Verizon Cell Phone help!
 

Currently with Verizon and have the newest iPhone. Will be in Spain for 2 weeks in July and need minimal phone contact with back home. What is the best option? Will have a Tablet so we should be able to have email service at the hotels. Thanks for your advice.

call your cell phone provider ...they have some bad news for you. AT&T or T-Mobile customers on the other hand enjoy GSM roaming abroad for around 99 cents a minute ;-)
all joking aside use wifi if you can find it. you can also buy an inexpensive phone and SIM when you arrive. probably be easiest route

Verizon's iPhone is not a world phone, thus you will not be able to use it except in a WiFi zone for data, surfing the internet. The calling features will not work. If you have an iPad, it works well in the WiFi zone.

My wife got the iPhone 4S from Verizon a couple of months ago, and we're planning on using it (mainly for emergency phone contact) while in Italy and Spain in September and October. So the two prior posts have me concerned. According to a Verizon support website that should be possible - see item #10 on their page at http://m-support.verizonwireless.com...phone_faq.html. I guess I'll have to check with them about this.

BTW I'll also have my iPad so Internet contact via wifi can always be our Plan B.

To clarify, it's item #10 under the heading iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iTunes.

Knoxvillecouple, check with Verizon. I don't think you can use the iPhone 4S in Italy.

I'll definitely look into it more, but their FAQ web site says the iPhone 4S definitely works in Italy (and Spain).

Knoxvillecouple is correct! I checked with Verizon and the iPhone 4S is viable in Spain with an activated SIM card. The rate to call the US is either $1.29 or $0.99 per minute depending on whether you take the Global Rate Plan. Thanks big time!

The following is from www.lodgephoto.com>

"Verizon uses a system called CDMA, and Sprint uses both CDMA and another proprietary system called iDEN, originally developed for Nextel. However, Verizon in particular has figured out that it is losing a lot of nice profitable international traffic as a result, and now has phones that support both US CDMA and international GSM frequencies. Verizon calls these “Global Phones“. The line-up changes every couple of months as new phones are released, but the Blackberry: Bold 9930, Torch 9850; Motorola Droid 3, Droid 2 Global; and HTC: Droid Incredible 2,Trophy are all CDMA/GSM world phones available at the time of writing.

The most significant new Global Phone for Verizon and Sprint is the iPhone 4S, which is the first Apple iPhone that works on both CDMA and GSM networks. Verizon iPhone 4 and iPad 2 customers are out of luck — both are CDMA-only and will not work in Europe."

Thanks Robert2533!

A friend has Verizon send her a loaner worldphone when we travel that must have GSM service. Her phone worked fine in Peru and Ecuador and she's bringing one with us to Paris.

I'm buying a SIM for my droid when I get there.

While I don't have an iPhone 4S, a Verizon rep told me that Verizon will unlock an iPhone 4S after 2month of service. At which time you can get a local SIM in Spain. I had an unlocked Android and used a <b>Yoigo</b> SIM in March. I paid 20EU for 0.08/min service with 500MB internet. It also came with 20 free messages. I thought in two weeks, I used about 200MB and just a few Euros worth of calls and messages. Unlike US, you don't pay for incoming calls.

Vodafone Spain prepaid cost is significantly higher than Yoigo. Movistar did not have prepaid data service.

That's good news if things have changed with Verizon's iPhone 4S. Several months ago they told me it would not work in Italy but they would rent a global phone to me for a fee.

Few days before my son left for spain we upgraded to iphone 4s and called verizon to unlock it
Chose Yoigo plan bought sim card for 20eur in barcelona at A Phone House shop(they are everywhere) and found out Verizon had unlocked his brothers phone in Tucson! – they then unlocked his phone and now he is using some great iphone apps to navigate and see sights(most do not need internet access)
Good description of the plan below you get 500 megs data ,internet access, and 20eur of calling minutes now using email back and forth to communicate
HTTP://PREPAID-WIRELESS-INTERNET-ACC.../SPAIN+-+YOIGO

http://preview.tinyurl.com/25gd73
above link is broken this one works
bill

william,

the link is somehow incorrect. Could you resend it. Thanks.

second link should work

if you change first link to lower case it works sorry!

http://prepaid-wireless-internet-acc.../spain+-+yoigo

this is the same link shortened

http://preview.tinyurl.com/25gd73

also...why Yoigo? Are all sim companies the same in Spain.

If you have been a VZ customer for over 60 days (as of last year) AND you have a global type phone from them, you can easily get it unlocked by simply calling and they will message you the required PIN. Once unlocked you can then use any carrier. Remember, this ONLY applies to phones that have quad-band GSM capability from Verizon. You can, however, use any of their smart phones with WiFi capability when you are near a hot spot.

dave