Cell Phone or Buy a Calling Card?

Old Feb 23rd, 2005, 01:46 PM
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Cell Phone or Buy a Calling Card?

Hi there! I'm curious to hear feedback from US travelers who have used or currently use their cell phone in Paris. My husband and I will need to make and receive calls to/from California during our visit to the most romantic city in the world. Is it pricier to use my own cell phone ($1.29/roaming charge per minute) than opting to go with one of France's calling cards? The only thing I know is the phone must be equipped with GSM. Any thoughts/comments are greatly appreciated!

I'm currently on the Sprint national network and would consider changing providers, if that helps.
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Old Feb 23rd, 2005, 01:59 PM
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To use your own cell phone service, you would have to switch to AT&T, Cingular or T-Mobile (T-Mobile requires you to wait for 3 billing periods, don't know about the others).

If you have a GSM phone but not one of the above services, you would have to have your phone 'unlocked' so you could remove the sim card and replace with a French service sim card. There are many, many posts on the board about all this, I am not expert at this at all. (but I do use T-Mobile for $0.99/minute when in Europe).
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Old Feb 23rd, 2005, 02:01 PM
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See what I mean?

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=34569853

<http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...&tid=34539594>

<http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...&tid=34549043>

<http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...&tid=34539660>

<http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...&tid=34497562>

<http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=1287059>

<http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...&tid=34496837>

<http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...&tid=34534671>
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Old Feb 23rd, 2005, 02:11 PM
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We use ATT and I unlocked my phone and bought a prepaid card (I paid extra to buy one here from Telocity (many vendors) so I would be ready when we arrived. In the airport I called my US number and left a voice mail with the new number. It is MUCH less expensive than using our US GSM phone. Also, some others with US GSM had many problems and had to call their service providers (difficult with the time change). Make sure your GSM phone is on the European bands or is a 4-band phone.
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Old Feb 23rd, 2005, 02:13 PM
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Note - when I said card I meant a SIM card that you replace your local service SIM card with.
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Old Feb 23rd, 2005, 03:21 PM
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i would buy a cheap local phone with prepaid card which might give you more for your money there. no fee for receiving calls from anywhere when you are in france on french-bought phone.

also, i would MAKE calls using calling card bought in FRANCE at a kiosk where all the immigrants go.. you can read up on all the cards there, how many minutes they each give you, etc. quite useful. they are cheapest when used form landline.. then go up a bit from phonebooths, cell phones.
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Old Feb 24th, 2005, 02:42 AM
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Here are the correct answers to your inquiry..

1. You can use your US mobile phone provided

a. Your carrier is GSM much of AT&T, Cingular are GSM now and T mobile US is 100% GSM. GSM means the phone operates on a small card the sime of your thumbnail called a SIM card...change the SIM card and you have a new wervice

b. The above is quite expensive both to make and receive calls. The cheapest of the three is T mobile at 99 cents/minute but you have to be a customer for 3 months before they allow you to sign up for international roaming then

c. Your phone must have the European frequencies and here again are problems. So called world phones sold by Cingular and AT&T are not complete world phones as they lack one of the European frequencies even if they are tri band as the US's 2 GSM frequencies are different from Europe's and AT&T and Cingular use 2 frequencies...T mobile only uses 1 GSM frequenchy in the US (1900) and thus when it sells you a tri band world phone you will have both European frequcies namely 900 and 1800. Some claim that while you're in the cities it doesn't make much of a difference if you lack one but I'd rather have both. Quad band phones sold by Cingular and AT&T have all 4 frequencies.

If you go this route, it is expensive to receive calls and to make calls but you can buy a French calling card to resolve the problem of making calls but you wouldn't want to use your mobile phone to access the French calling card local numbers..

or

You can get an unlocked GSM phone with the European frequencies. Either you can easily buy unlocked GSM phones on the web or at e bay....and then upon arrival in France go into a phone or electronic store and ask for a prepaid plan from one of the 3 French mobile phone companies. The starter pack should run something in the neighborhood of €30 with €10 of service good for 1 month...you can top off by going into any tabac and requesting a top up card and they come in varioujs denominations. Now unlike other countries, buying a SIM pack before going to France is throwing money away (sorry) as you don't get your French phone number until you set up the card in France...of course letting people know your French number is easy to deal with via the internet or a quick call to them.

However, if you go this route, be aware that calls to North America are expensive while receiving calls on a French mobile are free (like in free) the caller pays a slight surcharge but still far less than the 99 cent/minute T mobile rip off. The solution is to buy a French calling card anyway but now you access the network using French local charges and can use your mobile phone to make the triggering calls. You can also look up call back services such as www.callbackworld.com.

