Another Cell Phone Question
 

Let me begin by saying I know very little about this technology, so I probably will be using the wrong terminology, etc. :-)

Briefly (?) I understand that my current cell phone with Cingular service, could be used in Europe at 1.29/min., (or .99, if I buy their special service for overseas, etc.). They said that if I buy a SIM card in Europe for this phone, I still have to pay the above rate b/c my phone is connected to Cingular service. ??

So, I must buy a new phone that is not "connected" to any particular provider here in US? Can I do this any place than Ebay, and how do I know which phone to buy other than an unlocked quadband gsm phone? We go to Europe about once a year so I don't mind buying a phone that I can use in the future, but I don't want an expensive one with all the whistles, etc.

Would I be better off just using my own cell phone and paying the .99/min.?

I apologize for all these "duh"-type questions, and I would really appreciate anyone's expertise and advice! Mille fois merci! I know this issue has been done almost as many times as "comfortable yet attractive shoes", but I still don't quite get it!

Me either Grandmere. I have a simple cell phone here in the states. No e-mail, no nothing. So does my DH. BUT, he has this strange habit of wandering away. So, when we are in Rome this fall, I want to be able to get hold of him with the ever popular "where the He** are you?"
Sooooo... I'll watch the responses to your post with interest.

SuzieCII,

Glad to know I'm not alone in this; let's hope somebody has the patience to walk us through this!

Here is a recent thread related to your question.
http://tinyurl.com/2v2gh2

Phoning from Europe with a local phone card is much much cheaper.

Unless you're going to be on the phone alot, I would just use your current phone, rather than going through the expense and hassle of buying new phones, SIM cards, etc. Also keep in mind that texting is a far cheaper way to communicate overseas... I have Cingular, and I believe it's $.15 per outgoing message, and $.10 incoming (or maybe the other way around...)

If you use Verizon, Sprint, or Nextel, your phone will not work in most places outside the US. If your service provider is Cingular or T Mobile, it's possible you could use your present phone in Europe. To do this, your phone has to be either a European triband, operating on frequencies 900, 1800, and 1900, or a quadband, operating on frequencies 850, 900, 1800, and 1900. Your service provider can tell you if your phone fits the bill. If it does, you can arrange for overseas service from your present service provider and pay whatever calling rate they charge, or you could ask them to unlock the phone. T Mobile will certainly do this, and I think Cingular will also. They'll send you an unlock code, and you can take this to your local cell phone store to have the phone unlocked. After it's unlocked, you can buy a sim in Europe for the country you're in, or you can go to www.prepaidgsm.net/en/international.html and buy one of the international sims they talk about. United Mobile or United Mobile + would be a good choice. After you get the sim in the mail, your local cell phone store will show you how to insert it.

Grandmere, if your current cell phone is GSM with either 900 or 1800 bands (tri-band or quad-band) then it will work in Europe. If it is CDMA it won't work at all.

If the phone is GSM 900/1800 and unlocked, you can buy a sim card anywhere, and use it in your phone. When you take out the Cingular sim card and use another, your phone will no longer be connected to Cingular and therefore incur no charges with that provider.

You first need to find out what kind of phone you have, and whether it will even work in Europe.

I forgot to add that Motorola (www.store.motorola.com/),
TigerDirect (www.tigerdirect.com)
and Amazon (www.amazon.com)
sell phones of the type you need. They're called unlocked gsm phones.

Now see? To my eyes this is all in Romanian or some such.

How's this? Can I get to Europe and purchase two "to go" phones with about an hour each on them and Michael and I can use them to get hold of each other while we're in Rome when he wanders off from me or we get separated? We won't be calling back to the states...

Coz, of course, our cell's are Verizon.

And neither of us have a blackberry, I have no idea what an Ipod does...

Robespierre is rolling his eyes at this...

Grandmere...how much sense is this making to you!?

This is making a bit more sense than I thought it would although the Cingular people on phone today gave me a bit of info that doesn't fit with what I'm reading here. I will take the phone to the local Cingular store tonight and try to ask the right questions.

