dis1010

I know this question has been addressed, but I can't seem to find a good answer.

I'm going to be in Europe (flying to Prague, but travelling to many countries: France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Italy) for over a month.

A friend of mine has a cell phone she used in Germany. So, I might be able to use that. But I have a few questions:

1) Should I get an International SIM card OR should I get SIM cards in individual countries? I won't be in any single country for THAT much time (6 days max, I think, in any 1 country). Can I buy the international SIM cards in Europe or are they better to buy here?

2) Any hints in terms of whether to use a "call back service" (which one is good?) or a calling card for calling back to the US?

Thank you all so much!

David

xyz123

I'll try to help but there will be some unanswered questions which you will have to do some homework on

I know of only 1 international SIM card from a Swiss firm and their rates are not all that good...

It probably pays, if you're going to use the mobile (the proper term in Europe BTW)to get the local prepaid plans for those countries you're going to be in for 5 days or more. Of course there is the problem of notifying whomever of what your local number is.

You might also consider looking into T-mobile whose rates are $.99/min to make and receivecalls in Western Europe (don't know about Czech Republic) but those rates are competitive with other carriers roaming rates.

The call back services are good when you have a local SIM. They are unnecessar in, for example, the UK when you use either Vigin Mobile or Orange as their rates to make international calls are cheaper than the Call Back services. If you use other UK carriers, they're good.

However, bear in mind, what makes the Call back services work is the free receiving of calls you get on local SIMS. If you are roaming since you pay to receive calls, these services are not cost effective.

KarenK

I am a T-Mobile user here in the US. I was told by the local dealer that I could purchase a SIM card in Germany from T-Mobile there and use it while in Germany.

Stefan_Swiss

Buying SIM cards for every country you're going to visit may be rather expensive as those cards usually are around the equivalent of US$ 15-30. However, making a general recommendation is virtually impossible as the best option is determined by your needs (make calls, receive calls, duration etc.). Doesn't your US carrier offer international roaming so you could use your US SIM card with your friends phone? If you have a tri-band capable cell phone yourself, you could even bring that, of course. Although roaming tends to be very expensive (except SMS), it still might be the cheapest option if you're not going to stay in any one country for a longer period of time.

KarenK

But if I will be in only one country and will be there 3 times in the next year, I think it may be cost-effective. I understand the cards are good for 1 year. Is that correct?

Harold1

I had a cheap Nokia GSM phone signed up with T-Mobile in the States. The dealer said it would work in Europe, it didn't. GSM in Europe is on a different frequency. So I bought a cheap Nokia ( I really like Nokias as they are the only cell phones I've every had)) in Luxembourg and tried my US chip which it wouldn't accept.

I've bought the chip for each country I've entered and so far it has worked great. I don't know how long you can keep the number if you aren't using the service. The only place I've asked the question was in Johannesburg, South Africa and they said 90 days, unless I bought a special chip that would keep the number for a year. If I ran out of airtime during the year, I could still receive for the year and then buy a time card before the year was up. As the cost of the special chip was more than purchasing a new chip, I didn't buy it. Hope this helps.

If you have an upscale phone, it will probably operate on both GSM frequencies, but you need to ask before you buy it. And ask someone smarter than the T-Mobile dealer I used (Alief, Texas)

xyz123

Okay here goes...

1. If you are a customer of T-mobile in the US you can sign up for international roaming. Signing up is free but in Western Europe making and unfortunately receiving calls cost 99 cents a minute.

2. You will need a tri band phone to work in both North America and Europe. Currently T-mobile is offering a Sony Ericsson T300 for a relatively cheap price (I got one for $49)

3. You then have to get the phone unlocked. Unlike AT&T and Cingular, T-mobile is rather kind with give out the unlocking code. Send them an e-mail and tell them that while you will be using their roaming service in Europe, you will be in Holland for a week and would like to use a pre paid service there. They will usually be only so happy to furnish the unlocking code and voila, you're set.

4. As for time limits, it depends on your carrier. I have Virgin Mobile in the UK and they have no particular time limit except they say you have to use the phone once every 180 days. Now whether you can simply call into your phone and leave a message and that counts is not clear. I have Mobilcarte in France; their policy is if you buy a 15 Euro recharge card after the first purchase of the mobilcarte, the credit is good for 2 months. After that your credit is gone but you can keep the number for an additional 6 months to receive calls and if in that time you top up, a new period noted above begins. In Holland, I have Vodafone NL. Their limit is 1 year after which credit is lost. Top ups extend the period.

Each company sets it own policy regarding time you have.

My advise...if you are a t-mobile customer, get the tri band phone, sign up for international roaming, get the phone unlocked and if you are to be in any country for a week or more and make calls, get a local SIM. Otherwise, you can fall back on the t-mobile roaming for emergencies only.

