Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Cell phone in Australia

Hi,

I'm heading to Australia next week, and I'm looking into getting a cell phone for when I'm there. My phone won't work in Australia, so I need to rent. I see some sites on line where I can rent a cell phone, but I'm wondering if it is easier (and cheaper) just to rent when I get to Australia. Please let me know which way you would recommend, and if there are any providers you would recommend. THanks!

-- Dan

How long will you be in Oz ? Where are going ? Coverage non existent in some areas depending on the phone company. (Telstra has the largest coverage)
You can rent from the large air ports.
The other option is to buy a phone in Oz & pay as you go (pre paid)
International calls can very expensive. International calling cards are a lot cheaper

A lot of (confusing) options when it comes to cell phones in Oz.
www.telstra.com.au
www.vodafone.com.au
www.virginmobile.com.au
www.three.com.au
www.optus.com.au
www.primus.com.au
www.boost.com.au (pre paid)
and a lot of others

Also look at http://www.phonechoice.com.au/

How long will you be in Oz ? You can rent from the large air ports.
The other option is to buy a phone in Oz & pay as you go (pre paid)
International calls can vey expensive. Internationial calling cards are a lot cheaper
A lot of (confusing) options when it comes to cell phones in Oz.

I'll be in Oz for two weeks, so I'll probably look to rent. How much is it to buy a phone in oz and pay as I go? Or does it make more sense to rent? I'll probably be using the phone mostly for local calls, I think I could get by with a international calling card if necessary..

Don't rent, buy a prepaid (or if you have an unlocked GSM phone, that will suffice, bring it, and you just need to buy the service).

If you are going to be in main cities and routes, Vodafone will give you AUD200 worth of calls (including 20 min international) valid for 30 days for a charge of about AUD40. That's probably more service than you need, especially if after 20 mins you use a calling card for international calls. You can buy a cheap unlocked phone from Vodafone for about AUD60-80.

If wider coverage is the most important, pay more for a prepaid from Telstra. Note that in the small towns in the outback, IF Telstra offers cellular service, it is likely to be an ancient CDMA service that is not compatible with the prepaid phone.

You can't miss these guys, they are right in arrivals at the airport.

Renting would cost about AUD100 for 2 weeks + per minute charge for calls. RichardinSF is quite right, don't rent, buy a phone. Often Vodaphone is the cheapest and works great in the major cities, if you need coverage elsewhere you will have to check the coverage maps in picking a provider. And buy a Telstra phone card, lots of pay phones don't work with coins, making a call card essential.

Don't rent, buy a prepaid (or if you have an unlocked GSM phone, that will suffice, bring it, and you just need to buy the service).

If you are going to be in main cities and routes, Vodafone will give you AUD200 worth of calls (including 20 min international) valid for 30 days for a charge of about AUD40. That's probably more service than you need, especially if after 20 mins you use a calling card for international calls. You can buy a cheap unlocked phone from Vodafone for about AUD60-80.

If wider coverage is the most important, pay more for a prepaid from Telstra. Note that in the small towns in the outback, IF Telstra offers cellular service, it is likely to be an ancient CDMA service that is not compatible with the prepaid phone.

You can't miss these guys, they are right in arrivals at the airport.

Cool, thanks for the info. I'm flying into Melbourne, do you know if Vodaphone has an office there as well at the airport? And, just so I understand the pricing:

AUD60-80 for a phone
AUD40 for AUD200 worth of time (plus 20 min int'l)

Thanks!

I'm flying into Melbourne, do you know if Vodaphone has an office there as well at the airport?Yes . Look at Vodafone locations (http://www.nowwhereroute.com/Vodafone/StoreLocator/default.aspX?Type=Vodafone) and store locator (http://www.vodafone.com.au/foryou/mobiles/store_locator.jsp?gs=foryou&hd=mobiles&st=store_locator) Type in Melbourne. Several Vodafone shops in central Melb.

