Mobile Internet

Overview:
My findings regarding connecting to the Internet when abroad (mostly in Spain) or on the road in the UK. Details include UK geographic acess numbers for ISPs, GPRS roaming and foreign pay as you go SIM cards.

UK GSM :
I am currently using virgin.net to connect my PDA to the Internet to retrive e-mail etc... when I am away from home (or a broadband / wifi connection). The geographic access number for virgin.net is 01483881766. This enables me to use my free minutes included with my line rental. Other ISP's with geographic access numbers can be found here.

UK GPRS:
Orange World Data Access on Pay as you Go for £4 for 4mb, then £1 per 1mb. You may need them to activate GPRS, call Orange Data Customer Services: 07973 100156.

Worldwide GPRS:
See here for settings of many gprs networks. The best deal for using GPRS outside the UK I can find is Virgin Mobile, they charge 0.5pence per kb, £5.12 per MB. This is the same charge as in the UK! Although expensive, it is a lot less expensive than some other providers around the world. For example vodofone spain charge 20 Euros per MB (on pay as you go)!

Compression Proxies:
These proxies compress the text and pictures in a website before sending to your web browser. This should increase the loading time on slow links.
Rabb IT proxy for a faster web
Movistar GPRS kit - Telefonica Movistar (Spain) include the settings for a customisable compression proxy in their GPRS kit

Internet in Spain using Movistar:
Activa Movista provide a service to access the Internet via GSM for just 0.06 Euros after 9pm (off-peak) and 0.12 Euros peak. Setup instructions can be found here.

I have a pay as you go SIM card which I bought when I was in Spain. You can top up by credit card using:
http://recarga.terra.es/
Useful codes are 333 to request a text message containing your balance and 334 for retrieving PIN to access account information here: https://www.activaamedida.movistar.com/

GPRS access is also available for 6 Euros per MB instead of 8 Euros per MB if you pay 6 Euros for a month's "bono" which can be activated by logging in here once you have requested a temporary passcode. Movistar provide software called the GPRS kit to be installed to setup the computer.

Calls on Movistar to the UK are 0.48 Euros to landlines and 0.57 Euros to mobiles. There is also a connection charge of 0.34 Euros.

Update: I have decided to stop using my Movistar Sim card. I have been unable to top it up using the method described above. It seems as though the credit card you use on the site needs to be compatible with the verified by visa system or mastercard secure code. I have tried talking to barclaycard customers services about this but no-one, not even in merchant services seems to know about this. Virgin Mobile now offer expensive but competitve GPRS access abroad, so when I do want to occaisonally check my e-mail in spain, I will use that instead.

WAP on Pocket PC
Information on how to connect a pocket pc to O2's wap service can be found here.