Thanks, everyone, but please don't "hang up" yet; I may be back with more questions :-)

You might also try this article:
www.thetravelinsider.info/2002/0308.htm

Do not go to the store. Go online and look up the Cingular number for international questions. Have your IMEI number available for the phone you want to unlock. They will give you the unlock code over the phone and instructions on how to unlock. FYI_ You will need your new sim card in the phone in order to begin the unlock process. I just hung up with them and it was quick and easy! One reminder they gave me, if after three tries you are unsuccessful with the unlock, do not attempt again-it will lock the phone forever and render it useless....good luck! I'm heading out in one week and will be doing the same thing:)

The IMEI number is specific to your phone hardware; it's usually buried somewhere on your phone under the battery or SIM card.

A note about Cingular: If you've joined their service or bought your phone within the last year, they won't unlock it for you. Cingular won't unlock because they give you a discount on the phone as compared to buying it already unlocked, then joining their service. (I know this from firsthand experience! With my phone, it was over a $100 difference.)

BUT you can do the unlock via any number of online services. You still need your IMEI number so they can make sure it's your phone and legit. Do a google search for "unlock gsm phone" and you'll see lots of results; I think the one I used is called GSMliberty. Unlocking the phone simply makes it available to use the hardware with SIMs other than the one of your service, in this case Cingular: you can continue to use your Cingular SIM without any issues, even overseas if you choose to pay their international rates.

Then when you are in Europe - or Asia - simply purchase a local prepaid SIM card. Remove your Cingular SIM and insert the new one into your phone in its place. (Your SIM is located under the cover near the battery. It's a small card with an electronic chip looking thing on one side. Take note of the way it is positioned before removing it!)

I just did this in Beijing with a China Mobile prepaid SIM. When I ran out of minutes on the phone after about a week, I purchased a recharge card. This looks like a phone card; you call into a number provided and enter a PIN from the card, and it refills your SIM with the amount you purchased the card for.

One note: If you're receiving communication from overseas (i.e, home), it's cheaper for you to receive calls than to make them. Same goes for text messages, which are much cheaper than calls. I'd never really "texted" before this last trip, and now I'm an expert LOL! Suzie, that may be the ideal way to communicate with your wandering DH... just pennies per message.

I hope this helps and doesn't further confuse the matter! :)

How much did you pay for your sim card....I have been surfing the web and found one that was $99.95 and another that was $19.95...both have the recharge options but the cheapr one says you might have to search for and switch networks with your phone in order to receive the best reception. Their minute rates are not much less than Cingular's, averaging $.50/minute throughout Europe and .99 to US, whereas Cingular has a flate .99 rate according to the representative I just spoke with for the cities I will be traveling in. If the SIM cards are expensive, is it better to use the CIngular international plan if you are placing few calls? And what about buying a local Sim once you get to Paris? I know in NY they will gouge you in Times Square and other locations, does Parisian phones stores operate similarly?

As already posted many times, do this:
- Buy or own standard unlocked phone 900/1800 Mhz

- Buy SIM card either www.globalsim.net (30€) or www.united-mobile.com

- Put SIM into phone

- Use SIM in Europe

OP, you've got lots of good info. All of which has been previously discussed in this forum. If you search for user xyz123 or click on my name you will find lots of answers to your questions.

On correction though, someone mentioned that cingular will not unlock for you if you just recently joined them. But, that is no longer the case. Cingular (tmobile has always had it) now have a policy that as long as you have been with them for 90 days or more and in good standing they will unlock your phone. I unlocked both mine and the wife's phone which we got for free when we joined in January in April.

mrcamp, maybe that was because your phones are older models (and therefore free with service)? Cingular was very clear when I bought my phone and service in March that they would not unlock it since I'd received a significant discount through them for the (late-model) phone. However, many sites online will do it for free...

Also note that I simply bought a <i>local</i> SIM at the airport once I was in China, not an international one as recommended by other posters. Since it was prepaid, the cost of the SIM itself was included in the initial payment. No &quot;network switching&quot; needed since I was in fact switching networks for that time period. You can do the same in Europe.

Try http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/ for info. Except for xyz123 and very few others, the info on mobile phones and SIM cards you get here wont help. ;-)

If you speak/write German, even better info can be found on www.telefon-treff.de, they have 124677 users and any subject (when mobile phones are concerned) imaginable is covered.

