I should mention that the GSM cell phone is a French one:

Sagem MY401C

For the most parts, phone can be unlocked...there are many web sites that offer to unlock gsm phones for various amounts of money but there are some which haven't been cracked yet...also in some countries, the authorities support this disgusting activity aimed at breaking one of the big advantages of gsm phones over other technologies (Germany apparently is an example according to logos999)...I know when I walk down Oxford Street in London, there is store front after store front offering to unlock phones for as little as 5 quid...one thing for sure, Orange FR probably won't.

I just went on Ebay and found about a dozen listings for unlocking an Orange Sagem MY401C. Prices range from about $11.50 USD to $25.50 USD

Once it's unlocked, it looks like you'll just have to buy another SIM for VodaPhone or Telefonica or whatever (i.e., the Country you happen to be in at the time).

Good luck!

I went to ebay and just saw the one listing for about $25. Then, I tried Google and got lots of various sites.It looks quite complicated, but my husband is more technical than I. At this point, since we would like to have 2 GSM phones for our travels abroad (we often send one with one of our kids who tend to travel to more exotic places), is there another cheaper and easier way? How do global Phones compare? Thanks again for your quick responses.

-M

Just search eBay for unlocked GSM phones - there are a slew of them. Be sure you get tri- or quad-band for the best compatibility.

Ask your question over on http://www.howardforums.com/

Someone over there should be able to help you.

Ebay lists a new unlocked Motorola v195 for $77 and a used unlocked v195 for $45. Motorola

http://tinyurl.com/2d6qkb

sells a new unlocked Motorola v197 for $99 plus shipping. The v195 and v197 are virtually identical quadband phones with good ratings.

Just a word of advice...

If you are buying a tri band phone for use in Europe, make sure the three bands are 900/1800/1900 mhz...some of the American carriers sell tri band phones that are 850/1800/1900 and lacking the 900 band may put your European coverage back a good deal and make it non existant in some European countries.

Of course as noted the way to avoid this completely is with a quad band phone.

Your Sagem phone can be unlocked, but you need to take the phone to an unlocker (or mail it), as it needs to be connected by cable to a unlocking dongle and PC. It cannot be unlocked remotely, by just tapping in certain code into your phone (as some phones can be).

Thanks you all.

XYZ123, I know we need to buy quad bans. That much I've assimilated, but thank you for reminding me. Do you have any experience with world phones? We tend to visit France or Italy yearly, with added other countries along the way. Would a World phone be easier and/or cheaper, using country calling phone cards in addition to the World Phone SIM card or should we stick with a regular quad-band GSM phones using country SIM cards (and calling cards)? Our US dealer is Verizon which provides the best coverage in our area, so we are not going to switch to one of the carriers in the US that also can be used traveling. We decided on new phones for Europe several years ago.

Alec, the phone is an Orange Sagem and, in the Boston area, where would I go to unlock the phone or do you know a reputable mail-in dealer to do this?

Your help is appreciated as always.

-M

I do not know if this site will help your particular cell phone brand but it is worth a try:
http://www.gsmliberty.net/shop/

They have a toll free number and advertise that they can unlock phones connected to Orange.

When we were in Spain a few months ago I was told that it is fairly easy to find technicians who will unlock phones. However, we decided to buy an unlocked Nokia from the Vodafone dealer. We are happy with Vodafone as it seems to be recognized in many countries.

Whatever you do, don't take it to Ireland.

>Germany apparently is an example
It's a criminal offense. You can't change the law...

...of course in this regard, Germany is the exception rather than the rule.

For the savings I later enjoyed by purchasing SIM cards, I thought paying $25 on ebay for an unlock code was a bargain--and it was a snap. Ebay sellers are regulated by the ratings system, so I think it is trustworthy.
You can probably get it unlocked in a store when you arrive in most countries, but I would just buy the code off ebay and do it myself.

You have to see it that way: It's just like hacking Pay-TV. You get the phone for a much reduced price and in exchange, you sign a contract to use it only with this one company. There's no obligation to use the phone at all, but if you use it with another card, you're stealing from them. Sounds reasonable, since you would have paid 2 to 3 times as much, should you buy the same phone unlocked.

Actually, I paid full price for the phone and am not on a plan (it's pay as you go), so I feel no obligation to the company and I am not stealing from them. I just did not want to wait three months to have them unlock it. It's their stupid policy--and their choice to charge exorbitant rates for intl calls, and if they wanted to prevent it that badly, then I imagine they could.

You have to be comfortable with what you're doing. No need to explain yourself

I don't understand exactly why, but it appears that the particular phone we have cannot be unlocked with a code. Alec's comments were confirmed on a website that my husband found. So, the decision is whether we can find someone to unlock it here or in Italy (and it is an Orange phone) or to buy a new unlocked phone.

The phone was $100, and we did not buy it to save money. It wasn't the cheapest phone nor one with a lot of bells and whistles. We just forgot to check that it was an unlocked phone.

One of the issues we have had is our SIM card expiring if we do not use it within a 12 month period forcing us to buy a new card. This costs additional money and we lose our original number. We sometimes have lent it to family or friends and that keeps it activated, but we cannot activate it from here. I was wondering if the World phone might be better in this regard. Any thoughts? Has anyone figured this out?

Thanks,

-M

In my neighborhood (near La Goutte d'Or - Barbès-Rochechouart), it costs from 3 to 5 euros to unlock a phone.

