Best way to use mobile phone in France

Old Sep 1st, 2012, 01:57 PM
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Best way to use mobile phone in France

We would like to use a mobile phone for local calls in France and calls and texts to and from the US. What is the best way of doing this without racking up exorbitent bills.

I have a Verizon iPhone but would be willing to buy an inexpensive cell phone in France.
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Old Sep 1st, 2012, 02:36 PM
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If you are Paris, there should be a phone store on nearly every block. Just walk in and talk to the people who will pretend they don't know much english and ask for an IPhone SIM card. I bought one for 8 eur and it came with some minutes. I have a Sprint IPhone 4S. I am not sure Verizon's is a worldphone. If it is, call them and ask them to unlock it for you.
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Old Sep 1st, 2012, 07:44 PM
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Your carier will have to unlock your phone to let it work with another company's SIM card.
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Old Sep 1st, 2012, 09:04 PM
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Verizon phones (at least mine) do not work on European frequencies, and do not have replaceable SIMs. I think you can rent one from Verizon that will work, but have no experience with that option.

We will be going to France in a few weeks, and I bought a couple of quad band unlocked cell phones on eBay for about $25 each, and just ordered a couple of free Lebara SIM cards online. Lots of posts on how to do this on this Forum. Just do a search.
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Old Sep 3rd, 2012, 06:11 AM
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In case of a Verizon phone, the iPhone model matters.

iPhone 4S: If you have had your phone 2 months, they will unlocked it for you to be able to use a French SIM. This model can do both CDMA (US) and GSM (France).

Any other iPhone model: Uses totally incompatible system. It can only do CDMA. You need a GSM 900/1800mhz phone. 1) buy one in France 2) buy one in the US with GSM 900/1800mhz capability either already unlocked or have one unlocked.

Depending on your usage model, there are solutions other than a mobile phone. If your usage is mostly from your hotel room, you can use VOIP, like Skype, if you have a laptop or use your iPhone SKYPE application on Wifi.
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Old Sep 3rd, 2012, 06:22 AM
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I have a Verizon phone that does work in Europe. It all depends on the model of phone. A quick call to your carrier or a look online for the phone specs will let you know if your phone can be used in Europe.
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Old Dec 14th, 2012, 08:28 PM
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I have a Droid, not an iPhone, but I just installed Skype and then had a US number assigned. Whenever I had wifi (which was available in all my hotels), I could make and receive calls for next to nothing.
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Old Dec 15th, 2012, 09:25 AM
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azzure: Good info, but if you are responding to the OP, the trip was back in Sept (the thread was topped by an advertiser.)
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Old Dec 15th, 2012, 11:20 AM
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Oops.
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