One last question....can you purchase the sim cards in Paris? I am a last minute traveler and advance apologies for not being aware of previous threads. I have only been on this website for maybe 4 days and am trying to quickly pull my trip together. I have appreciated everyone's advice and am sorry it is a repetitive subject, but the advice has helped! I cannot order a sim online as it will not arrive in time for my departure nxt Monday (unless anyone else has received quickly from the UK!)

Either have the international SIM sent to your Paris hotel, or buy a local SIM which will cost at least 28ct/min incoming in other EU countries. Incoming with a French SIM is only free in France. Outgoing from the French SIM to the US will cost A LOT, if you don't use a calling card. If you order today from Germany (www.globalsim.net) will most likely be there in 4 days.

In western Europe the new United Mobile sim charges about $0.40 per minute to call land lines in Europe or the US. The sim costs about $42. The sim costs more than a local sim and the calling rate is higher, but you have a phone number before you go and you can keep the sim alive indefinitely by making a call every nine months.

Hi 1239, there is definitely no reason to purchase an international SIM before you leave!

Check out this thread I just found (via Google, not the Fodors flaky search function):
&quot;Call Centers in Paris, Rome&quot;
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35020551

This info from the official French tourism site provides a coupon for Cellular Abroad, which it says you can pick up at any int'l airport:
http://www.france.com/articles/display_item.cfm?id=58

This is a pretty informative thread, though of course biased to the company who's board it's on!
&quot;For Americans Going to Europe or Overseas&quot;
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1085

Look for major wireless providers like Orange Fr, SFR and Bouygues Telecom. There should be kiosks at the airport.

I hope this helps!
:) ggreen

If you want an international SIM, purchase now, sent to hotel, local SIM no problem.

The first website for a sim is not working, the second, United Mobile, lets me get all the way to the purchase page and then will not move forward....nothing can be easy, right????

http://www.globalsim.net/de/1/home.html
or
https://www.united-mobile.com/umo_shop/product.do?lc=en

Try again, it's working. It's 3am, the &quot;usual time&quot; for maintenance work on many websites.

Wow, I sure have gotten lots of info, and I really appreciate it. I need to sort through it and decide what's best to do.

I did go to Cingular store (now AT&amp;T) this evening, and the fellow there said my phone is triband but he was not very knowledgeable about what I wanted to do. (He had to use the internet to find that info!) He doubted that my phone would work w/o going through AT&amp;T, but my guess is that they're not trained to know much about customers using their phones in this manner. Much better for them if we buy their international service, natch.

Again, thank you for your patience with this; I know it's been addressed many times before. Maybe this will humble me enough not to groan when I read another post about whether one can wear jeans in Paris :-)

And I can't promise that this will be my last question on the subject!

grandmere,I too have Cingular (AT&amp;T) and use my phone whenever I travel to Europe. I do have the World Traveler feature switched on, think it's 5.95 per month and it drops my call down to usually .99 per minute, however, the charges are different depending on which country you are in. There are a few advantages to using my own cell, one is that it is convenient for my Mom to call me if there is an emergency, rather than having to try to find my SIM number she only needs to dial my regular cell phone number. The other advantage is that you will need to change the SIM card when you go from one country to another, if you are staying in one country only that is not a problem, however,if you move about it can be a problem, you will get a different phone number with each SIM card. Anyhow, I know that I do pay more per call but it gives me peace of mind, maybe a false &quot;sense of security&quot; but my main concern is being able to be located if need be. I do call my Mom every 2-3 days to say Hi and check on her but seldom have to make any other calls. Please check online with Cingular on the World Traveler feature, also read closely the charges, especially if someone leaves a voice mail and you retrieve it in Europe. Hope this helps some. Have a wonderful trip.
Susan

As my wrap up to this posting, I was unable to complete a transaction on the website for united-mobile.com. What we discovered is that it is not compatible with microsoft explorer when it is time to pay, so we went on Mozilla firefox and were able to successfully complete our transaction. Be forewarned, you must have a paypal account setup prior to purchasing from United Mobile and when the paypal first screen appears, it asks for your password in french. Once you complete the screen, the balance of payment information is presented in English. good luck to other cell researchers and feel free to email me with any questions! It wasn't that easy to navigate through and should have been!

