Robespierre,
You bought that phone at the airport? Is it safe to assume I can find a similar deal (under $50 for phone + SIM card) at the Shannon airport?

Kwren,
Not really related – I ask the questions, he has the answers (and the patience to explain this over and over again) :)

Mine came from the Virgin Megastore at Piccadilly.

I don't think they have a presence in Ireland. I'm pretty sure O2 and Vodaphone do.

and I'm glad you asked 99! I needed the answers too :)

Haven't priced a phone in Ireland recently, but a co-worker just returned from Amsterdam about two weeks ago and she got a Dutch Vodaphone 'package' with a nifty, LITTLE Sony Erickson for 29 Euro 95, with 10 Euro worth of call credit. She bought it in city center, in an area she described as 'mostly touristy'.

Incidently, we tried putting my IRISH Vodaphone SIM into her phone (to see if it was locked into a 'country-specific' SIM, or just locked to Vodaphone), but it DID NOT recognize the SIM.

Ireland's "Big Three" are Vodaphone, O2 and Meteor. Last I knew, Meteor's coverage wasn't as good as O2 and Vodaphone's, but they may have caught up by now.

I don't think that there is still a phone shop in Shannon Airport, but I'm sure you can find SEVERAL in Galway, Ennis and/or Limmerick.

Bob

I'm leaving for Dublin in 3 weeks and after reading all this on cell phones, I'm still somewhat confused. I'm assuming O2 and Vodaphone are regular cell phone companies with stores all over Dublin, is that correct? Would I be able to just stop in one once I leave the airport and get a pay as you use phone? Am I correct in my understanding that I would be able to use the phone I purchase there in other countries by buying a new sim card when I would travel there (like France)?

I plan to use the phone to make reservations, call for directions etc. and to use it to call the US (with a calling card).

Too much technology...I want my rotary phone back!! ;-P

There is a vodafone IE store right in Dublin airport after exiting customs and immigration; probably the easiest place to get a phone and a prepaid sim package.

Chances are, however, the phone you purchase from them will be locked (as the poster noted about the Dutch phone his or her colleage purchased)....that means you will not be able to place the sim card of another cmpany in the phone and have it register...you'll get an immediate message the sim card is not authorized.

Solutions...

1. buy an unlocked dual band (900/1800) gsm phone on ebay...you may have to go to ebay.co.uk rather than ebay.com to find such phones and shipping prices have to be taken into consideration. Under no circumstances should you buy a udal band phone with 850/1900....this is important.

You can buy a tri band phone for use in Europe but make sure it is 900/1800/1900...read the specs carefully. Can run $60 to $100

Can buy a quad band phone and not worry about any of this. Should run $70 to $120.

Don't need a fancy phone with all the whistles unless you want a camera phone or a video phone or an mp3 phone; for those you pay through the nose.

or

2. You can find somebody to unlock the phone you get from the Irish company....I know that in London, if you wander down Oxford Street you will see store front after store front willing to unlock mobile phones for prices from 5 to 8 quid...don't know about other locations...one of the regular contributors to this forum from Germany tells us Germans, being law abiding citizens, do not unlock gsm phones....although it is questionable whether or not it is legal to even lock phones in the first place or prevent you from unlocking them.

And so again, once you have an unlocked gsm phone with the proper frequencies, you are all set to put any sim card into it from any European gsm carrier (most of them are) and you'll be all set.

I got so irritated by obnoxiously intrusive Vodaphone internet ads, usually designed with obnoxious cleverness to get around many popup blockers, that I've vowed never, ever to buy any Vodophone goods or services and to urge everyone I know to do the same.

"Too much technology...I want my rotary phone back!! ;-P"

I long for the days of two tin cans connected by a string ...

xyz123,
If/When buying from ebay, you recommend a dual band phone 900/1800 – is a dual band 850/1900 ok? What other characteristics should I look for?

Thanks

xyz99.
you ask "is a dual band 850/1900 ok?"

The answer is YES, if you want to use it in the US.

The answer is NO, NO, NO, if you want to use it in Europe. Europe uses 900 or 1800 MHz, so a dual or tri-band phone with both of those frequencies is what you want, or any unlocked quadband phone.

The reason I suggested buying a quadband phone in an earlier post is that it's easy to make a mistake if you buy a triband on ebay. Most tribands sold on ebay in the US are 850/1800/1900, and many sellers (I speak from experience) don't know the difference between European and American style tribands.

quadband is far more secure than triband.

Ok, I got it – 900/1800 means I need those exact frequencies (that is not a range). I don’t need a new cell phone for US, I need one for Ireland – and if I can use it again next time in a different country, even better :)

Mobal rates for Ireland,
Incoming calls $1.25/min, National calls$1.25/min, Calls to USA & Canada $1.50/min, Calls to other countries $2.95/min, SMS text messages .80/message

The $49 phone
Works in over 140 countries (but not the US). The $99 phone works in the the US and other countries.

Mobal, alias O2, does not charge for incoming in the UK.

If you have questions about international cellphone service try
http://www.gsmworld.com or
http://www.telestial.com

Sorry to jump in on someone's thread with a question but it seemed it may be helpful.
I bought my son, who is going to London tomorrow a phone that I paid to have unlocked. I wanted him to buy a card in London. If he did, what would be the advantage? Would local calls still be local on a north american phone or would they charge a roaming fee? If I use my cell phone in another Canadian city I am not charged unless someone phones me.
Also if he buys a card to put in the phone when he calls his friends, who will not have unlocked phones, will he pay long distance? When are roaming charges applied.

Even trying to formulate my question is baffling me!

Sorry.

A locked phone lives a monogamic relation with his/her SIM.
An unlocked phone lives a poligamic relation with whatever SIM he/she founds during his/her lifetime.

I think that is just for phones in Utah.

Serial monogamy, actually. Like in California.

Monogamy on my serial is OK, but I prefer peaches or strawberries.

I bought my phone and my SIM card on line before I left at Telestial.com.
As long as I make a call once a year- the sim card does not expire. I have used it for 3 European trips and it has worked fine.

Bookmarking -- thanks! :-)

Oops, meant to ask -- whenzuc, could you tell me how much you paid for the telestial deal? Thanks.