Yet Another Cell Phone Question
 

I know that this topic has been addressed a thousand times over on this board, and so I apologize in advance for my inquiry.

That said, I just cannot seem to get a handle on the whole Europe cell phone thing. I'm actually a pretty technically proficient person, but all this talk of SIM cards, etc. has my head spinning. This has to the be the single most convoluted (and frustrating!) travel-related issue I've encountered in a very long time.

Anyway, I need to have a cell phone while in Europe (Switzerland and Italy). From everything I've read on these boards and elsewhere, its my understanding that I cannot simply take my US cell phone over there and expect it to work. Nor do I really want to deal with the hassle of inserting some kind of special card into it to make it work... though it seems to be a moot point as I'm told you cannot do this with Verizon phones. I don't know if that's true or not.

So here's what I want to know. If I purchase this phone --- http://www.telestial.com/promotions/august/packlite.php --- can I take it to Italy with me an expect it to work? That is to say, will I be able to make and receive calls on it while over there? If not, what else do I need to do in addition to purchasing the phone.

Many thanks!

In a word: yes. Telestial will send you a phone and SIM (if the latter isn't already installed, find a twelve year-old), but you're good to go.

If you want to be good to go cheaper, walk to a TIM store when you get to Italy and buy their SIM. They will replace your Telestial SIM with theirs.

BTW, there's a complete European cell phone education at telestial.com

starbuck, I just ordered this phone from telestial so I can't say specifically how it works but it will come with a SIM card that is loaded with $20 airtime that you can use in Italy or Switzerland. The card will already have a phone number assigned to it. You can add time by going online (which I am going to do before I leave.) People on this board have said there are cheaper calling rates with other carriers, but the ease of ordering this phone and having a phone number to leave with family watching kids was worth it. You also get free incoming calls to Italy -- no idea how much the person calling you will be charged! This is an emergency phone for us. Will let board know how it worked when we return.

I just bought (and received) the $49 Telestial, also. I haven't tried to do anything with it yet except to open the box. I'll probably be back here with lots of questions, too. But, as I understand it, except for charging it and inserting SIM here in USA, there's nothing that can be done until I reach France anyway, right?

Just curious: Do they send you a charger you can use in Europe? Coz if they don't, you're going to need an adapter.

Thanks for the info, guys. I just ordered the phone I linked to, and I should have it in 7-10 days.

Not sure about the adapter question. I'm planning on buying one of those universal adapters from Radio Shack to use w/my cell phone, digital camera and also my laptop computer. Do I need anything other than that? I believe the European outlets are set to a different voltage/wattage than US outlets. Am I at risk of screwing up my electronics?

Looks to me as though there's a charger with a built in adapter, a little pronged thing that can be folded up. Time will tell! :-)

Adaptor, charger, & converter.

starbuck, I couldn't tell if you meant charger or adaptor?? So, don't know if you need this, but here it is anyway, just in case!

Charger - You will need a charger for the cell phone, of course - I realize you know that! I assume you will need more than 1 charger for all of your electrical gadgets, in order to charge them at the same time during the nite.

Adaptor - You will need an adaptor for Switzerland & Italy; their wall plugs & product prongs are different from those in the USA. You plug your gadget or charger into the adaptor & then plug the adaptor into the wall plug. Walmart has an inexpensive set that fits for most of the UK & European countries.

Converter - This converts the US 110 voltage to the UK & European 220 volts. You should not need this for chargers used on cell phones, cameras, camcorders, etc., unless the products/chargers are old. May need this for curling irons, hair dryers, etc. if the small etchings on the product does not say 110/220. You can call the company & ask.

Have a great trip, Julie

I just recieved my telestial phone and it comes with charger and converter and I plugged it in and it works . No calls made yet but it seems ok so far.
I travel in Oct ( 1st week and will let others know... )
the free 45 minutes of call from her looks like a good deal as it is a toll free number.
I look forward to giving it a try !

Hi, Don't want to freak you out, but just fyi. I bought a phone from telestial a year ago for a trip to Italy along with a sim card. When I got there, it wouldn't work. I took it into a Tabac shop and they couldn't help. I found an electronics store the next day and the sales clerk said the sim card was expired and that this happened fairly often. But, he sold me another sim card, which worked without a hitch. Telestial refunded my money when I got back without a problem as well. The only real aggravation was having to call my family and give them the new number. Perhaps Telestial has fixed this problem by now, but thought you should know what to do if you had a problem

I'm technologically challenged, too, and stressed for months and months about what to do about a phone for my trip to Paris next week. I decided anything was better than the continued stressing and bought an unlocked Motorola Razr from Motorola and a Telestial "Passport" sim card. Super easy to insert the sim card, and nice to be able to populate the phone with contact numbers in advance. My daughter and I tested the sim card by texting each other, which is probably how I'll communicate while I'm there. Also nice to be able to use the phone and sim card when I touch down on my return and not have to carry my Verizon phone.

