More Cell Phone Info
 

There has been lots talk on this forum about cell phone use overseas.
I am not an expert, but here is my 2 cents worth, please tell me if there a cheaper way, maybe skype? First you must have an tri band phone, most all new phones are, it must be unlocked, most u.s. cell phones companies will give you the unlock codes after you have had the phone for a few months. Now that your phone is unlocked, ordered an international sim card. They will give you free incoming in most of the European countries, but beware, it is free for you to receive but,what is your family paying to CALL YOU. You need to know what country the sim is using for callback and you need to know what YOUR phone plan is charging you to call that country code. Okay, lets use SIM4 Travel sim cards, for use all over Europe, free incoming (most Countries) 58 cents to call U.S. and most other European countries. Calling to top up is free and can be topped up by phone or the internet. Their sim card can be bought for $31.65 with $19.79 worth of air time on it. I have the cheapest long distance I can find which is Airnex, and it would cost me 27 cents per minute to call the sim4travel number which is based in the UK. Through my long distance set up with my ATT cell phone it would cost 26 cents per minute with a $3.99 per month calling plan. Now to call other sim card companies like One Roam, United Mobile, O9 who may use other countries. For me to call from home using Airnex, Liechtenstein is 8 cents per minute, Israel is 16 cents per minute, Iceland is 9 cents per minute, and Estonia is 42 cents per minute. Also, watch out some sim providers charge a connection fee. So to see your real cost, you have to know both ends of your calling plans. Everyone confused now?
I will be using my unlocked ATT phone with a SIM4Travel sim bought in the U.S. before I go.
egailc

Good info.

The only thing I would add is that the phone needs to be a GSM phone. Since Verizon, the largest US cell phone co, does not GSM, their phones are not compatible with the European cellular network.

If you are a Verizon customer you'll need to buy an unlocked tri (or quad) band phone on the open market - a great place for this is eBay.

I found out last summer that getting a local SIM card turned out to be my cheapest option. I had the special long distance calling plan for Europe for $3.99/mo that you mention. When I got a global SIM, it shot through the minutes and money fast. The local SIM I bought in Serbia cost me less than .50 to call the U.S. and incoming was free. For $10, I got approximately 40-45 minutes calling to the U.S. I could top up with whatever dollar amount I wished. With the global SIM, I had to buy in $90 increments which only got me about 40-45 minutes as well.

I am currently researching Skype and might do that. If not, however, I'll buy SIM cards as I go and text the number home or email it home.

I am so confused! If I may jump in here? My daughter will be spending a month in France and I would like her to have a cellphone before she arrives there. We currently have Verizon so she won't have the use of our phones overseas. I've looked at a Motorola C139 unlocked phone GSM 850/1900 MHz for $50 and am wondering if this will work in France. The V190 is $99 and I don't want to go that high. If I understand the concept correctly she will need to buy a French sim card when she arrives? If so how much do they usually cost and with how much time on the card? Or is this something we can buy here in the states before she leaves? Since we don't go to Europe very often is there a less expensive alternative? I've looked on ebay but I am hesitant because I'm not sure of what I am getting. I found a V190 that I can bid on but again am not sure if this is a good product or not.

For an inexpensive triband (including 900/1800), try the Sony Ericsson T610. There are a lot of them on ebay for a reasonable price. Just make sure it is unlocked.

Which is better tri or quad? And do you know how much a sim card will cost?

A simple dual-band 900/1800 is all you need. Unlocked Sagem 220x sold at german post offices for 9.95€ plus 10€ for the card will do.
Throw it away, when you're done.

Also the motorola motofone for $19 seems like a great deal but I wonder if there is a catch with this phone. They offer a sim card for $29 for France and then, if I'm understanding this correctly, it will cost $1.29 per minute to talk. This seems a bit expensive to me. Can I buy a sim card in France for this phone?

no, if you talk from France it will cost you 0.39, elswhere in Europe 0.69, they are the cheapest even cheaper than prepaid in France you can check orange.fr, sfr.fr, they are carriers in France and look at the prepaid it's 0.60 cents euro to call local (0.90 cents), I recommend them and the motofone works great!

At least in Germany, phones are things to buy and throw away after use. No deposit on used phones (unlike plasic bottles). Who cares.

If people worry about 10€, you can't help them anyway.

40 empty plastic bottles equal one cellphone. Why don't you go and collect empty bottles to afford your phone. :D.

Went to Orange.fr but since my french is limited it didn't do me any good. I think the motofone for $19 with the $29 sim card is the least expensive alternative. Considering the cost of the study abroad trip to France for my daughter I am watching what we spend on the extras. 10€ here and 10€ there start to add up.

I've been researching this quite a bit and I think I understand the concept of a gsm phone now. A lot of people have recommended the mobal phone for $49 which includes the phone and sim card. However the per call rate is quite high. $1.25 per minute for incoming calls to France and $1.50 per minute for outgoing calls to the US.

The CallinEurope plan costs $19 for the phone and $29 for the sim card for France. The per minute rate is $.39 for calls within France and to the US. This is much less expensive than Mobal phone.

My question is...does anyone see the advantage of one phone plan over the other?

the difference is simple one is more expensive than the other

I discovered the Call In Europe solution in JFK.
I used to pay outrageous roaming charges and now my bill thanks to Call In Europe is so light.

Here's the 'catch' with CallinEurope:

<i>What happened to my SIM card line if I don’t spend $60 over a 12-months period?</i>

You need to reach $60 of billed airtime per 12-month period to gain a new 12-month validity period on the line. If you don’t spend the required $60, we will contact you to let you know the balance you have reached. If you want to keep the line active, we will simply bill your credit card for the difference and you will automatically extend the validity of your line for 12 months. If you do not wish to extend its life, it will be automatically disconnected on your line activation anniversary date.

- - I have never spent $60 in calls using my higher-rate Mobal in one year of travel

- - I will not have to respend $29 on a new SIM for failing to spend the minimum $60/year (or have it topped up) if I use Mobal

- - I would have to make twice as many calls or talk twice as long using my Mobal to reach $60/year fees.

Maybe the other plan is good for those who have business, or lots of family to talk to, but it's a long way from 'cheaper' for me.

Egailc,
What was your experience with sim4travel? I ordered 3 but they do not really work in Canada. I hope in Europe they will.
Please let me know how it worked for you! (My son is leaving in a few days and I have to make sure he has a phone.)

Here's a bit more info on the phone that we purchased for my daughter to use while in France. We bought her a phone through Roam Simple and the phone works just fine for her to call and receive calls. However, one thing that I didn't anticipate is that neither she nor I can text one another because I have Verizon. Apparently Verizon only has a contract with Orange in France and will not allow texting between Verizon and any other carrier. She can receive text from my account with Skype but can't send out any texts. Keep this in mind if you decide to look into Roam Simple and have a Verizon phone at home.