Going abroad? Don't be afraid to pack the cell phone
Update 11:47 a.m. PDT: This story has been updated with additional information about Verizon Wireless' international roaming voice and data plans. Information about roaming in Japan and South Korea has also been updated.
It's summer time. And you know what that means: Harrowing international travel with your cell phone.
While the sour economy may be keeping some travelers closer to home this summer, good deals on flights and hotels, and the growing strength of the U.S. dollar are enticing some travelers to grab their passports and book a flight to Europe and other parts of the world. (I happen to be one of them. I just bought a plane ticket to go to France in August.)
And since cell phones are now so much a part of our everyday lives, it's hard to part with them when we hop on a plane to another country. But stories of $3,000 iPhone bills when we return, have scared many consumers into turning off their phones or leaving them at home.
But what if you'd like to check in on the kids back home during your trip, or you need to find your travel companions while wandering around the Gothic quarter in Barcelona? Or maybe you've met some nice locals who want to catch up with you later, but they need your number to text you? Well, I'm here to tell you that firing up the cell phone in another country need not be as scary or expensive as you think.
But first you need the facts. To help you get started, I've put together this FAQ that can answer some basic questions about which phones and carriers offer service abroad and how much you can expect to pay. For more information, check out your carrier's Web site. Also check out a couple of stories written by my CNET Reviews colleague Kent German, who has written a very informative Quick Guide to international phone usage as well as a comparison of some of the hottest world phones on the market.
Does it matter which wireless operator I have if I want to use my phone abroad?
Yes it does. While all of the four major wireless operators in the U.S. can provide international roaming in some parts of the world, some carriers are more limited in where they can offer service based upon the technology they use.
In the U.S. wireless operators use two main cellular technologies: GSM and CDMA .
GSM, or global system for mobile communications, is used throughout much of the world, including in Europe (where it's the standard), Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as much of Asia and the Middle East. In the U.S., AT&T and T-Mobile USA operate GSM networks. As a result AT&T and T-Mobile have the most extensive networks abroad.
AT&T has roaming agreements in more than 190 countries throughout the world. Its triband and quadband phones will work in most parts of the world, except in Japan and South Korea, where you'll need a special phone that either supports CDMA or uses the 3G standard UMTS in the 2100 MHz frequency band. Sony Ericsson, Nokia, and a few other phone manufacturers now offer multi-band GSM phones that also include support for UMTS 2100. Coverage also extends to some cruise ships.
T-Mobile USA is owned by German telecom provider Deutsche Telekom, which operates its T-Mobile wireless service in seven countries in Europe, including Germany, the U.K., and the Netherlands. T-Mobile has roaming agreements with over 190 countries and also provides service throughout Central America, Australia, much of South America, and some countries in Africa. It also offers coverage on some cruise ships. Like AT&T, service in Japan and South Korea requires a special phone.
CDMA, which stands for code division multiple access, has less worldwide coverage than GSM. The U.S. is one of the biggest markets for CDMA. This is the technology that is used by the largest operator in the U.S.: Verizon Wireless. Sprint's PCS network also uses CDMA. The old Nextel portion of Sprint's network uses a different technology called iDEN, which is used in a limited number of places outside the U.S.
Verizon Wireless, which is jointly owned by Verizon Communications and the world's largest wireless operator Vodafone, has roaming agreements with more than 40 countries for its CDMA service and more than 220 countries that use GSM. Verizon subscribers can use their CDMA handsets to roam in China and Taiwan, Guam, Guatemala, Indonesia, Vietnam, Israel, India, New Zealand, Thailand, Mexico, South Korea, much of South America, and a few Caribbean islands. A software upgrade may be required for some countries. Coverage is available on some cruise ships as well.
Sprint CDMA subscribers can roam in 26 countries and four U.S. territories. And the company has agreements with carriers in more than 100 countries to offer service for a CDMA/GSM phone. The iDEN network only offers services in 11 countries and one U.S. territory. A Sprint CDMA phone should work in most of Central and South America and the Caribbean along with New Zealand, Indonesia, China and Taiwan, South Korea, India, Israel, Thailand, and a few U.S. territories.
As for Nextel users, iDEN roaming is limited to Canada, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Jordan, Peru, Brazil, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Israel. Nextel also offers a dual mode iDEN/GSM phone called the Motorola i930, which can be used for voice calling in about 100 countries.
The bottom line is that the devices used on AT&T's and T-Mobile's networks are more likely to work in more countries around the world than devices used on Verizon Wireless or Sprint's networks.
