Short wave radio and mobile in Iran?

Hi there,

I really would not be bothered with a short wave. There are no problems in traveling in Iran. Just check out the other posts.

In regards to mobiles. You can buy a sim over there with no problems, but it is a little pricey. About 30 euro for one that will send sms to europe. There are cheaper sims, and networks in Iran but they seem to have problems in 100% received statuses.

I used a European Vodaphone sim that was on roaming. No problems What so ever. Roaming is generally more expensive. So it you are planning to be on the phone a lot, then take the local sim option. Otherwise for emergencies or a quick text here and there and you are on vodaphone in spain, then stay with it.

Iran is GMS 900, if your phone supports that. And your phone is not locked to network at home, then an Iranian sim will work.

Here's a blog with some Iran experience.

All the best, and enjoy Iran

Hey there,

I wouldn't bother with the radio unless you can understand Farsi. I took one last year and could VERY occasionally get BBC world service, but not often enough to be worth it.

In any case, internet cafes are widespread, and western news-sites (in English) are rarely censored. Similarly, most people have access to satellite TV and the 24 news channels, so word gets around quick.

If you're really worried about something kicking off, you can email your embassy, give them you details, and they'll add you to their list of people to get out should there be a problem.

As the preious posters mentioned, phone cards are dirt cheap (2USD) and sim cards are slightly more (approx 30 USD). As regards the latter, I'd avoid IranCell. I know they claim to be improving but as recebtly as this May I found them so unreliable as to be unusable. 'Ham Ra Aval' is a bit more expensive, but (IMHO) worth it for convenience and peace of mind.

Tom

Thanks a lot all for your help, I think I will not bother about getting any short wave radio, a mobile would be good enough...I wanted to ask go2iran how much would I have to pay there for buying also a mobile phone?

Thanks once again an best regards,

I always travel with a short-wave radio.

Very useful one morning in Qazvin at 6am when I needed to get up to catch a bus.

Those in the room next to me had been carrying on all night- so I'm sure they enjoyed the VERY LOUD BBC World Service broadcast at 5 in the morning. They were banging on the walls- asking for more...........

Mobile phone handsets are quite expensive in Iran, something to do with import tariffs I think. If you already have one, it might would be cheapest to get that 'unlocked' so that it can take a new SIM card.

If you don't have one already, buying one in your home country, or from a country you pass through might be cheaper than buying one in Iran. Otherwise, you can always get a cast-off from an iPhone fashion-victim :-)

I have followed your advices and yesterday I bought a simple Nokia mobile which supports GSM 900 so no problem with that.

Raki_Man, since I have no idea about short wave radios, I please would like to know which model you recommend me or you already have.

Thanks a lot in advance and greetings.

I just have an el-cheapo SW radio I bought in a Duty-Free for about $60