Sagems are difficult to unlock. Quite a number of them can't be unlocked "illegally" at all. There are several disussions about international SIM cards here. I'd buy a cheap (900/1800 Mhz) unlocked dual band phone on ebay or some easy unlockable one like any Motorola.

Those guys are the source for your Sagem needs. You have to decide, if it's worth it.

http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=526394

You have to be careful with French sim cards...unlike the British ones their validity is not dependent on use.

When you top up an Orange FR PAYG sim, you top it up with time and money...at the end of the specified time those thieves steal your remaining credit and the sim card itself remains valid for a further six months during which time you can receive calls while in France and top it up...after the six months, they take the number back and you have to buy a new sim card.

Thus if you top up with a €10 voucher, you get that amount of credit for calls and 15 days to use it...at the end of the 15 days, any remaining credit is stolen from you and you then have six months either to top it up again or you lose the credit. For a €15 top up, I think it's one month....for €25 it's two months then you lose the remaining credit.

Most UK sim cards require a billable activity every 180 days or so to maintain validity.....

Well, the French SIMs aren't any better then US Sim's from T-Mobile or AT&T where the validity is one month, too. That's really a shame, but then when you buy on ebay, the SIM and credit for US cards cost less than the credit on that card allone.

So whenever I go to the US, it's a new SIM and a new number.

Thanks. Do any of you know if the World phone is different?

-M

"World phone" is just a name, nothing more. You need a common GSM dualband (900/1800) phone which is unlocked. Ebay is a good source, you can try www.ebay.co.uk and www.ebay.de too. They have GOOD offers.

I'd buy an "international" http://www.yackiemobile.com/ card. It costs $49 with a credit of $49. Enough for a few trips.
If you're willing to deal with a german company, right now www.solomo.de is hard to beat! The card costs 20€ and comes with a 10€ calling credit. It has a very good sound quality, a german mobile number and calls are 0.10€ incoming in many (most) places of the world and 0.29€ outgoing. Cheaper if you are in Germany.

OK- Please be patient with me. I'm just trying to understand. Both Seamus and XYZ123 suggetsted a tri or quad band, but Logo999 says that a dual band is OK. The phone will be used in Western Europe for the most part, but may follow our kids to Latin America or Asia. What bands do we need?

I looked at the site Logo999 suggested. It looks as if we get the International SIM card and use their number, incoming calls are free. Is that right?

When we were last in Italy and France, we bought calling cards at local tabacs. Calls to the US were extremely inexpensive. Can we use such cards with the International SIM card?

Again, thanks. I know this has been discussed before, but the Fodor search engine is not the easiest to use.
-M

>incoming calls are free.
Incoming calls are free in many countries only, if the caller dials an icelandic number, but you get a local US number at NO extra charge. When you're called under that number, you pay $0.29 per minute in many countries. With solomo, you pay 0.10€ for incoming per minute, but your callers have to dial a German mobile number.

Dual band (900/1800) is what is used in most countries of the planet, except in north america and some south or central american countries.
The world uses a different standard than the US (are you surprised?)

There is no need to use calling cards with your mobile.

http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm-map-worldtimezone.gif

Pink is a common "European" dual-band (900/1800) country, orange is "american standard"

That's purple actually

Some phones can do 3 or 4 bands (tri or quad- band). Look at the bottom of the picture, each number is called a "band", so you have 4 bands altogether. But nobody would need 850 or 1900 in Europe or Asia, because it isn't used there.

So, logo999, if I understand you -someone calling you in Italy from Italy, has to pay a fee because he has called an out of country number? So, let's say a restaurant or hotel calls you to confirm a reservation, they get charged a fee? Is that right?

When we have used calling cards, the price to the US was in the range of about 2-3 cents a minute- quite a bit cheaper than the ones quoted on both the number Italian SIM card and the International SIM card.

Again, thanks.

A dual band 900/1800 phone will work only in Europe. For best flexibility you really want to have a quad band phone that will work just about everywhere (except maybe Japan).
There are seemingly endless ways to handle mobile phone service as one travels, with a distinct trade off between ease/simplicity of use and cost.
If you travel infrequently, want the phone only for emergency use, and are with a GSM service in the US (AT&T, T-Mobile) with at least a triband phone, simply contact your carrier and ask them to activate international roaming.
Ask if they offer any sort of discount package for international roaming, and see if it is worth it to sign up for such a plan (e.g., AT&T is 5.99/month and reduces rate .30/minute. If you will make more than 20 minutes of calls it is worth considering.)

>has to pay a fee because he has called an out of country number?
Calls aren't free in Italy, so yes, they either have to call a US number or an Icelandic number .

And yes, mobiles are a lot more expensive than using common landlines. You pay for the convenience.

>will work only in Europe
NO, it works in EVERY area coloured purple in this map!

Which is about everywhere on planet earth with a few exceptions

http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm-map-worldtimezone.gif

http://www.worldtimezone.net/gsm.html

Well I muddled my way through the solomo web site....really I did thanks to some translation help from yahoo...however when it came time to try to have the sim card sent to me, apparently the only countries they will send sim cards are Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, Holland, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, Czech Republic, Austria...no England, no USA, no English speaking countries.

Oh well.

Have you tried "Vereinigte Staaten" and "Vereinigtes Königreich". Sounds as odd as "Germany" to us.

No logos mon ami....they had a pull down menu and the countries I listed were the only countries I saw.

bmk.