nbbrown

If I get my cell phone that I use here in the U.S. unlocked, I buy a SIM card in Italy to use with it, right? Then my question is also do I still get incoming calls for free, or are we still on the US Cellular plan for international calls? Thanks!!

xyz123

When you change the SIM card, it doesn't matter who issued the phone...the SIM card controls the functioning of the phone...hence you will get free reception of calls but understand your phone number changes too so you will have a phone number in Italy which will have to be sent to those who you wish to call you.

nbbrown

Oh, thank you so much. So, is it hard to get them to unlock your phone, usually?

xyz123

Getting mobile phones unlocked is for the most part easy and can be done in a variety of ways...

If your carrier is T mobile and if you have been a T mobile customer for 90 days, they will provide unlocking codes for free....

I am told most tri bands Cingular sells come unlocked...

AT&T pre merger has adamantly refused to give out unlocking codes...that will probably change when they are totally absorbed by Cingular...

If the phone is a Nokia phone, unlocking calculators are readilly available all over the web for free...there are unlocking sites on the web that provide unlocking codes for prices ranging from free to $15....when you arrive in Europe there are store fronts that unlock phones for very reasonable prices.

Unlocking a mobile phone is rarely a big chore.

lobo_mau

There's is also the frequency issue. GSM phones in Europe work in the 900MHz and/or in the 1800 MHz bands. Apart from SIM aspects, your unlocked telephone must be enabled for at least one of those frequencies.

parisnow

I have a t-Mobile tri band phone. All I did was call customer service and add myself to the international plan for free. It doesn't cost anything extra a month for this option. You get charge 99 cents per minute for outgoing and incoming. You do not have to switch sim cards or unlock your phone. It is great if you are just traveling on a vacation but if you are on a long stay you may want to go the other option.

xyz123

99 cents/minute both to make and receive calls...what a rip off...there are so many better alternatives.

ira

Hi nb,

>If I get my cell phone that I use here in the U.S. unlocked, I buy a SIM card in Italy to use with it, right?<

Only, as lobo says, if it is a 900 or 1800 MHz phone.

If it is a 1900MHz phone, it won't work in Europe at all.

nbbrown

Hi Ira... Is it a dumb question for me to ask... how do I know the frequencies? And parisnow pointed out that he does pay both ways... is that because he doesn't use a SIM card? Thanks for the info...

xyz123

The manual which comes with the phone should have buried someplace the frequencies...also the carrier who sold you the phone should know also but sometimes I am leery of clerks who are notorious for spitting out wrong information....

If you are a Tmobile customer and if you have 3 months of sucessfully paying your bills you can request to be signed up for international roaming for free.....every t mobile phone uses a sim card as it is a 100% GSM carrier...on most international roaming plans that means using the phone outside the country where the sim card originated you pay both ways...you don't pay to receive calls on most gsm networks while you are in the country of origin of the sim card. If you buy a French prepaid sim card, you don't pay to receive calls while in France...the caller pays a surcharge and has to ring you on an international call.

Or you can buy an international card such as Riiing and pay no incoming fees at all while in any European country and have a number in Liechtenstein.

chrisMLU

xyz...
If I buy the phone from Modal, what do you recommend for re-charging it? Buy extra batteries?? I will be in Asia (China/Mongolia) and then in Spain later this year. Not sure where the charging cord will work and where it won't. Any ideas?

nbbrown

Well, I found out I do have the dual frequency, after much searching and finally found it on the internet. The manual had nothing at all! Now I guess I just need to find out if it can be unlocked. I emailed US Cellular, which is our carrier. I can also stop by their office when I am in town. Is there a way to know for sure it is unlocked? Thanks, xyz, for all your help!!

Neil_Oz

ChrisMLU, if your phone's battery charger can handle 220V as well as 110V, all you need is an adapter to allow you to plug in to a Chinese or Spanish electrical pin configuration. Most Chinese wall sockets use the European two-round-pins arrangement, although for some reason it's also common to find an Australian-style configuration. Not sure about Spain, but I assume that they use the same 2-pin setup, so you should be able to get away with one US-European adaptor. Just make a point of recharging the phone overnight.

Now, a dumb question from me, and my reason for asking is a little off-forum, beng related to a planned trip to North America, but also perhaps relevant to a later trip to Europe.

I assume that when you guys talk about "unlocking" your phone, the locking in question is imposed by your cellphone carrier? I ask because here in Australia, using a different carrier for your GSM phone is simply a matter of inserting a new SIM card. Sure you may be contracted to your carrier for a given period, which is why you get the phone for $0-$99 (typically) in the first place, but that only commits you to paying out the unexpired period of the contract if you decide to change carriers midstream, so to speak. (From the above I get the impression that "locking" is common in the UK too?)

I'm also interested in the roaming situation. The major carriers here all operate nationwide networks and national roaming is provided automatically and at no charge. International roaming is also free on request - free if you ignore the often extortionate call charges, that is.

Can I take it that the tri-band phones I'm told can be found on eBay are designed to deal with a US environment in which carriers may employ either GSM (900/1800 MHz) and, I assume, CDMA technologies?

If I've misinterpreted, I'd be grateful if someone can set me straight - thanks.

Patty

Neil_Oz,
You are correct that in the US, the locking is imposed by the cellular carrier. US GSM is 850/1900.

Patty

chrisMLU,
If your cell phone charger is dual voltage, it will have something like 110V~220V printed on it in which case as Neil_Oz stated, you'll just need the adaptor plug. I've found a variety of outlet configurations in China and some hotels do have the North American configuration but to be safe, just bring an adaptor kit. You can usually get a kit with 5 different adaptors for $10.

chrisMLU

Thanks. Looks like I will just get the converter for Europe. May end up getting an extra battery also, since in Mongolia we may have limited access to electricity (...but that is for another board)

nbbrown

I found out that I have a 900/1800 frequency, but the reply I got from my cellular carrier was:

"Thank you for contacting Customer Care. Unfortunately your U.S. Cellular
phone will not work in Europe. Our phones do not use the SIM card and we
cannot provide the unlock code. We do not release this information"

Are there certain cell phones that are unable to be unlocked, or am I being lied to?? Any insight is appreciated! Thanks so much...

Billie

xyz123

The question is the technology used by your carrier...

99% of the European carriers use a technology called GSM with the internal guts of the phone so to speak dependent on a little chip called a sim card the size of your thumb nail; change the SIM card and the whole identity of the phone changes from carrier to phone number.

GSM was a late starter in the United States and the only national carrier that is exclusively GSM I believe is T mobile. AT&T WS and Cingular have been piece meal converting their systems to GSM...both still operate partly on other technologies.

As your carrier, to the best of my limited knowledge, is not a national carrier, I don't know if it is or isn't GSM; from the response I would suppose probably not which means forget it for Europe.

nbbrown

Once again, thank you. I will go out in search of a new phone for our trip.