Have you figured out how you'll "use the phone and sim card when [you] touch down on [your] return"? Does Telestial have roaming agreements with T-Mobile or AT&T - or how exactly does that work?

I wanted a cell phone and I just bought one right when we arrived. I got an Ericcson phone with time already on it for 40 euro. I used it for the whole week we were there. Charger included.

Actually you can just take your cell phone over there and have it work: provided it is a GSM phone. Call your provider. I have used my Tmobile Triband phone on every trip to Europe in the past 6 years (10-12 trips easily) and in the caribbean and south american. people dial me just like i am home in atlanta, and it rings in Paris, Rome, athens or wherever I happen to be. T-Mobile and Cingular and two companies in the states that offer GSM triband phones. I had a sidekick, but went to a razor a year ago, but still just carry it everywhere. I have used my Tmobile cell phone in IReland, England, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Jordan, Egypt, India and Bhutan...and of course all over the Caribbean and South America. Call your cell provider and find out what they offer. I also did not have to insert any special card.

WANDERLUST5...

You left out one thing...not only need the phone be a gsm phone but it has to have at least one of the European frequencies (900 mhz or 1800 mhz)....some of the real cheap give away phones are gsm alright but use the two USA frequencies (850mhz and 1900 mhz) and you have to be under contract. Prepaid phones don't allow international roaming.....but yesif you are a t mobile or cingular customer and have a phone with one of the European frequencies then you can sign up for international roaming but....

It is awfully awfully expensive....and the other queston you have to answer is just how much you are going to use the phone...if it's simply for emergencies and you make and complete two or three calls it's fine...but if you expect to receive many calls then there are far better alternatives.

You are right, I did leave that out, because GSM phones are known as tri-band phones and operate on those three frequencies, so I figured it was an implied thing and I didn't need to explain that GSM meant tri-band, meaning it operates on those three frequencies. Sorry.

GSM phones can have two, three, or four frequencies. The frequencies used in Europe are 900 and 1800 mHz; in the US they are 850 and 1900.

To use a phone anywhere in Europe, it should operate on both of the former frequencies; to work in the US, it should have both of the latter. All four frequencies have gaps in coverage that are sometimes covered by the other one of the pair - and in Europe there are carriers that don't use both. The best way for most Americans to operate in Europe is with a dual-band phone like the Siemens A55 offered by Telestial..

But to buy a quad-band phone to use only in Europe is wasteful, because unless your cell carrier is T-Mobile or AT&amp;T, you can't use a quad-band in the US - because they're the only carriers that use GSM. If your carrier <u>is</u> one of the US GSM carriers, chances are your phone already has one or both of the European freqencies (with the caveat xyz123 mentions above).

Hopefully not to add to any more confusion, but check this site:
http://www.mobalrental.com/
I bought the $49 mobal about 3 years ago. I take it on every trip and use it. Very convenient. It has charger/converter...do take some adaptors for it and whatever else you will be taking. I set the phone up to charge to a credit card..they e-mail me the billing charges for review. It is simple to use. I like it. I imagine the others work about the same...

Enjoy.............

Clarification: To use a phone <u>everywhere</u> in Europe, it should operate on both of the European frequencies.

Another question: am I correct in that my new Telestial will not work in PHL between my flights; I need to be in Europe for it to work, right?

Well, if you also have a US SIM card it will work in Philly, but otherwise no.

This is why I finally caved and spent $400 on a global phone/pocket PC. One device. Works worldwide. And I get email, music, GPS, etc.

I don't know what cell phone plan you have for your regular cell phone, but I have Cingular (AT&amp;T), and a razor phone, and the international support plan, and my phone has worked absolutely everywhere in the world - even in Liberia, where it wasn't supposed to work. It definitely worked in Switzerland and Italy. It wasn't hard - and I don't have to do anything. I turn on the phone when I get to the country - it searches for a network that AT&amp;T has a relationship with, and it's up and running. People just call my regular number and I get the call. Internationally, I dial a few extra digits and can call anywhere. I also couldn't go the SIM route - I tried it a couple times, and could never figure it out, and once it just didn't work.....

StCirq - If grandmere bought the $49 Siemens A55 from Telestial, it won't play in the U.S. no matter what SIM is in it - because it doesn't have our frequencies. It's a dual-band with 900/1800.

My Italian SIM card (from TIM) works in the US (as long as I change the phone to US frequency - some phones adjust automatically). It roams on AT&amp;T. When I turn the phone on, I get all kinds of interesting texts in Italian. I don't usually use it here because I assume the rates aren't good.

And that's the point of getting a local SIM card when in Europe - to get (much) better rates. If your US phone works in Europe and the rates aren't an issue to you, then use your US phone.

I think LAWoman means &quot;then use your US carrier.&quot;

Yes, Robes, you are confirming what I meant. I would have to carry my &quot;USA&quot; phone with me to call from PHL; will just find a pay phone; not carrying 2 phone with me.

