cell phones in Salzburg

I will be studying in Salzburg from March-July and am trying to figure out what kind of sim card to buy. I have found a website that lists providers in Austria and includes info about prices and everything, and I have also looked through other forums on here, but I haven%26#39;t found much info on my specific question.

Does anyone know the differences between the major providers (T-Mobile, Orange, A1) and their virtual networks (such as Yesss!, Telering, Wowww!, etc)? The virtual providers provide much cheaper rates in most cases, but is there some catch? For example, is the service poor or are there other strings attached?

I will be using my phone mostly within Austria and already have an unlocked phone to use. I%26#39;m just trying to figure out which provider will be the best and cheapest. Any tips would be helpful.

Thanks!

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As always, best and cheapest are (mostly) mutually exclusive. A1 was the very first network in Austria and is (still) used by many companies/businessmen because they also offer the best coverage. A1 is the most expensive in many ways but still very successful. Their daughter/subsidiary %26quot;bob%26quot; is pretty good and cheap. But during network congestion it could be that your incoming calls are diverted to your mailbox meaning you don%26#39;t have any priority.

T-Mobile was the first privately-operated network in Austria (formerly: max.mobil). I am customer there since 1998 and still mostly satisfied. Their plans are cheaper than the ones of A1. Coverage of TMA very good, probably slightly worse than A1.

To make it short - all networks provide reliable service countrywide. The difference between real and virtual is mainly the (lower) price of the subsidiaries as their customer services are limited (e.g. bob only offers a 0900 hotline with much higher costs per minute). In terms of general usability there is no difference. If you don%26#39;t need any %26quot;extras%26quot;, then you will be fine with.

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