As I remember, that particular service is defunct. The Swiss government didn't want it to be used by international terrorists or something like that.

There are 2 of them now; one operating out of Monaco the other out of Liechtenstein. You can check them out at www.prepaidgsm.net. The Liechtenstein service is very particular about which phones can use its special type of SIM card.

Actually at the rate you quoted, your best bet might be to simply use international roaming on T mobile, 99 cents/minute to both receive and make calls. I use about a week as the cut off; generally if in a country a week or more and any amount of usage of the phone makes it worthwhile to get a local SIM. Less than a week generally means using T mobile international roaming; despite the fact it is overpriced and a rip off.

xyz,

That is a great site! Lots of good info! Now I will go and study it all! Thanks!

A new question regarding international SIM card providers.

Has anyone used United Mobile or HopAbroad? These were both mentioned in xyz's link.

Topping . . .

I don't think buying a special SIM card will be cost effective for the type of usage you envision. a few years back I thought about doing the same thing in Germany and it was 50 bucks - at a buck a minute, are you really going to talk for an hour on this trip?

and even if you go over a little, is the time spent finding a SIM card, figuring it out, etc etc - really time well spent on your vacation? plus don't forget, a new SIM won't mean free calls, they will merely be cheaper. so it isn't like your savings stop at 50 minutes on your current card...

if your phone works, that's a bonus, I'd be happy with it. not to mention, using your regular old phone as is means your folks at home can dial your local number and connect directly with you, versus you having to THEN call everyone to say "here is how to find me". and for emergencies, at home, isn't it more important that they can call you, than vice versa?

Depends on time and place. Virgin Mobile in the UK, for example, costs only £10 for the SIM card with £5 worth of credit. And receiving calls is indeed free.

It is true you have to have a way to let people know your foreign mobile number. Ever hear of the internet? Or e-mail? Or text messages? Or even do what I did once...on your answering machine give your foreign mobile number...or forward calls to your home mobile and in voice mail give a message with your foreign number..or you can use an 800 forwarding service (which will cost 1/3 of what t mobile wants for its international roaming).

Some other countries are more expensive.

As far as being difficult to find a SIM pack, nothing can be further from the truth. This is the 21st century and Europeans are light years ahead of Americans when it comes to mobile phone service (walk down any street in London and see how many people are talking on their mobiles)....in any country in any city you will find within a 2 minute walk of your hotel mobile phone stores who will gladly sell you a local SIM pack, install it for you, set up voice mail or whatever.

So again if you do your homework and are going to be in a country for any length of time and do want a way of being reached or reaching out, it is a very everyday thing and simple to do in this day and age.

well, but what if the emergency is 75 year old Gramma is in the hospital, and they don't have the internet at home? or don't want to themselves spend XX dollars on an international call. not everyone gets international calling plans, or is savvy to the dial around numbers. getting a cheaper SIM card could well be shifting the greater cost / less efficiency of the calls onto someone else. money isn't the only thing to think about, convenience is important too - perhaps more in an emergency situation.

I don't mean to keep repeating myself but...

Has anyone used international calling cards from United Mobile or HopAbroad?

I am only going to be in each country for a few days at a time, and a separate SIM card for each country doesn't seem to make sense. Unless I could find bargains like Virgin Mobile in Spain, France and Italy!

Thanks xyz for all of your help.

Hi

I have used international calling cards, I don't remember who with, and that does help somewhat. may be a good compromise in general actually, b/c if memory serves, it's a free call to access it, then you punch in the numbers to go internationally.

then again, I think I was using in that case a phone I bought overseas. I currently have 3 cell phones, which is sick I know, but it does mean I have coverage over 90% of the planet! (or thereabouts). ha ha

I'm sorry - my last post didn't specify correctly that I was asking about international SIM cards from United Mobile or HopAbroad - not international phone cards.

My mistake - sorry!

I dropped by one of T-Mobile stores to ask a question about international roaming. The guy told me that all T-Mobile phones are not locked. All I need to do when I get to another country, let's say France, is to remove the existing simm card in my cellular phone and replace it with the simm card purchased in France. Voilà, I can start using my phone in that country. This sounds too easy. Is it true?

