Hi everyone, and I apologise for writing in English. I can use Bing or Google translate to read here, and of course maybe learn some Italian, but using them to write things would probably make you laugh.

I know that ways to send sms cheaply or free are especially popular with Italian users. I can remember some discussion on the Voipbuster forum when the various Betamax brands used to have their free sms offers.

I first heard of this O2 IE service about 3 years ago and got a SIM about 2 years ago. Without explaining anything about it very well, I promised AndreA on PPGSM to try sending some messages to Wind or 3 SIMs, after it didn't work for reaching Prima. But he didn't reply for a while, and I wasn't sure which number, and then forgot ...

I can add some information which might be useful.

As well as the Eirtext program, there are also Java programs called Cabbage and AFT, and I think there used to be another. Cabbage seems to be the more popular nowadays, but I think AFT still works. Yes, it is a odd to name it after a vegetable. You can find discussion of them on the boards.ie forum, and their own websites.

I spoke to O2 Ireland near the beginning, and was told that in fact the SIM will stay valid if there is a chargeable event in every 12 months, without necessarily any credit being added. This seems to be true so far, as mine is just over 2 years old. The first charge was about 9 cents for data roaming, but more recently I called the SIM and answered it in the UK. There was a 2 cents charge, so it seems like per second billing; I don't know if this is only in the UK or also the rest of Europe.

About 2 months ago, Vodafone Ireland extended its web text service to international destinations as well. They offer 600 a month, dated from when you register rather than per calendar month. I got one of these the other day, not for the sms service though, but it seems to have a cheap data roaming offer; that is a different story though. Vodafone did tell me the SIM needs topping up every 6 months. I might check this again.

edit: more apologies, I've just found a more recent thread which mentions the Vodafone texts, and Cabbage, and also another, Jacksms, which I hadn't heard of ... so I'm telling you some things you already know