Travel Technology - world-wide phone service

Probably a topic tht's been covered before, but anyways, I'll ask for some opinions:

Currently have Verizon as my carrier. No world-wide coverage w/Verizon as many of you know. I've been traveling to Europe more and will continue to do so in the future. I'll also have the occasional trip to Asia or Australia.

Need to change carriers. Can anyone give me some thoughts/comments on which carrier has worked for them?

If you do a search for last few months, you'll see a couple of threads that goes into great detail on various strategies and options, depending on your usage, preferences, etc.

Short comment that really requires more information - best bet is to buy unlocked GSM world phone (quad or tri band) and use local mobile numbers (for countries to be visited). If you want to pay international roaming, then either AT&T or TMO will work just fine. I use TMO, cost is about $1.49 per minute for international roaming. I also carry 2nd or 3rd phone with local mobile number.

Verizon does offer worldphone option, you just pay through the nose....call them for details.

Others employ use if skype-in numbers, call forward, etc. and I've yet to try but plan to test out next trip. And if you have a grand central number, that can be call forwarded to skype-in number, which then is call forwarded to your local sim/mobile numbers....now getting complicated so will stop!

AT&T is good from a coverage standpoint. With their CMDA and 3G network capability. International roaming is a bit expensive, with $.99 a min from UK and Germany, but can be higher (Austria, Czech $1.99 a min)

That being said, you could always buy a prepaid SIM in country if you are going to be calling within that country.

Good info, everyone. Keep it coming.

FYI, I have rented the worldphone from Verizon several times. Yes, pay through the nose. Not willing to do it again.

I think I've said it before, but T-Mobile is my choice. I've used it from the Great Wall of China to the Danube to Amsterdam to Vatican City and it's worked well.

Only place I've been unable to use it is in Japan. Probably a good thing as I was unable to call my wife and ask permission to spend money in Akihabara, so I just had to assume she would have said "yes" ! :)

Good info, everyone. Keep it coming.


No disrespect intended but isn't time for you to do some of the lifting now ;) ?

T-Mobile here too, with a 4 year old Razr phone. Get off the plane in LHR, HKG, SYD, wherever, turn it on, and away you go. Easiest thing around. Plus it actually seems to have better coverage in Europe and Asia than here at home.

If you haven't done so already, read through the sticky on top as to how much is a European SIM, lots of good stuff in that thread that applies.

Are you looking for whichever domestic carrier has the best deal? Or, the best worldwide solution? As for worldwide solutions, I still think the united-mobile product offers the best overall coverage, quality and price. Next up might be the iceland product from 09. These are GSM based international mobile sims. You would need an unlocked quad band GSM phone. Prices start at .29 euro per minute. Free incoming calls.

AT&T is good from a coverage standpoint. With their CMDA and 3G network capability. International roaming is a bit expensive, with $.99 a min from UK and Germany, but can be higher (Austria, Czech $1.99 a min)

That being said, you could always buy a prepaid SIM in country if you are going to be calling within that country.
I haven't been keeping up on this topic here lately. But I do have to question that CDMA is a good choice for international use. Isn't CDMA a very limited option in Europe and the Middle East? Or am I way off base here?

I haven't been keeping up on this topic here lately. But I do have to question that CDMA is a good choice for international use. Isn't CDMA a very limited option in Europe and the Middle East? Or am I way off base here?

It was a typo. AT&T uses GSM.

I think I've said it before, but T-Mobile is my choice. I've used it from the Great Wall of China to the Danube to Amsterdam to Vatican City and it's worked well.

Only place I've been unable to use it is in Japan. Probably a good thing as I was unable to call my wife and ask permission to spend money in Akihabara, so I just had to assume she would have said "yes" ! :)

I have been using TMobile for a number of years and am very happy with them. TMobile will work in Japan if you have the right phone for it, unfortunately few Tmobile phones (maybe none) work there. My unlocked HTC TyTN works fine in Japan with my TMobile SIM card in it.