I would opt, if you want to be reachable 24/7 for the French SIM; it's really easy but if you just want to be reachable 24/7 and are willing to pay and you already have a US GSM carrier with a tri band phone, the alternative of buying a French calling card and using the mobile to receive in emergencies (of course they cal call you and you can call them right back if you are near a public phone) will work too..

Hope that correct information, unlike much of the information that is thrown out on the board and is incorrect, will help you.
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Old Feb 24th, 2005, 02:51 AM
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xyz123 - You have such knowledge on this subject. I was hoping you would have commented on my post for the $49. Mobal.com phone. I would like to hear what you think about it.
Thanks. I apologize for posting this on this thread but I was hoping to catch xyz123
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Old Feb 24th, 2005, 03:14 AM
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Check out www.nobelcom.com. I will use their recommended on-line purchsed calling card for Europe this summer. My kids used them for calling from Costa Rica back to USA and it was great--absolutely no problems with usage or connection. Call their toll free number (listed on the web site) with questions--they have excellent service reps. It's easily purchased online and prices are quite reasonable.
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Old Feb 24th, 2005, 03:38 AM
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The cheap phone deal is pretty good...as I understand it's $49 for a dual band phone usable in Europe but not in the USA...the phone is locked and has to be unlocked if you want to use it with other carriers.

The service rates are high....read other posts comparing service rates and the advantages of buying prepaid SIM's' especially if you're staying put in one country for a week or more..requires an unlocked GSM phone (the mobal phone after it is unlocked as somebody suggested)...would I go for their deal, frankly not. I am used to European local sim's where receiving calls is free....
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Old Feb 24th, 2005, 04:25 AM
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Travelnut--I am a new customer of T-Mobile. I asked about the 3-month waiting period for overseas calling. They told me I can make calls from Europe right away for 99 cents/minute, but it will be 3 months before I can unlock my phone for a SIM card, which would be more economical if I will be doing a lot of calling.

I believe it was you who told me about the 3 month wait on another thread, and I appreciate that because I signed up for T-Mobile right away in order to be able to get a SIM card for my trip in May.
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Old Feb 24th, 2005, 06:36 AM
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Ok, I thought I would add another question to this thread. My husband called our cell phone company (cingular) and they told him that we could purchase an over-seas plan for the time we are gone (which wasn't that expensive) and that it would only cost us 39 cents a minute while we're over there. He didn't say anything about switching a card or something in our phone. Did this guy know what he was talking about, or should I call back?
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Old Feb 24th, 2005, 08:51 AM
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I switched from Cingular to T-Mobile because I thought T-Mobile had a better plan for calling from overseas. However, they might offer different plans for different parts of the country. I would call back and ask if a SIM card is necessary.
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Old Feb 24th, 2005, 08:00 PM
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A thank you to all of your replies. I think the best way to go is with xyz123's recommendation of buying an unlocked GSM phone and the SIM pack when I arrive in Fance. A calling card on the side will be helpful, too.

I'll let you know of my experience...leaving in a week for 7 days in Paris. Hopefully it won't be raining or SNOWING...I'm especially tired of living in rain soaked Southern California. Oh, yes, I am indeed spoiled. 15 straight days of rain is a tough one to take for this ex-Michigander who likes her sunshine!

Thank you again!

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Old Feb 25th, 2005, 06:20 AM
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Thanks for the clarification on why T-Mobile sets the 3 billing cycles requirement...

There was no need to change SIMs but I did set up all my phone numbers to have the full dialing sequence (+19041112222) where + is to reach the Intl line, 1 is US country code, 904 is our area code, then the phone number itself. Every time we reached a new country, I would go to 'connections' and choose a new network (actually, this might reset automatically but you can choose a preferred provider if more than one is listed). Eeezy-peezy.
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Old Feb 25th, 2005, 07:15 AM
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Hi travelnut...

Couple of clarifications.

1. Not necessary to put the + in front of your mobile phone number if people are calling you from the US to your T mobile number but it does no harm...+ would be used when calling from one country to another to indicate to the system it is an international call but if somebody in the US or Canada were calling you, even if you were in Europe, the + is not necessary but if somebody say in the UK were calling you whether you are in the US or not, then the + would be needed but no big deal.

2. The way T mobile has set up its world class rates, you pay the same no matter what carrier in Europe you are using to roam. Most modern day mobile phones automatically select a preferred network. Guess what, in the UK, T mobile US phones almost automatically select T mobile UK...in Germany suprise surprise they choose T mobile DE and in Holland they choose T mobile NL...can't understand why.

Regards,


xyz123
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