Another example of an imbecile masquerading as somebody who knows squat about the mobile phones he or she sells.

Most of the so called international phones T mobile sells are locked. Period. However, T mobile will give you the unlocking code after about 3 months of service for free.

All AT&T so called world phones are locked but AT&T will never, no matter how long you have been a customer, give you the unlocking code. You have to obtain them via the web or by other means.

Many if not all of the so called world phones Cingular sells are indeed unlocked. But do remember that "world phones" Cingular sells which are tri bands have 850/1800/1900 as the bands as Cingular operates on both 850 and 1900 in this country. European carriers operate on 900/1800 so the lack of 900 bands could prove fatal if you are using a carrier (T Mobile UK comes to mind) which uses 900 exclusively. Since T mobile only uses 1900 in the US, its tri bands come with 900/1800/1900 and so you'll be fine wherever you are in Europe.

xyz is right about some of the Cingular phones being unlocked. Not all of their employees know this (talk about imbeciles, that must be a requirement for working at a cell phone store with only a few intelligent beings sneaking through). I had decided to get a Nokia from cingular since they can be unlocked over the internet, even though as xyz points out Cingualr triband phones are not the three bands you really want. But then I discovered that Cingular's quad band motorola phones are unlocked. But I would be careful to check this out if you are considering getting one. I don't trust anything the cell phone sellers say at this point.

To xyz: Thank you so much for your answer. I was hoping that you would see my question. I have been reading your messages about this topic and they are all very informative. Before I go to France next time, I will have my phone (T-Mobile)unlocked. When I get to Paris, I will replace with their simm card. To recharge the battery, can I plug it in via the converter?

I went to another T-Mobile store today and asked the agent about the 3-month unlock of the phone. She did not know anything about it. I insisted that she called the main office since this is an information that she might want to learn. They told her the correct answer. However, I found out that I got a dual band phone from T-Mobile, 900/1900. I reread earlier posts from xyz but still a not sure whether my phone is a world phone.

The answer to your question is a definite yes or no.

You see European GSM carriers (almost all of Europe is GSM) operate on either 900 or 1800 or both. So your phone will work with many carriers who operate on either 900 alone or both 900 and 1800. But there are some carriers who operate solely on 1800 and your phone will not work with them.

Sorry for being sort of vague but that's the best one can do.

To further complicate xyz123's reply, many 900MHz-only operators also have 1800MHz microcells in urban areas with heavy traffic, to give then extra capacity. If your phone doesn't run on 1800MHz, you may not find it easy to make or receive calls at busy times, fo example on UK's Vodafone or O2 network.

Thank you very much to all contributors, especially xyz. I finally understand this GSM phone. I will look to buy a tri-band, unlocked phone to use in Asia/Europe and won't bother to have T-Mobile unlock this phone.

Makes me glad I rented a phone for my trip last month. Trying to read this thread gives me a headache. It was great to just pick up the phone and dial and know I could call home or anywhere in Europe without any problems.

I just bought a motorola v600 cell phone. Before buying it I took out my yellow pages called some stores that sell cell phones in ny. After my 3rd call, I found a place that said they do have the motorola phone I wanted and that I could buy it either locked or unlocked. I went to the store, the salesman showed me the phone it was from cingular. I asked him to prove it was unlocked. He then took out the sim card and it was a T-mobile sim card. If it was locked it would of only accepted a cingular sim card since the phone is by cingular. The phone cost me $200. It is a new model phone with lots of features. It is also a Quad band phone so I do not have to worry about the frequency. I read somewhere that this is the first GSM quad band phone.
I also went to another cell phone store asked the salesman to look at my phone and tell me if it is unlocked just to be sure. He said yes, and that getting a phone unlocked is not a problem he would of done it for me for a couple of dollars if I brought in a locked cell phone. I did call T-mobile just to see if they unlock phones they said they unlock phones after 3 months. I could not wait that long, I'm leaving to Italy in 2 weeks!
Hope this information helped.
MS