That was the offer when we were there in August, of course prices can go up (and in fact the web site says the cost now is AUD49). Already had a phone from a previous Vodafone Oz purchase, so I am not as sure about the phone price. It's a fairly minimal phone you get at the lowest price but it worked fine.

I did see a Vodafone store at Melb airport in the domestic terminal for Virgin Blue, past security. Note that anyone can enter the domestic secured area by going through security, no boarding pass required.

So why won't your phone work? Most US phones will work. What phone(s) do you have?

We used our Cingular Nokia 3120b phones throughout Aus (including Tassie), with newly acquired Aussie SIM. Worked great. Went to the vendors stores in SYD and ended up with Optus, which was far and away the best deal for making long international calls. It was dirt cheap. Worked like a charm all but a couple of times. When it didn't, we roamed for $2/minute using our Cingular SIM.

If your phone is presently locked, don't let that deter you. That can be forthwith remedied.

So why won't your phone work? Most US phones will work. What phone(s) do you have?

We used our Cingular Nokia 3120b phones throughout Aus (including Tassie), with newly acquired Aussie SIM. Worked great. Went to the vendors stores in SYD and ended up with Optus, which was far and away the best deal for making long international calls. It was dirt cheap. Worked like a charm all but a couple of times. When it didn't, we roamed for $2/minute using our Cingular SIM.

If your phone is presently locked, don't let that deter you. That can be forthwith remedied.

True, I brought my T-Mobile down and bought a Telstra prepaid SIM. Worked out quite nicely and saved me when a death ocurred in the family and I had to make a bunch of reservation changes to make it back early. T-Mobile willing gave me the unlock code for my cell before I left, just had to ask. They emailed it to me within 24 hours of calling them. Granted, both Cingular and T-Mobile are GSM which makes it much easier, however, there is also a CDMA network in much of Australia (and from what I understand, it has better coverage than GSM in Oz). Not sure if US CDMA phones (such as Sprint and Verizon) will work down there, but it's worth inquiring with your provider.

So why won't your phone work? Most US phones will work. What phone(s) do you have?

We used our Cingular Nokia 3120b phones throughout Aus (including Tassie), with newly acquired Aussie SIM. Worked great. Went to the vendors stores in SYD and ended up with Optus, which was far and away the best deal for making long international calls. It was dirt cheap. Worked like a charm all but a couple of times. When it didn't, we roamed for $2/minute using our Cingular SIM.

If your phone is presently locked, don't let that deter you. That can be forthwith remedied.

I use Verizon and have a LG 6000 phone. I don't think this one is GSM compatable, but I could be wrong. Not sure if verzion has GSM available, but I'm not totally clear on how that works.

I use Verizon and have a LG 6000 phone. I don't think this one is GSM compatable, but I could be wrong. Not sure if verzion has GSM available, but I'm not totally clear on how that works.
Never mind, I called Verizon, they have a plan for international services... 20 cents a minute for all incoming / outgoing calls from/to the U.S and Australia for a few dollars more a month on my current phone. Texting is still covered under my current plan. I think that should suffice for what I need. Maybe I'll get a calling card while I'm down there if it is cheaper to do that for my international calls to the U.S.

Thanks again for everyone's help!

Never mind, I called Verizon, they have a plan for international services... 20 cents a minute for all incoming / outgoing calls from/to the U.S and Australia for a few dollars more a month on my current phone. Texting is still covered under my current plan. I think that should suffice for what I need. Maybe I'll get a calling card while I'm down there if it is cheaper to do that for my international calls to the U.S.

Thanks again for everyone's help!

If you are planning on bringing a laptop and will have internet access, check out Skype for international calls (that is when you are not mobile). We found it quite convienent and cost effective to call back home and check in. Only a few cents per minute, but it is IP based and will require a mic/headphones for your PC. I brought my bluetooth headset and a bluetooth adapter for the laptop and it worked great.

