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).

picture: Huawei E160 USB modem

[+] click to enlarge

• 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)

	SIM cards	top up vouchers	Surf Stick (SIM+ modem)
drugstores	X	X
electronics	X	X
gasstations	X*	X
department stores	X*		X*
kiosks/gasstations		X*
electronics	X	X	X
drugstores	X*	X
electronics		X	X
supermarkets	X	X	X
office supplies	X		X
	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

• 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.

how to top up

• regular top up with top-up vouchers
  Buy a top up voucher from one of the above listed retailers and submit the top up code by entering *103*(top up code)#
  
  
• by bank transfer
  see http://www.prepaid-wiki.de/index.php5?title=%C3%9Cberweisung_FONIC
  
• by direct debit (direct debit authorization for German bank account required, see details)
  
  • automatically monthly (www.fonic.de/aufladen)
  • manually (http://www.fonic.de/selfcare/servlet/Start)
  • manually by texting "Aufladung“ to 56686
  • manually by calling 56686

validity
SIM cards remain active infinitely and credit never expires.

USSD service codes

check balance	*101#
top up credit	*103*(top up code)#

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