Does this mean that any GSM phone from AT&T or T-Mobile will work in Europe or a GSM network in Asia?
Not necessarily. GSM carriers may be the best choice for globe-trotters, especially those traveling in Europe, but not every GSM phone works in every country. The reason is that different regions of the world use different frequency bands to transmit GSM signals. In the U.S., GSM operators only use the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz frequency bands. In Europe they use the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands. Japan and South Korea use the 2100 MHz band. So to make sure you're covered in most regions, you should either get a triband (GSM 900/1800/1900) or quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) phone. Travelers in Japan and South Korea will likely need a new phone, since wireless operators in Japan and South Korea do not use GSM. That said, carriers in Japan and South Korea are using the same 3G standard that GSM carriers are using, which means that phones supporting a technology called UMTS or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System using the 2100 MHz spectrum band will also work in Japan and South Korea. If you don't have a phone that supports this technology, you can rent one from your service provider or buy a prepaid phone once you get there. In Japan, users are required to register with the carrier to activate a prepaid phone.
Do Verizon Wireless and Sprint have any "world phones" that can be used in countries where GSM is the predominant cell phone technology used?
Yes they do. Verizon offers a few "world phones" that have both CDMA and GSM radios built in. These include, the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, BlackBerry Storm, and the Samsung Renown.
Verizon also offers a special program for travelers who don't have a GSM/CDMA Verizon handset and who are traveling abroad to a country that does not use CDMA. This program, called Global Travel Program, is offered to current Verizon Wireless subscribers without a daily rental fee or security deposit. The program is designed for customers traveling on short trips that last less than 21 days. Customers can call 800-711-8300 to speak with a Global Services Activation specialist to request a global phone. Subscribers will get to use their existing phone number and voice mail. And contact lists can be transferred to the global phone. A nominal shipping fee applies. And customers must either sign up for special international rate plans or pay regular international rates, depending on which country they're visiting.
Sprint also has a few world phones, such as the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, the Samsung IP-830w, and the HTC Touch Diamond.
Do I need to call my carrier before I leave to activate international calling?
Yes, you should call your wireless provider to make sure your phone is ready to make and receive calls in a foreign country. You can also check with your carrier for the exact rates in the countries where you'll be traveling.
How much will it cost me to use my phone in another country?
This will depend on which carrier you have service with here in the States. Calls will be charged on a per-minute basis. For subscribers with U.S. cell phone service, domestic voice, text message or data plans do not apply when traveling in another country. SMS text messaging is typically the cheapest way to communicate with people in the country where you're traveling and also with your family and friends back home in the U.S.
Here's a summary of what you can expect from the four major nationwide carriers in the U.S.
AT&T offers customers a World Traveler plan, which offers discounts on most roaming rates in more than 195 countries. The cost is $5.99 a month. And users can sign up for the service for just one month if they are going on a vacation, and they can cancel the service when they return home. But AT&T officials suggest that subscribers pay special attention to their billing cycle to make sure the plan is activated the entire time they are away. Some readers have also suggested keeping the plan active an extra month after you return home to make sure there has been plenty of time for the foreign carrier you were using to send the appropriate billing information to your home carrier.
Without a service plan, AT&T charges per-minute roaming rates that vary between 59 cents per minute and $3.99 per minute, depending on the country and roaming carrier used. It costs 50 cents to send a text message and receive text messages in a foreign country, but receiving text messages from someone in the U.S. is free. Sending multimedia messages is $1.30 per message, and receiving MMS messages from the U.S. is free. For more information check out AT&T's international roaming web page.
T-Mobile USA doesn't offer a special traveler plan. So the company charges per-minute roaming rates. These charges range from 49 cents to $3.99 per minute, based on where you're traveling. Text messages cost 35 cents per message to send. Incoming messages pull from your feature bucket or are billed at 15 cents each. For more information check out T-Mobile's international roaming information page on its Web site.
Verizon Wireless offers a global travelers plan that offers discounted rates on voice calls in over 150 countries for $4.99 per month. Regular voice charges range from 69 cents to $2.99 per minute for roaming calls. And it costs 50 cents to send a text message and 5 cents to receive a message. For more information about Verizon Wireless's international roaming fees and services go to this website.
Sprint Nextel offers a $2.99 a month plan to let people traveling to Canada pay only 20 cents per minute for calls. Roaming charges vary between 59 cents to $4.99 per minute for Sprint phones. Text messaging and multimedia messaging are billed as data services. Nextel customers can sign up for a Direct Connect plan that allows them to talk to other Nextel Direct Connect customers in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru. For more information on Sprint Nextel's international roaming check out this Web page.