I'm glad that it worked out for you with Verizon.

And I concur about using VOIP telephony. We use Net2phone with a USB headset and it has worked great all over the world and averages $.03/minute back to the US.

Verizon said your phone would work in Australia? Don't count on it!

They told me my phone would work in South Korea, even checking the model number for me. Also I KNOW South Korea has CDMA everywhere. Darn thing never found service the whole time I was there (although it did find service when I accidentally turned it on in Shanghai on that same trip).

So if I have an unlocked Cingular phone, I can purchase a SIM card at the SYD airport? Don't anticipate I'll need much time, maybe 30-60 minutes. Then I'd need another SIM card for New Zealand? Thanks.

Verizon said your phone would work in Australia? Don't count on it!

They told me my phone would work in South Korea, even checking the model number for me. Also I KNOW South Korea has CDMA everywhere. Darn thing never found service the whole time I was there (although it did find service when I accidentally turned it on in Shanghai on that same trip).

Did Verizon say why it didn't work in South Korea?

So if I have an unlocked Cingular phone, I can purchase a SIM card at the SYD airport? Don't anticipate I'll need much time, maybe 30-60 minutes. Then I'd need another SIM card for New Zealand? Thanks.

don't recall the stores being at SYD, but rather in town (george st.?). pricing/deals are very different between vendors, so you might be glad you stuck your head in a couple of stores. i'd ask them about nz; i don't know the answer.

WRT using VZ phones internationally, you may need to visit a VZ store to have the phone setup with a PRL (Preferred Roaming List) that includes international networks. No idea why they don't program the phones with it in the first place. Sprint phones, for example, that can use CDMA800 networks, come pre-programmed for networks in other countries (my own experience is in New Zealand).

I wouldn't call CDMA ancient either, as both "3G" technologies, UMTS and CDMA EVDO are based on CDMA (the latter being quite obvious).

Australian & NZ phones use the Euro standard 2G frequency rather than the conventional US 2G frequencies, so if the phone is a 'tri-band' it should be fine. SIMs are $2 for Vodafone and credit of $30 or $50 would be fine for most people.
Someone may be able to confirm if the AU sim works in NZ. Cheers.

WRT using VZ phones internationally, you may need to visit a VZ store to have the phone setup with a PRL (Preferred Roaming List) that includes international networks. No idea why they don't program the phones with it in the first place. Sprint phones, for example, that can use CDMA800 networks, come pre-programmed for networks in other countries (my own experience is in New Zealand).

I wouldn't call CDMA ancient either, as both "3G" technologies, UMTS and CDMA EVDO are based on CDMA (the latter being quite obvious).

When I talked with Verizon yesterday over the phone, they had me dial that *228 entry and upload a new config which I think had that PRL list you mention. That was one of the entries it said that it downloaded I believe, but I don't remember exactly flashed on the screen when I did it. I'm wondering if that was the problem RichardinSF was having.

I decided to double check with Verizon about the 20 cents a minute in Australia, and now I got someone else that said that that was not an option in Australia to use my phone and I was given incorrect information!!!! I'm annoyed by this, and it looks like I'll have to buy a phone there. Unless someone can tell me something different, this is the route I'm going.

Since most counties in the world use GSM if you travel it pays off big time to either have your GSM multiband unlocked, or to buy a dependable unlocked GSM multiband (tri-band or quad) on eBay and buy local SIMM cards. Much more economical, and easy - not to mention in many countries, incoming calls are not charged - only outgoing. (It's generally been easy to purchase SIMM cards at the local airport phone counters or at news shops, etc. with a few exceptions - India requires documentation and photo to issue a SIMM, irrc from earlier this year.)

If you rarely travel internationally AND you like your current phone, I'd say roam if you can, or just rent or buy a phone at SYD and forget it. You've already said you'll only rack up 30-60 minutes of time, so it can't be worth thinking about any further, can it?