Thanks, all.

Robespierre asks: &quot;Does Telestial have roaming agreements with T-Mobile or AT&amp;T - or how exactly does that work?&quot;

The Telestial &quot;Passport&quot; sim card works in most all countries, but as it's a UK phone number, using it in the US is fairly expensive, per minute (but less than AT&amp;T's international roaming rate, I believe). My Razr is a quad band, so it will operate in the US and in Europe. I don't mind paying a fairly expensive per minute rate just to call my daughter and say &quot;I've landed, meet me at baggage claim.&quot; When I installed the sim card, it searched for a network and came up with T-Mobile. Later, while attempting to learn to use the phone, I accidently pushed the &quot;locate network&quot; option and it changed to AT&amp;T. Funny to receive a message saying &quot;Welcome to the USA&quot;.

I just looked it up - Telestial is $1.99 outgoing and $1.79 incoming in the U.S. This is about twice what AT&amp;T and T-Mobile charge for international roaming.

I took my cell phone on this past trip. I am with AT&amp;T-Cingular and I was able to talk with people back in the USA on the current plan I have. Of course there were some pretty hefty roaming chargers, but I took the phone for emergencies and tried to keep the calls down.

You're right Robespierre, that's what I meant. Thanks.

Okay, now we're on International Roaming.

AT&amp;T
• Call CS and sit on the phone or go into store to activate
• $1.29 per minute, unless
• You pay $5.99 per month (one day or thirty)
• Then it's 99&cent; per minute

T-Mobile
• Activate on my.t-mobile.com
• 99&cent; per minute

With Telestial's Passport Sim card, it costs $1.49/minute for outgoing calls while traveling in the U.S. Works for me for that one &quot;I'm home!&quot; phone call.

My daughter uses AT&amp;T/Cingular for her cell phone service and she had to sign up for their World Connect service so that she could call me while I'm away (she has no land line).

Near as I can tell, using TIM card in Italy, rate is .30&euro; per minute for calls in Italy &amp; .56&euro; per minute for calls to US. Just for purposes of comparison.

mark

I rented a cell phone from TravelCell.com for 3 week trip to Turkey, Greece, &amp; France. It was about $100 to rent, air time minutes are addtional. I went with TravelCell as rental fees were reasonable and airtime minutes were lower then some other companies. They give you everything from instructions, country calling rates, to the cord to recharge the phone, so you have no problems on using.

The way the phone worked is you are assigned a UK number and for certain countries incoming calls are free to you (but not people calling you). When you dial it rings the UK number and rings back to you in a few seconds and call goes through. We also took the option to pay $5 and get an #800 to give to family and friends. This is easy to dial, but you pay for the calls for airtime minutes with additional $.50 per minute extra. If you need US calls forward it can be done with this number.

Someone earlier mentioned mobal and I have to second that suggestion. I've had my mobal phone for about four or five years now. It cost $49 and I only pay for minutes. The per-minute charges aren't bad and when I figure that I only use it about ten minutes per week I feel that the cost vs ease of use is worth it. I only have to make a call every 18 months to keep the service active. There is no charge except for minutes used. Instructions for inserting the SIM were followable and easy. I am also confounded by this SIM/TRIBand/900/850/1800/1900 stuff so I really appreciate the simplicity. It has always been dependable and worked everywhere (mostly western europe so far!)

Basically what I found out from my wireless carrier, Sprint, is that you need a GSM capable phone such as a Blackberry. My girlfriend found out the same information from her carrier, AT&amp;T.

My phone from Telestial arrived yesterday afternoon. I have inserted the SIM card and battery, and charged it overnight. But when I turn it on, it just indicates that it is seeking a network for several minutes. I'm assuming that it won't be able to find a network (and consequently I'll be unable to use it) until I'm in Europe? Do I also have to wait until then to set up voicemail, time and date, etc?

The $49 Telestial doesn't have any of the bands used in the U.S., so it won't work until you're over there.

Cell phones get their time hack from the cell sites, so that will be automatic. Voicemail requires a connection. I don't know anything about etc.

You won't be able to set up voicemail on the cell phone as Robespierre has correctly pointed out the phone lacks any frequency used by a US gsm network...you might be able to set up voicemail by dialing your number from a landline if the card that comes with the sim card contains a voicemail pin code...every network is different about whether this is allowed or not but you certanly won't be able to set up the voicemail from the phone.

As far as time and date, both T Mobile USA and Cingular, if you could register on them which you can't, do automatically set the date if the phone allows it (that is if there is a menu entry to automatically set the date)...I have found most of the European networks do not automatically set the date and time...you will, however, probably be able to set the time and date manually in one of the menus (but then again, what time do you set...the time here? or the time in England? or the time in France? (they're all different of course).....but not meaning to hammer home th epoint as the phone will not be able to register on any US network, obviously the automatic time function, if it exists on this phone, will not work!