US GSM phones & internet question
 

Folks,

For those who have travelled from USA to TZ, do your ATT or TMobile GSM phones work on local carrier networks there? I know that International roaming charges would be huge ($5 /min or so), but just curious to see how you guys handle making that "I am ok" phone call back once you reach TZ.

Also, do any of the Sopa/Serena locations etc have internet access? Or am I asking for too much ? :-).

Btw, do USA pre-paid phones work there ( Tmobile, ATT) ?

Thx !

Btw, I remember seeing links for migration update, cannot find them anymore. I've heard that the migration has reached Ndutu.Does anyone have any update or links that I could browse?

Yes, ATT and TMobile have roaming partners in Tanzania. You need to activate intl roaming on your account if you haven't already done so. I don't know if you can do that with prepaid service.

I have unlimited intl data on my Blackberry so I just email home :)

Prepaid plans don't work overseas,but a regular plan works surprisingly well!

There are numerous posts about phones, if you use the search function.

Best bet:

Buy a quad unlocked phone on eBay for around $40-$50 US. When in Arusha....go downtown and get 50,000 - 100,000 Tz minutes (we got 50,000) Approx. $40-$80. The SIM card will cost approx. $2.75.

I called my office in the US at least once per day throughout Tz and when I sold the phone (purchased 2nd home in FL and we decided we had toured the world enough), it still had 15,000 Tz left.

So the cheapest and easiest is buy the quad-band unlocked phone and get SIM card and minutes.

T-Mobile works. However, to keep the bill down, I purchased a local sim card when I was in-country and when I needed to dial back across the pond, I used T-Mobile;s SIM card--more so others could call me. If someone called me, it was free on T-Mobile.