What about data charges?
Travelers need to be especially careful of data charges. The rates for data are far more expensive than for roaming voice calls and text messages.
AT&T offers its smartphone customers that have an iPhone, BlackBerry or Windows Mobile device a special data plan to help keep costs down. The cheapest plan offers 20MB of data in 65 countries for $24.99 per month. The 50MB package is $59.99 per month, 100MB package is $119.99 per month, and the 200MB package is $199.99 per month.
Without a plan, users are charged 2 cents per kilobyte. If you're traveling in a country that is not one of the 65 supported in the international data plan, then standard data roaming rates apply.
AT&T officials say that subscribers need to pay special attention to their billing cycle when signing up for an international data plan. If a customer signs up a couple of weeks into the billing cycle right before a trip, the cost of the service will be prorated and so will the total amount of megabytes available. Customers should ask the customer service agent who is signing them up for the plan to back-date their plan to make sure they are getting the full bucket of data while they are traveling on their trip. The monthly plan can be canceled without a hassle the following month.
T-Mobile USA charges $10 per megabyte in Canada and $15.36 per megabyte everywhere else in the world.
Verizon Wireless offers a few options for getting e-mail and surfing the Web while on a international trip. Verizon Wireless subscribers using either the Samsung Sagas, BlackBerry Storm, or BlackBerry 8830 World Edition phones can get corporate and personal e-mail while traveling abroad with a service called GlobalEmail. The service, which provides voice service in more than 215 countries and data coverage in more than 175 destinations, costs $64.99 a month for e-mail access coupled with a voice plan. And the service costs $69.99 a month for access to data only.
Verizon Wireless also offers the XU870 Global ExpressCard,which fits into laptops to provide wireless data service in more than 175 destinations. And it can provide 3G coverage in over 40 countries. Customers can choose from monthly or pay per use plans. The GlobalAccess Monthly plan starts at $129.99 per month for 200 megabytes of data in over 30 countries. After that limit, users are charged $0.005 per kilobyte. The plan also allows for 5 gigabytes of data use in the U.S. and Canada with overages charged at $0.05 per MB. For $219.99 a month, subscribers can get up to 200 MB worth of data with the same rates for overage as the $129.99 plan.
For subscribers who don't need a monthly plan, Verizon also offers a GlobalAccess Pay Per Use plan. The service, which must be purchased with a $59.99 mobile broadband service plan in the U.S., offers discounted rates of $0.002 per KB in Canada, $0.005 per KB in Mexico, and $0.02 per KB in more than 175 other destinations.
Sprint Nextel's rates for data vary depending on the country you're traveling in.
I've heard horror stories about iPhone users who have had outrageously high phone bills after their trips abroad. Why does this happen?
The iPhone was made for data, and as a result it can cause some problems for international travelers, because data rates are typically much higher than voice rates. For example, the iPhone's visual voice mail works over the data network. So when iPhone subscribers receive a voice mail while traveling and their phone is on, that voice mail message will be charged a data rate, regardless of whether that iPhone subscriber checked his voice mail. If iPhone users are having their e-mail pushed to them all the time, this can also jack up the price of their service. And streaming video of any kind over the cellular network will rack up data charges very quickly regardless of whether you're on a smartphone or using a 3G data card.
What can I do to make sure this isn't a problem for me?
Here are some suggestions from AT&T sprinkled with a couple of suggestions of my own.
• Turn data roaming "OFF": Be sure to download and install the latest version of iPhone software from iTunes. By default, this setting for international data roaming will be in the "OFF" position. To turn data roaming "ON/OFF" tap on Settings>General>Network>Data Roaming
• Utilize Wi-Fi instead of 3G/GPRS/EDGE: Wi-Fi is available in many international airports, hotels, and restaurants to browse the Web or check e-mail. You can even use voice over IP services, such as Skype to make phone calls.
• Turn fetch new data "OFF": Check e-mail and sync contacts and calendars manually instead of having the data pushed to your iPhone automatically. This way you can control the flow of data coming to your iPhone. To turn off the Auto-Check functionality tap on Settings>Fetch New Data, change Push to "OFF" and Select to Fetch Manually
• Consider purchasing an international data package: Purchasing an international data package can significantly reduce the cost of using data abroad. AT&T now offers four discount international data packages.