SuzieCll, and others who don't understand the terminology in some of these posts, I you how you feel. I have gone through the same steep learning curve with computers and digital photography. There are websites that explain the subject in simpler terms, and once you understand the basics you can move forward and learn more. I went to www.ask.com and typed in &quot;how do cell phones work&quot; (without the quotes) and got several hits. One of them was http://www.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone.htm. I don't have time to review it this morning, but hope that it helps.

Grandmere - The answer the Cingular representative gave you is incomplete. There are two kinds of triband phones used in the US, domestic tribands, operating on frequencies 850, 1800, and 1900, and European tribands, operating on frequencies 900, 1800, and 1900. Domestic tribands don't work well in Europe, European tribands do. Tribands used by Cingular in the US are almost always domestic. So, I'm almost sure that your phone is not the kind you want for your trip.

First of all, I want you to know how much I appreciate everyone's unflagging help.

Ok, bottom line seems to be:
1. My current triband phone won't work in France.
2. I need to buy a quadband unlocked phone here.

From what I was reading on the various posts above and other threads referred to, I need to buy a SIM card here b/c if I buy one in France, it will still be very costly to call the USA, which is what I want to be able to do. Or perhaps I'm misunderstanding this piece?

OTOH, I could just chuck the idea of having a phone and buy a calling card in France, as I've always done before, but as has been mentioned, phone booths are increasingly harder to locate, just as here in USA.

Since I will be solo for over a week of the 16 day trip, I would be most comfortable with a phone. I will begin by looking at Amazon, Motorola, etc.
Does this seem like a good plan?

And then on to the SIM cards!

&gt;unlocked
key word here, but you need at least a european phone (=world except northern America and Japan), 900/1800 Mhz frequencies. (=&quot;bands&quot;) If you have those two, the phone works. Read the manual.

&gt;b/c if I buy one in France, it will still be very costly to call the USA

You would want an INTERNATIONAL SIM, which you can buy anywhere by mail order or in VERY FEW places in France. This has free incoming all over Europe and about 40 Eurocent to the US.

OR


a local frech SIM, free incoming in France, VERY expensive to US, UNLESS you use an additional french calling card. In that case, you dial a local french number from you mobile to access the international switch.

Hope this helps :-)

Okay, I am a neophyte to cells in Europe, too. I have Cingular and went to the store last Sat. They told me to call Cingular to discuss international with them. I called on Monday (yesterday) and spent over a half hour on the phone with them. Bottom line is I have a basic Nokia phone and Cingular told me that it will work in Europe. I went ahead and purchased the $5.99 plan for one month (and I have to remember to call them later and have it removed from my account) and will get $.99 a minute for my calls. I did ask for an unlock code but was told it would take 7 to 10 days and it would be emailed to me. I could not get the unlock code over the telephone. I intended to get the unlock code and then just buy a sim card in Europe, but since I am leaving this Friday and have no assurance that I can get the unlock code before I leave, I opted to buy their $5.99 plan. Would it still be worthwhile to unlock the phone if I get the code in time or get it during the early part of my trip? Thanks.

CCMP,

As Posted yesterday. I called the Cingular International number listed on their wbsite, explained what I was doing, provided the IMEA and was immediately provided with my unlock code.....

All the questions and different responses provide the reality testing that I am not alone in finding this a bit of a challenge.

Logos999, your last post seems to sum it up and makes sense; I've learned a lot in the last 24 hrs.

&quot;Upward and onward . . .&quot;

CCMP, the level of customer care at Cingular varies widely, and somebody there telling you your phone will work in Europe doesn't make it so. If your phone is a quadband, it will work in Europe. If it's a triband, it's almost certainly a domestic triband (otherwise it wouldn't work with Cingular), and a domestic triband doesn't work in Europe. There's an identifying number underneath your phone battery, the IMEI number, that's unique to your phone. If you supply the IMEI number to your phone manufacturer and ask what frequency bands your phone operates on, they'll tell you.

If it is a domestic triband it <i>will</i> work in Europe. One of the frequencies will be either 900 Mhz or 1800 Mhz, both European frequencies. Coverage will be limited to that one band, though.