic recharge through a German bank account, you can disable it by going to the website and login with your phone number and password.
    Go to "Monatliche Aufladung", then you click "hier deaktivieren" and on the next page to "weiter".



    internet experience
    As the only German operator O2 (including Fonic) has officially allowed VoIP-usage on their network without any additional costs, whereas T-Mobile and Vodafone prohibit VoIP in their terms & conditions and have announced to introduce special VoIP-enabled data tariffs. Allthough T-Mobile and Vodafone have not yet actually blocked VoIP, this may become reality when VoIP-enabled data tariffs will be introduced.


    misc
    • All services are open, e.g. web surfing, SMTP and POP3 works just fine.
    • APN to use: pinternet.interkom.de, no username or password
    • Fonic is a MVNO and uses the German O2 GSM and UMTS network. GSM is pure GPRS at the moment in most areas. Currently, O2 is upgrading its 2G network to EDGE. In some areas, O2 had a national roaming agreement with T-Mobile. This ended in December 2009.



    Weblinks
    http://www.fonic.de/
    http://www.prepaid-wiki.de/index.php5?title=FONIC
    http://www.handy.com/prepaid/fonic.html


  • inquisitor
    inquisitor
    Latest page update: made by inquisitor , Apr 9 2012, 6:06 AM EDT (about this update About This Update inquisitor Edited by inquisitor

    65 words added
    14 words deleted
    1 image added

    view changes

    - complete history)
    More Info: links to this page
    Started By Thread Subject Replies Last Post
    Anonymous Free German SIM-Card 1 Mar 31 2012, 11:41 PM EDT by Anonymous
     
    Thread started: Dec 24 2011, 9:58 AM EST  Watch
    Hello, I have a voucher for a free Fonic SIM-Card with 20 € of credit from http://www.germansimcard.com
    The voucher code is "Germany" and it should give you 100% discount at checkout.
    I bought one and got this voucher as a "promotion". The service worked perfectly all over Germany (with HSDPA)
    Do you find this valuable?    
    Show Last Reply
    Anonymous Experience with Unlocked iPhone 4 was great 1 Mar 6 2012, 6:13 AM EST by Anonymous
     
    Thread started: Aug 27 2011, 9:10 AM EDT  Watch
    Inquisitor, thank you for posting this information and the step by step instructions. We printed a copy of this page and brought it with us to Munich when we moved over from the States last weekend. A couple of things we learned that may be helpful to others:

    - We purchased FONIC SIM cards in person at Media Markt in Munich. They come as breakout SIMs so the micro SIM required for the iPhone 4 is included. No need to purchase online to get micros
    - We activated the SIM cards and signed up for HandyInternet Paket on a Saturday night. It took nearly 24 hours for the request to take effect so we were charged at the per mB rate in the interim. This consumed much of our €10 credit - our mistake for not realizing that the base-rate plan had not yet taken effect.
    - Fonic now offers an automatic top – up when your balance drops below €4 your account is automatically topped up by €10 Obviously, bank account is required
    - Be aware that Fonic will only make one bank charge every seven days. This is not well communicated on the Fonic website. So this is where we ran into a little problem.
    - By Wednesday our balance had dropped to €0.06 and could no longer make calls. Since we had paid for the HandyInternet Paket by bank transfer the auto top-up would not work (less than 7 days since the last bank transfer for the HandyInternet).
    - A stop at a Müller for top up vouchers solved this problem.
    - Just be aware, if you want to charge to your bank account, make sure you have sufficient credit to your FONIC account to cover the HandyInternet Paket and at least a week’s worth of phone/SMS charges.
    The iPhone4 works great on the Fonic network, with very good data and phone coverage in the greater Munich area from the airport to Starnberg.
    Thanks again!
    5  out of 5 found this valuable. Do you?    
    Show Last Reply
    Anonymous Is Lidl top up different from fonic top up 0 Dec 15 2011, 3:51 AM EST by Anonymous
     
    Thread started: Dec 15 2011, 3:51 AM EST  Watch
    I bought the Ideos X3 mobile and the lidl sim card came with it, which is actually from Fonic. After 2 months of use I bought the Fonic topup card 15€ from lidl to recharge it, but it did not work. It did not accept the serial number which was provided *103*(16 digit serial number)# .
    Do you find this valuable?    

    Anonymous  (Get credit for your thread)


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