It's important to note that neither AT&T nor T-Mobile US has any network anywhere outside the USA. When you go overseas with those providers, you are roaming onto a local carrier, pursuant to roaming agreements signed between your home carrier and the local one.

It was a typo. AT&T uses GSM.

Thanks for the correction :) I did mean GSM.

As mentioned, the sticky at the top of the forum will answer most of your questions. Obviously, your choice is between AT&T and Tmobile if you want to go with a GSM carrier. Just look at their respective coverage maps and see which one covers yoor area very well. You can even test them out if needed.

I have AT&T myself. However, when I travel, in addition to my AT&T sim, I take a couple of other phones to use with my other sims (United Mobile+, yackie Mobile, Virgin UK) depending on location.

I haven't been keeping up on this topic here lately. But I do have to question that CDMA is a good choice for international use. Isn't CDMA a very limited option in Europe and the Middle East? Or am I way off base here?

Actually..... 3G is the newest CDMA (WCDMA) and 3G is rampant throughout Europe and the Middle East, not to mention Asia.

I have T-Mobile and have been happy with it. Their international roaming rates tend to be at the high end of the spectrum ($1.99/min) for most calls back to the U.S.

I think you will want a GSM unlocked quad band phone for greatest flexibility. If you buy local SIM cards, it doesn't matter who your U.S. based provider is. You will basically be using a totally separate mobile service.

If you want to be able to use the same phone at home and abroad, that means being an ATT or T-Mobile subscriber, and it doesn't matter which because both have worldwide roaming agreements.

I use a Nokia e90 Communicator (unlocked). I subscribe to T-Mobile. I can use this phone virtually anywhere, including Japan and Korea (I had coverage everywhere I went in Japan).


But let me suggest another option: SIP. Basically, this is VOIP.
My Nokia e90 allows you to configure an unlimited number (at least I have not reached a limit yet) of SIP services for use on the phone. There are a large number of providers out there which operate on a pay-as-you-go basis, charging only a couple of cents per minute for calls to-from-or-within a large number of the most commonly visited countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Some actually offer free calls.

All you have to do is find a wireless hotspot, connect and call. It sometimes takes a bit of patient manipulation to get the SIP service to "register" after you connect to the hotspot (free internet is offered at lots of hotels, coffee shops, etc), but then you can make your calls. Quality is variable, but I have had success doing this in Japan, Mexico, and Canada (the only places I have been to since I got the phone).

SIP is not as flexible as a traditional mobile phone service, but it definitely is cheaper.

The Nokia e90 is an expensive phone because it does a whole lot more than just make phone calls. There are cheaper phones available which allow you to configure SIP.

It's important to note that neither AT&T nor T-Mobile US has any network anywhere outside the USA. When you go overseas with those providers, you are roaming onto a local carrier, pursuant to roaming agreements signed between your home carrier and the local one.

You sure? Last week I got off the plane at LHR and turned on my phone. After a minute searching for a network, "T-Mobile" was displayed as the carrier. I immediately got the voicemail message, and called my US based voice mail without dialing any international codes. Just hit CALL on the voicemail display. I assumed T-Mobile had some sort of presence there?

You sure? Last week I got off the plane at LHR and turned on my phone. After a minute searching for a network, "T-Mobile" was displayed as the carrier. I immediately got the voicemail message, and called my US based voice mail without dialing any international codes. Just hit CALL on the voicemail display. I assumed T-Mobile had some sort of presence there?

Actually that is TMobile UK which is a related but separate company. While they dont have operations in these other countries, both TMobile (USA) and ATT have roaming arrangements with companies in most other countries. So it really doesnt matter that they dont operate there. In most countries, the UK being one example of this, TMobile (and I assume ATT as well) have agreements with several of the providers so you will get coverage just about anywhere in the country, no matter what carrier. I have noticed in some countries a rare situation develops where I have to manually force a network in order to get for instance Blackberry service. I think this happened to me in India.