• Reset the usage tracker to zero: When you arrive overseas access the usage tracker in the general settings menu and select reset statistics. This will enable you to track your estimated data usage. To reset Usage Tracker to Zero tap on Settings>General>Usage>Reset
• Do not download video on your iPhone or laptop while traveling. This will help you avoid some of the most expensive data charges. If you want to stream a movie, music video, or TV show on your phone, go to a Wi-Fi hot spot and download movies over that network.
Are these huge data charges a problem for other smartphone users like BlackBerry users or phones running Windows Mobile?
Neither the BlackBerry nor Windows Mobile phones use visual voice mail, so that is not a concern on these devices. But streaming video on these devices could also rack up some hefty data charges as well. So be careful.
As for downloading e-mail or receiving pushed e-mail, Windows Mobile users should also be careful. These phones also allow users to turn off the push e-mail function. But BlackBerry users don't have to worry as much, because Research In Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, has developed a very efficient way of delivering e-mail to end users that doesn't eat up a lot of bandwidth.
Are there any other options that may be cheaper than using my U.S. carrier's service?
Yes, you can use an unlocked GSM handset when you're traveling abroad. Simply put in a SIM card from a local carrier to make inexpensive local phone calls while you're in-country as well as cheap texting to other cell phones also in the same country in which you're traveling.
How do I get an unlocked phone?
You can buy unlocked phones from some retailers and on various Web sites, such as Amazon or eBay. But if you are an AT&T or T-Mobile USA customer, you can also unlock the phone you have. Simply call your provider's customer support number. (This applies to most GSM phones except the iPhone, which AT&T will not provide an unlock code for.)
Give them the model number of your phone, and they will send you a special code that you will use to unlock your phone when you put in the new SIM card. Once your phone is unlocked, it's unlocked for good and can be used on future trips. Make sure to call your wireless operator well in advance.
Sometimes it can take as long as a week for customer support to send an unlock code. Again, make sure that your phone is a tri-band or quad-band phone that will operate in the frequencies used in the country you're visiting. Japan and South Korea will require special handsets.
What if I am a Verizon Wireless or Sprint Nextel customer? Can I unlock these phones and use a local SIM card?
If you have a CDMA-only or iDEN phone, the answer is no. These devices don't use SIM cards, and they do not operate on a GSM network. But if you have a world phone from Verizon or Sprint that also has a GSM radio, these can also be unlocked. Call your carrier and tell them you need the unlock code and they should send it to you.
What are the drawbacks to using a local SIM card?
Well, the most obvious drawback is that you have to find a store that sells local SIM cards once you get to your destination. Local mobile carrier retail locations will sell SIM cards. But some local grocery stores or convenience stores may only sell cards to "top up" the minutes on your phone. The second drawback is that you will be assigned a new local phone number. So this means that friends and family calling you from the U.S. will have to make an international call to reach you. This also means that international calling rates apply to you as well if you call from the country where you're traveling to the U.S.
Also some features may not be available on your phone, such as voice mail, call-waiting, e-mail and Web surfing. And you will not be able to receive calls, voice mails, text messages, or e-mails sent to your U.S. phone number while using another carrier's SIM card.
That said, using a local SIM can save you money, especially if you are using it to make local calls. Texting is usually the cheapest method of communication. And SIM cards can be saved and used again if you travel to the same country again.
Are there any other useful tips I should know?
Here are some helpful tips that my colleague Kent German cited in his Quick Guide to using your phone on international trips:
• Calls to voice mail and the operator will incur all applicable fees, but calls to your carrier's customer service are typically free.
• The method for making local calls in each country will vary, so make sure you know how to do so. Also, remember that emergency-dial numbers will be different from 911.
• When in a foreign country, you will have to use the appropriate country and area codes for calls back to the States or a third country. To call the U.S. dial 001.
• Your phone should automatically search for and select a network in each country, but you may have to do this yourself through your phone's menus. You also can try turning your phone off and on again.
• Free mobile-to-mobile minutes on the same carrier usually are not offered outside the United States.
• When roaming, the name of the local carrier will appear on your phone's display.
• Roaming charges will show up on your normal wireless bill, though they may take several weeks to do so.
• Not all data features will work the same way when you're abroad.
• Don't forget an electrical-plug adapter for your charger.
Kent German, a CNET Reviews senior editor, contributed to this report.
Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie. 
When you land in another country, buy the cheapest SIM card or phone package you can find, update your .tel with your new phone number, and you're done: instantly reachable, everyone knows your new phone number, and you reduce your roaming costs dramatically.
