Does anyone know if it is possible to buy a european cell phone in the U. S.? Is there a European source to order one from?<BR>Thanks for any info.

Judith:<BR><BR>There are many British mobile phone dealers on the web. I do not know if they ship to the US but you can call them or e-mail them.<BR><BR>I have a British cell phone and of course the battery charger is set with a British plug (and boy are they big) and needs a 240 volt outlet. How to make sure I have a fully charged phone upon arrival. I thought about getting a transformer and then it suddenly struck me. I went on the web, found a mobile phone dealer and bought a car adapter. Cost &pound;3.99.....it was shipped to the US with about 50p for shipping and handling. Whether they will ship a pay as you go phone....I'm not sure but it sure is conceivable.

I don't know why you need to have a European-spec GSM mobile phone delivered to US. AFAIK, no UK dealers will supply phones to US (or anywhere other than UK). It may have something to do with potential customs hassle or, more likely, the fact that handsets are usually heavily subsidised by service providers. Supplying dealers won't get paid commission on handset sale unless the customer registers the phone and top-it up with call credit. By shipping it overseas, the phone may simply be sold on and used on non-UK networks (after unlocking), thus depriving the dealer of commission or the commission already paid being crawed back. You can buy pre-pay handsets easily in all European countries on arrival, from around $50-100, but that will be for 'locked' phone usuable only on the original network in one country. You can get it 'unlocked' for a small fee, or buy a so-called SIM-free handsets at much higher price (from $150+), which will accept SIM card from all networks across Europe and other GSM regions.

Judith: <BR>You can easily buy a GSM cell phone that works in Europe (and the US) from Voicestream in the US (used to be Omnipoint). Of course it comes with a SIM card linked to Voicestream. Any call made to/from Europe will be at Voicestream rates.<BR>You have to be more specific as to how/why you want to use it. Being reachable all the time, on a US number? Lots of calls? Many different countries in Europe? For instance, if all you want is a phone for 14 days in France, buy one of the prepaid boxes upon arrival, as mentionned above.

To Alec<BR>How does one go about getting a phone unlocked? Does that mean the phone will then be able to be used with any Sim card from any country in Europe?

Officially some providers unlock their phones by providing unlocking code for a fee, around $50. Unofficially, there are dealers who offer this service, for much less. You normally have to go to an independent dealership rather than big chains (many are tied to certain providers). There is also mail order service. With an unlocked 900/1800 MHz dual band phones (most are), yes, you can buy SIM card from any GSM operator and be provided with a local phone number and pre-paid credit. Well worth it if you are staying in one country for a while or intend to return frequently. Credit lasts from 6 to 12 months. When it expires, you can get another SIM pack and start again with a new number. In most countries you can get a SIM pack for around $30-40, with a call credit of $10-20.

You can buy an UNLOCKED phone here just make sure that it is either dual or triband. You could try ebay.com like I did and bid on a GSM phone that is unlocked. FYI, I just won the bid so I cannot be more specific as to how to use the darn phone apart from inserting that SIM card.

Procedure varies depending on service providers. With some, you simply insert the SIM card and your phone is ready for use. With others you have to register it by calling a particular number and following a voice prompt. With Orange in UK, you have to speak to an operator and give your name and address. It should all be made clear in the documentation, but since it's likely to be in the native language only, you may want to ask for help when you buy your pack.

I just found out that you can buy a locked tri-band (GSM 900/1800/1900) phone at a discount from Cingular, then after 30 days they will unlock it (you have to ask; they give you the code). <BR><BR>Once unlocked, you can insert any SIM card (while locked, will only work with Cingular). There are places on the web that sell European SIM cards for various countries. By using a 'local' SIM card, you get a local number, and better rates. <BR><BR>Cingular were selling the Siemens tri-band world phone for about $60, and were giving it away free with a 2 year contract of over $39/month. <BR><BR>

Chris--I contacted Cingular at their 800 number to inquire about phones for use in France. They did not offer their tri-band phone or the suggestions that you made. She looked France up on her list and told me to contact France Telecom. Did I get bad info? Our house has 2 phones with Cingular and one with ATT.(finishing an old contract). Any advice? I had about decided to just buy a pre-paid pkg when I arrive in France. I'm only going to be there a week, but I will be driving to Le Mans, and I want the convenience of having my family able to contact me at any time of day, even while we're out and around.(We have a sick family member). We typically go somewhere in Europe every year, so I would prefer to have a phone I could re-activate for next year's trip. <BR>Thanks for the input, Barb

Cingular will unlock any tri-band phone at your request. There is a clause in your contract where after a period of time (usually one year) you can upgrade your phone [basically change it to a triband phone if it wasn't below and pay the advertised price for the phone]. If you explained to them why you need the phone unlocked, they will unlock it [basically they will call you after a certain period of time and give you the unlocking code]. The 800 number for Cingular told me that in a nutshell.

I can't explain why you were told that by Cingular; I called the 800 # (actually, 866) on the web site. The person was very knowledgeable. <BR><BR>If your current phones are not tri-band, maybe they figured you would not want to buy a new one just for this purpose (they may want to sell phones at retail once you've already got one). <BR><BR>When I called them last week (before I learned about unlocking, etc) they said I could buy a tri-band phone from them, and it would work without any issues in Europe, and that the rate would be about $3 / minute. She did not mention unlocking the phone and using a Euro SIM. But when I called yesterday and asked specifically about unlocking, she agreed this would work, and I suggested this would be much cheaper for me, and she agreed.