Short comment that really requires more information - best bet is to buy unlocked GSM world phone (quad or tri band) and use local mobile numbers (for countries to be visited).

This is the best advice except local sim cards can be a hassle. Except for countries you will spend a lot of time, I recommend instead using a united mobile + card.

https://www.united-mobile.com/shop/?action=voice

Voice or data? For data the VZW BlackBerry 8830 plan is hard to beat, though the voice rates are easy to beat.

If you're happy with your Verizon service, they'll sell you a SIM card for $30 that you can put into any unlocked phone and use around the world. Their rates are about the same as other US-based roaming options.

I have both TMo and ATT. TMo is Blackberry (which I am using to reply right now from HKG) and ATT with a Razr.

I find TMo more reliable in Western Europe and HKG. Japan has it's own system and South Korea is a whole other issue of GSM problems.

I vote TMo + local SIM

T-Mobile seems to have the cheapest roaming but has a much worse network than AT&T here in the US.

I use AT&T here in the US. They provided me with unlock codes for the 3 phones on my account for free with no hassle or pushback. (They may make you wait until you've been a customer a few months for this.)

I use 09 mobile (free incoming calls in ~ 90 countries, service in ~ 180) and a callback service (callback world).

The combination is great, eg it lets me call the US from most of Europe at less than 9 cents a minute from the regular phone without buying a local sim card...

It's a great solution for me, but can take some getting used to since 09 mobile works on a callback basis as well and not everyone will want to mess with the whole double callback concept. :eek:

Second on 09. Callbackworld also will sell you a US phone number which can be call forwarded to the 09 SIM. Incoming calls are $0.15 a minute.

By the way, WCDMA is really the successor to GSM rather than CDMA. While it is a code divided system of spectrum sharing of bandwith sharing, as a practical matter is the next step for GSM rather than CDMA. If Verizon adopts LTE as its 4g system, the systems will ultimately converge.

Second on 09. Callbackworld also will sell you a US phone number which can be call forwarded to the 09 SIM. Incoming calls are $0.15 a minute.

By the way, WCDMA is really the successor to GSM rather than CDMA. While it is a code divided system of spectrum sharing of bandwith sharing, as a practical matter is the next step for GSM rather than CDMA. If Verizon adopts LTE as its 4g system, the systems will ultimately converge.

Verizon, Alltel and AT&T have all previously committed to LTE. For AT&T, it's the natural progression of GSM technology. For Verizon, I suspect Vodafone being their major partner had some influence, along with Verizon's goal of being a bigger global provider. Alltel has a lot of network agreements with Verizon so going with LTE makes sense.

Of course now that, absent of any regulatory roadblocks, Verizon is acquiring Alltel, LTE for both makes that much more logical sense. SprintNextel is a tad screwed on their WiMax decision for 4G, methinks. And poor T-Mobile USA, barely out of the starting gate with their 3G network, may some day have a roadmap for a 4G network. Maybe by 2016? :)

Another option for easy portability and no callback seems to be BlueFire wireless (http://www.bluefirewireless.com/) SIM. Permanent UK-based number, incoming calls at no charge in most cases (like most of the world standardises) other than SMS, acceptable call rates and very good global access.

500 AA or UA miles for signing up as well, though that is certainly not my prime motivator. AA has these in duty free sales, with an included unlocked GSM phone for USD $70 (includes $10 of talk time) and top up form your phone or Internet.

Sample rates (no pesky connection fees):
SMS is always $0.20 per
EU to anywhere ranges $0.60 - $0.90
US to anywhere $0.65 - $0.90, except US - US = $1.50 (use your other phone)

I recently upgraded one of my handsets to a Samsung ACE (SPH-i325) from Sprint.

Works great in Europe, although the sound quality of GSM versus CDMA was not as good.

I have a SIM from 09.is out of Iceland with a US 800 number from Callbackworld permanently forwarded to it. In most countries, I pay $.15 a minute inbound and my callers call a US 800 number.