Thanks, excellent tip. My wife and I have had our German T-Mobile SIM cards for several years.
Now we just point our family and friends to our dot tel account with our local German numbers.
Japan and N. Korea also use wide-band cdma (w-cdma) but I think it's going to be a while - if at all - for those devices to hit US markets.
1. If you have a U.S. iPhone 3G, you can either unlock it using software (I wouldn't) or buy a TURBOSIM card ... it's a little card that the SIM card goes on top of - You have to make sure you buy a reputable one. It's about $25-30. This fools the phone into thinking you are using an AT&T SIM card.
2. When you go to France, go to a store that has "SFR" (Red and white sign). Get a prepaid SIM card ... say for 30 or 40 euros
3. Next, purchase an iPhone 3G prepaid credit for the time you will be in france
This enables you to have unlimited internet ... works like a charm! Only thing is SFR is completely in FRENCH so unless you speak the language, you'll have to have the person at the store help you.
Also, you'll have to put the sim card in on top of the TurboSIM card.
Another important thing -Under the carrier settings in your iphone, you have to put wapsfr (No user name or password is required) -It's under general settings, advanced, Cellular network, APN -- You generally have a certain word you have to put in no matter which country you go to - For Australia it was something different ..
Your other option is purchase an unlocked phone from Australia or some other country where the actual phone company (like Vodaphone) allows you to unlock the phone for a fee.
The same applies to Australia - Australia is even better! Go to Optus and get a 3G prepaid card for like 70-80 - I had to try two or three different turbosim cards before i got it working properly (one of them only allowed me to use EDGE as opposed to 3G) ... Also, when you put the SIM card in with the turobsim, you often have to power-cycle the phone ...
Iphone 3g is amazing especially ineternationally! Don't short-change yourself -The maps work GREAT in france - Love also getting email whenever and wherever i want.
Good luck and feel free to email me if you have any questions -
p.s. i think a good turbosim card is yevgeni or something like that
Second one "Free mobile-to-mobile minutes on the same carrier usually are not offered outside the United States." Rubbish. I have a call lan that allows me to call the wife's mobile from my mobile and its free she can also do the same. We are with Orange (French Telecom).
You forget to mention that it is possible to now buy dual sim card phones. These are excellent for travelling. As you can have 2 sim cards working simultaneously from one phone. So you could have you normal sim card and a pay as you go card from the country you are visiting. I have one and my mum has one. Mine actually has my work and personal phone cards in it. So I only carry one phone.
Don't know if I am allowed to post the link to the site where you can get them but here goes any way. www.chinavasion.com/?ref=7179
1) Verizon offers GSM phones for rent when travelling abroad that let you keep your current number.
2) Japan does not use GSM, they have a variant of CDMA - not compatible with Verizon, their newest networks are 3G.
3) Each country has it's own regulations for purchasing a local SIM, it may be as easy as picking one up from the nearest corner kiosk or else you might have to be a legal resident of the country. Check your destinations regulations before you plan to buy a local SIM.
4) To call the US from abroad on a mobile it's normally +1 in front of the number: +1 617 555-1212
For any corporate user that may be travelling that has that awful GoodLink application on their device, they will have to go into Preferences and disable the System Dialler in order to be able to use +1 feature - I have no idea why GoodLink by default prevents this from being used.
For example to access international dialing from Australia, the code is 0011. So to call the States from a phone there you'd dial 0011 then 1 then the US area code and local number.
The best thing to do is preface all international calls from your cell handset with +1 for calling the US, or +44 to the UK for example. That IS a universal way of accessing IDD... as elbowgr was getting at..
"+" is the (cell phone) equivalent to whatever the international access number is in a country (00, 011, etc, etc).
Even when home and calling my neighbor, number dialed is "+1-425-555-1212". Have the number programmed that way (always starting with a "+" and the country code), you NEVER have to worry about what to dial - regardless where you are calling from.
One recommendation I would add is have all your friends and relatives back home (those you talk to frequently anyway) install Skype or some other VoIP.
1. "AT&T offers customers a World Traveler plan, which offers discounts on most roaming rates in more than 195 countries. The cost is $5.99 a month. And users can sign up for the service for just one month if they are going on a vacation, and they can cancel the service when they return home. But AT&T officials suggest that subscribers pay special attention to their billing cycle to make sure the plan is activated the entire time they are away."