On the other hand, if you do or will travel more, then the prior poster (JDiver) has it right on. Get a new phone for use there (and here too). GSM multi-band. Spend the time researching what phone you'd most like.

WRT using VZ phones internationally, you may need to visit a VZ store to have the phone setup with a PRL (Preferred Roaming List) that includes international networks. No idea why they don't program the phones with it in the first place. Sprint phones, for example, that can use CDMA800 networks, come pre-programmed for networks in other countries (my own experience is in New Zealand).

I wouldn't call CDMA ancient either, as both "3G" technologies, UMTS and CDMA EVDO are based on CDMA (the latter being quite obvious).

Well maybe that was my problem except if it was, how come it synched up in Shanghai when I accidentally turned the phone on while in China?

It isn't CDMA which is ancient, it's the Telstra CDMA network which is. It predates their GSM network.

Well maybe that was my problem except if it was, how come it synched up in Shanghai when I accidentally turned the phone on while in China?

It isn't CDMA which is ancient, it's the Telstra CDMA network which is. It predates their GSM network.

Ah, I now see you were referring to the network. The oldest CDMA network is the one in Hong Kong run by Hutchinson, started in Sep'95. USA got its first by BAM in Mar'96. Telstra CDMA came online in Aug'99, but I'm sure they had some sort of analog network before that, AMPS probably.

I'm not sure why it worked for you in Shanghai. Did you actually try to make a call? I know China Unicom uses the CDMA800, so that's probably who you were able to pull in a signal with. Being able to get the clock set on your CDMA phone doesn't much, but I would expect that the phone would be able to set its time in Australia as well, if it was able to in China.

I've had VZ phones that were able to sync up to a network, but not able to make a call because VZ didn't have a roaming agreement with them.

does anyone know if the Cingular Razr phone will work in Oz? was going to get an international plan to try to reduce the cost for the 3 weeks we'll be there.

does anyone know if the Cingular Razr phone will work in Oz? was going to get an international plan to try to reduce the cost for the 3 weeks we'll be there.

It definitely should. Cingular is GSM. I took my T-Mobile RAZR (also GSM) to Australia and it worked fine. I talked to T-Mobile before I left to get the unlock code. Your phone is most likely locked to Cingular, meaning that it won't accept another SIM card. Cingular should be willing to give you the unlock code so that you can use a prepaid SIM in Oz. Worked great for me. I got a Telstra SIM card in Adelaide and used it all over Oz. When I got back home, I just popped my old SIM back in (make sure you don't lose it) and everything worked like a charm.

Thank you jasonvr. I'll check with Cingular for the unlock code.

Thank you jasonvr. I'll check with Cingular for the unlock code.

if you can't get it from them or it doesn't work, don't worry. the aus phone vendors offered to unlock a locked phone; alternatively, you can get it unlocked over the internet -- have a quick search.

Just one other thing (if you want to send or receive text messages) - check that the SIM/network is set up to connect to your recipient/sender's networks. Of course this may not matter at all to you.

(This was a problem for me a couple of years ago with an Optus phone on GSM to a Euro network, but is probably no longer an issue).

I'd guess one of the FTers posting above could confirm if things have improved.

Just one other thing (if you want to send or receive text messages) - check that the SIM/network is set up to connect to your recipient/sender's networks. Of course this may not matter at all to you.

(This was a problem for me a couple of years ago with an Optus phone on GSM to a Euro network, but is probably no longer an issue).

I'd guess one of the FTers posting above could confirm if things have improved.

I know that texting back to the USA (to a Sprint user) worked flawlessly and extremely quickly (including getting the responses) with the Telstra prepaid SIM.

Exactly - that's how it has worked for me (I think I used a Vodafone SIM there.)

So if I have an unlocked Cingular phone, I can purchase a SIM card at the SYD airport? Don't anticipate I'll need much time, maybe 30-60 minutes. Then I'd need another SIM card for New Zealand? Thanks.