Surfergirl

We just returned from England and Ireland, using our t-mobile phones and they worked fine. You do have to get one that will work abroad and a decent dealer will be able to let you know which ones work. We have 2 Samsung S105 (well, one got lost in England, but that's another story!) and a Motorola V66, I think that's it.

I checked the prices of getting a sim card in the UK and, frankly, at 99 cents a minute using our U.S. numbers, it came out much cheaper than getting hooked up over there.

The biggest problem we had was being unable to check our voicemail messages, but we could get text messages without a problem. That actually worked really well in places where there was a lot of noise (music festivals, etc.) to locate one another.

In fact, our phones, truth to tell, worked better overseas than they do here!

KarenK

I leave for Germany next Friday and just called T-Mobile to have my card unlocked so that I can use another card while In Germany. I am planning to buy a German card for use ther as I will be there 3x in the next calendar year. But I can change it out and put the US card in if I want to call home, I think.

jason888

Here are a few points which I learnt, hope they can help:

1) you need a TRIBAND phone. The bands are 800, 1800, 1900. The reason for a triband is because the US uses the 1800 band, while Europe uses the 800 and 1900 bands for transmission. The US has started using 850 band as well, but this is not helpful, just makes things more confusing.

2) The technology is different too. The US is on CDMA and TDMA, while most of the rest of the world is on GSM. Believe these terms refers to the WAY in which the signals are sent. You don't need to know details of the technology, just know that the US and Europe use different technologies.

3) Many salespeople in the US have no idea what you are talking about when you mention triband, so it's up to you to self educate yourself on the subject. (it's not that hard, really!)

4) I have a Nokia 6310i in which I put each country's chip when in Europe. In the US, there is a sim chip for the US as well, so I can use this phone in the US on return. My US chip is good for a year, but the European ones have usually been for 3-6 months.

5)My current US phone company is Cingular. However, T-Mobil is a good source as well. Whichever company you use in the US, make sure that the phone is UNLOCKED so you can use the sim chips overseas.

6)Two sources online to research international cell phones are:
http://www.howardchui.com
and http://www.mobileburn.com.
These people really know all about cell phones and do very objective reviews on each phone.

7) As to the TYPE of program, you need to determine that yourself because it depends on frequency of use. If you are using the cell phone as backup only and do not plan to make too many local calls, then an individual sim chip per country is very expensive.

Besides researching the phone, you also should research the different types of plans available to get the one best suited for your needs.

Happy shopping! And yes, the signals are much clearer in Europe than here!

Travelnut

I bought my Sony Ericson T300 with Amazon for $0.01 and signed on with T-Mobile. Be advised they expect to receive 3 monthly payments before they're willing to activate the International roaming feature, so plan ahead for that.
Will be using it for the 1st time next month (in Europe) so can't advise on the roaming feature yet.

Travelnut

I'm rereading some of this info about cell phones and using T-Mobile... Surfergirl (above) mentions difficulty retrieving the voicemails..
Does this mean the phone provides an indicator that you have missed a call, or rec'd a voicemail message, but that you can't access the voicemail box while in Europe? Has anyone else had this problem?

xyz123

On my phone, if I use T-mobile roaming (rarely do) you get the usual indicatins of a missed call (if the phone is on when the call comes in) and the message you have a new voice message which says to call 123 although you pay the roaming charge to do so...a better way is to use a land line to call your mobile number using a local phone card and retrieving messages that way.

Travelnut

OK, xyz123, I can use a free prepaid ATT card on my hotel room phone, or a street phone with a local phone card, call up my cell number as a long-distance (U.S.)#, and get into my voicemail? That will be adequate. You've posted a lot of helpful information about cell phone use, maybe I'll work up to your level one day!

KarenK

Just back from germany. In Munich I went immediately to T-Mobile to buy a chip and they said the network didn't work, either with my Tri-Band and US SIM or with their local SIM. Sorry, a lot of Americans are told they will work, and usually they don't. So, out I went, and headed into a Vodaphone store, where the employee there solved the problem almost immediately. You have to go into settings, and change the band, and set it from automatic to manual. Voila! (oops, wrong language ) Anyhoo, it worked. No one here at T-Mobile ever mentioned changing the bands. I had service also when I was in Prague (although I didn't use it)

xyz123

Depends on the phone. Some of the newer tri bands will automatically seek out and set the band; other old ones need to be manually set to 900/1800 from 1900

amp322

As stated in another cell phone posting from today.. the NY Times Travel section has a great article on calling from abroad.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/28/travel/28prac.html

(Yes, you need to CHANGE the band on your tri-band phone to the one that works for that continent!! )