You'll should leave the International Data plan on for at least a month after you return from your trip. Sometimes the foreign wireless company doesn't charge the roaming fees quickly or properly, and if the charges come in after you've turned off the plan, you'll be charged the stardard international roaming. Best to pay an extra $5.99 and wait until you have your next month's bill in hand and see the if any of the dates of travel are listed .
2. "And you will not be able to receive calls, voice mails, text messages, or e-mails sent to your U.S. phone number while using another carrier's SIM card"
Why not just forward your U.S. based Cell # to the number provided by the local carrier?
The bigger question, something I've asked account numerous account managers, is WHY they can do 15/30-second/1 minute billing etc yet charges cannot be processed & charged once you're done with the call?!! Everything is logged by computer and instantly recorded - number dialled, call originator, duration etc etc - so it is more than feasible that one should not have to wait for a bill-cycle of some foreign carrier to occur. Customers should not have to wait 1-2 months for these charges to appear, but the carriers are happy to let things continue that way while coming up with other ways to get more money from you.
Simply because in doing so you can rack up some SERIOUS charges on your US based cell phone. Remember that in most parts of the civilized world, it is "calling party pays" that rules and calling cell phones can be pricey. It is not rare that it is 30 times (yes 30 times) more expensive to call a cell phone, compared to calling a land line in same country, from a US based number (be it a cell phone, a VoIP, POTS, Skype, etc).
And given that calling cards plus local cell phone rates cost abnout 1% of that, it IS outrageously expensive. Those might have been reasonable rates twenty or thirty years ago, but in 2009 they are a scam.
I travel to Europe a lot and have done for years, it's all a SCAM. If you travel a lot, better to get a $20 a month plan and local phone over there, and calls to the USA are about 10c a minute on that phone. Then just use call forwarding (I pay AT&T, 7c a minute from the USA to the UK, and 10c over there to recieve the call but 17c is a ton less.
Also, 50MB plans are also a rip-off. 200MB a year and again, you might as well get a local 3G card that costs in the UK about $15 a month UNLIMITED.
When the US carriers realize, we have MUCH cheaper choices, perhaps they will make their charges clearer. The fact, this is such a long BLOG shows how complex it is... Shame on the US carriers. By the way, VodaFONE owns 49% of VZW but you pay a fortune when you are in the UK onthe world-phone.
I live in Canada, where Rogers, the GSM carrier, appears to charge about 10 times the amount that AT&T charges for data roaming. This makes using a device in Europe a far more serious proposition. Windows Smartphone (Sorry Microsoft) : $100/day using email only. Blackberry (on another carrier): $35 for ten days. Rogers courteously adjusted the bill, but that was still a lot of money.
What I'd like to have is some information about getting a local prepaid data stick and using it in Europe. With hotels charging £15 per day for internet, the stick is not such a bad option!
I've traveled to England twice in the past year and I have learned a pre-paid local SIMM card bought in that country is the best way to go. I don't understand how if you're paying $4 or $5 a month for the privilege of getting "a deal" on phone calls is a deal. Afterall, that $4 or $5 a month should be factored in to the 50 cents to $5 a minute you're paying for calls to get the true cost and I assure you you'll find the per minute charge is fairly expensive with or without the monthly fee.
When I traveled to England I discovered Libara, bought a pay as you go phone, got it unlocked put in my Libara simm card and I was off and running. For 20 pounds I got 30 pounds worth of credit and when I left one month later I still had 20 pounds credit left. Incoming calls were free, even from the US, out going calls were 2p per minute which is about 3 cents, texts were 25p, and actually local calls were the most expensive at 10p. Don't buy the Libara card in the US, when I searched on line for one they wanted $40 but in England they were 99p to 2 pounds depending on where you bought it. In any event what I recommend is to talk to someone who lives in the country you're traveling to and see if they either know or can get any information on the cheapest way to make phone calls while traveling. And lets keep communicating folks.
- by MongooseProXC May 26, 2009 1:07 PM PDT
- Nextel is where it's at for traveling to South America. $10 extra a month and chirp here or there until your heart's content no additional fee.
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- by Eddie-c May 26, 2009 2:46 PM PDT
- If you have Verizon/Sprint you have to be careful with some South American countries and the 'world-phone' you have - or at least the GSM chip that is in it ...
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (58 Comments)example the Samsung Ace has a GSM chip that uses the 900MHz & 1800MHz frequencies - this is great for Europe and most of Asia (exceptions being Japan & N. Korea). Argentina uses the same frequencies that domestic USA does - 850MHz & 1900MHz and has no cdma. Check out the tech. specs on anything before you get it to make sure it will work where you want/need it.