Mobile communication in Europe

So before I left South Africa I activated international roaming on my MTN =
sim. The main reason for this was so I could use GPRS to send email into my =
blog. Unfortunatly GPRS coverage is highly sporadic.=20

What has been my saving grace was a Virgin Mobile SIM bought in the UK. It =
covers the whole of Europe automatically. No 72 hour waiting period and so =
far it has worked everywhere.

I did make a call to my parents on Christmas day from MTN, which was =
crystal clear. Text messages have also worked well. So while MTN get =
serious minus points for GPRS, the main comunication channels have worked =
well.

Another interesting item is that my ABSA cellphone banking works from here.