So on the advice of some kind and knowledgeable people on this board, I bought two cell phones in Spain for my wife and me to use during our stay.

It turned out to be a great move.

We were able to keep in touch with each other while shopping or when one of us slept in and the other went for walk.

We didn't feel unnecessarily joined at the hip and the phones only cost €65 each including €20 talk time.

We called ahead for reservations, called home, our offices in NYC, and never used up our time.

I was told I could replenish my talk time credit from any ATM but I never tried it.

So, THANK YOU all those who advised me well last month.

That said, does anyone know the procedure for activating our phones
Sony Ericsson T290i (Movistar)
when we go to Italy in September.

Thank you again.

Well this is sort of an either or answer...

Assuming you bought the mobile phone in Spain, it may be locked. Locked means that you can only use the sim card of the cellular service that sold you the phone. If it is locked, you will have to get it unlocked. Usually it is very easy to unlock phones in most places in Europe. Also there are unlocking services available on the wb. SE phones are a bit more difficult to unlock than Nokia phones as you will definitely need a cable or you may find somebody in your home city able to unlock it by asking and/or snooping around.

2. Now if it is unlocked or once it is unlocked you simply go into a mobile phone store in Italy. Italy has one additional complication, you need a document called something to the effect of a coda fisicale. If you go to www.prepaidgsm.net in the provider section, they will explain how to get this document right on the web. Once you have it, any mobile phone store will sell you an Italian prepaid sim card, exchange the Spanish sim card you have and you'll be up and running but with an Italian number.

Or you can look into riiing, well described in prepaidgsm.net which works in many different countries.

But the key is to figure out if your phone is locked.

I know the phone is locked.

The sales clerk told me it was, but at the time I bought the phone, the guy who could unlock it was not available so I would have to leave it. I chose to deal with it later...which brings me here.

I may know of a cell phone store, here in NYC, that can unlock it for me.
I guess that would be ideal, right?

Also, XYZ123, what do you know about charging the phone at an ATM?

(Mr./Mrs. XYZ123, I can't tell you how much I apppreciate the sound advice you've given me here. My wife and I thank you.)

Charging a prepaid plan, better known as topping up, is country and provider specific.

In each country, each provider has various rules and methods of topping up.

Do remember the Spanish sim you have while having reasonable rates in Spain will have astronomically high rates if you use it for roaming; roaming meaning being outside the country of origin of the sim. If you go back to Spain within a specified period of time, you might still have validity left on the sim and be able to top up but there's no sense in topping up here and now.

By all means check out the cell phone store...cell phone stores in the US tend not to unlock phones but since you're in NYC I am sure that some place in Chinatown you will find a store front only too happy to unlock the phone.

Do remember that in each country the rules are different as to validity period, top up methods and costs for local calls so what you hear about Spain will not necessarily apply to Italy.

Unless you plan to return to Spain within the validity of your original SIM charge, why not use up the remaining airtime when you get to Italy (exorbitant roaming rates or no)? Heck, you might not even need to by an Italian SIM.

My phone gave me a €3 warning the last day we were in Spain and I was told by the clerk that I needed to use the phone within 6 months of activation or I would loose the money on it. I think. Or maybe just the phone number. My Spanish is terrible.

There are lots of unlocking sites on the web - here's one

http://www.unlockitnow.com/remote/un...90i_unlock.php

As someone mentioned earlier SE are a little trickier to unlock - you need a special cable - but this site sells that too.

If you want to try to find a US vendor just search "unlock" and "t290i" and I'm sure you'll find lots.

Let's see if I can help.
I have a Movistar cell phone which is locked. Movistar doesn't let you unlock them.
I asked the other day if I could use it in London, and the answer was NO because it is a prepaid one so I can't use their roaming service. (My friend is going to use it because his is a contract cell phone).
So, Movistar phones only can be used in Spain. Well, you can try to unlock it , some friends of mine tried too but it hadn't worked for them.

Ciaony, the warning is that you only have 3 euros left for calls and you have 6 months to charge it. If you don't then you lose your phone number (to say, you lose the SIM).

You can charge the cell phone on ATM's and also in most newsagents and tobacconists. I do it by internet in my bank website.

The roaming rates are very high, at least, for the rates we use to pay here.

Hope it helps

I don't think Movistar can prevent you from unlocking your phone - they may not like it but can't stop it (I don't think so anyway)

Here's a link to a US unlocking site - looks cheaper for the cable

http://www.gsmlocker.com/sony-ericss...k-software.asp

No, they don't prevent you, it's just it doesn't work.
They sell locked and unlocked phones. In the locked ones you can see their trade mark "Movistar" at the back of the phone. They are a lot cheaper but if you find a way to unlock it, they won't work with a Movistar SIM again.
Maybe they'll do with another company SIM, that's something I just don't know.

To the best of my knowledge, any phone can be unlocked with the proper software. Locking the phone means that in the software a line is inserted that prevents the phone from recognizing any sim card that is not the one of the company the phone is locked to....the phone can also be flashed that is all software removed and the latest software put in.

Perhaps they mean the phone cannot be unlocked simply with a code....for the most part the codes for SE phone have not been cracked the way Nokia codes have been. Nokia unlocking calculators are all over the web; either it has not been worthwhile or people simply haven't bothered to come up with the SE unlocking code calculator. But I don't believe they can do anything to prevent an expert on unlocking to unlock the code (although I am not completely completely sure of this).

Just a thought - - would it make just as much sense to sell the phones to someone else here, who is planning to gravel to Spain soon - - and then just start fresh with phone purchases in Italy? If you charged someone $55 (about 45 euro), it seems like it would be a good deal for both buyer and seller.

Best wishes,

Rex

I think Rex is right, it's the easiest thing to do.
I also don't believe an expert couldn't unlock the Movistar phones. But I don't know where it is really the trick, what I know for sure it is not easy.
By the way, they didn't use Nokia locked phones..maybe because they are easier to unlock ?

All I would need to do is call my wife while she is sleeping in and I'm out walking! Hah, that would be one dead cellphone.

We've somehow managed to survive 30+ years of travel together without cellphones--I guess we can probably make it to 50 years or so. We don't like to carry a lot of stuff when out and about. But I can see how it could be useful for some people.

I took my phones to 5 retailers here in NYC today.
Two referred me to the 3 others who took the phone in the back and returned it saying "no dice".
One of them said they tried to unlock that very phone before and screwed it up beyond retrievability.

As suggested, I think these will simply be my Spain phones and I'll have a set of Italy phones as well.
Seems like a waste so I'll continue on my unlocking quest.
Maybe I should've bought Vodaphones?

No, it's just you have to buy a free cell phone, no matter the company. They are more expensive, though. Probably for that price you can have a phone for Spain, other for Italy and another one for other country

<<Seems like a waste...>>

Not to someone headed to Spain in the near future!

ttt...

Hi ciaony. I had a Samsung phone purchased in Australia (locked). I didn't even attempt to unlock it myself and I tried to find out how.
Anyway, I took it to Portugal to a phone store. It was an all purpose store with many different kinds of phones, not affiliated with one company.
For E15 they unlocked it in a second and now I can use it just about anywhere in Europe.
If you have the energy on your next vacation, take them with you.
I purchased a Portugese SIM from the store, but I could have just as easily purchased an International SIM useful in multiple countries,
The Portugese SIM was more economical. I used it up and threw it away when we came home.
Now I have an International SIM from Riiing thanks to advice from xyz123.
I am ready for a spur of the moment trip.
And I never used a cell phone in Europe before either. But I sure did like having it on this last trip and would probably always take one with me.