International mobile phone roaming guide for Americas, sticky please!
 

So it seems like the same questions come up a lot, unlocking, roaming fees, buying SIMs ect.

Can we make a master sticky that answers the questions rather then have them come up over and over again?

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Here is my first stab at the guide. I still need to add more info and clean it up. Please send in comments:

So, you are going to be traveling out of the United States and want to bring your cell phone along?
Great we have created this guide to help you with the process.

Will my phone work?
Of the four major carriers, two are GSM based (AT&T and T-Mobile) and two are CDMA based (Verizon and Sprint). Just about every country in the world supports GSM and some support CDMA. Even within GSM, there are several different frequencies that are used. GSM World (http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml) is a great site for checking to see which frequencies are available in the country you plan on visiting. Check your mobile phone user guide to see if your phone supports the needed frequency.
If you plan on using your phone with a SIM card you buy in another country, you’ll need to make sure your phone is unlocked. Many carriers ‘lock’ or restrict their phones so they can only be used on the network they were purchased from. However, the carrier may give you a code to ‘unlock’ the phone and allow you to use it with a SIM while traveling. If your carrier won’t provide the code for you there are several sites including eBay where it can be done for a small cost.

General notes about BlackBerry
Depending on how long you are gone for, you may be best off buying an international data plan from your carrier and using that while you are gone. If you opt to buy a SIM in a foreign country, keep in mind the plan you buy must support BlackBerry service, BIS or BES depending on what you use. If you just get a regular plan will allow you to use mobile web, Google Maps and other web based programs, it will not support the email program. BES users will not be able to sync their Outlook data unless they get a BES plan.
Luckily the American carriers have come up with data plans so you can just use the SIM from home and not worry about much.
AT&T: There are two options, data add on packages and an unlimited plan. Data add on packages start at an extra $20/mo for 20MB of data. The plan can be added or removed from your plan any time and are in addition to your regular data plan. If you only plan to use your phone for email on the occasional trip it may not be a bad option.
In addition to the data add on packages, you can substitute your domestic data plan for a $65/mo unlimited BES plan. This plan is instead of your regular data plan and not on top of what you already pay. Many users report needed to have business accounts or have their account tied to a FAN in order for it to work. Also, this plan technically carries a one year agreement, however users have reported being able to cancel early without a fee.

Verizon: Can someone please provide details, I know they have a $65/mo unlimited but I don’t know much about it.

Sprint:

T-Mobile:

iPhone: can an iPhone user write something up.

General pros/cons to using your SIM from home vs. picking one up locally: Your American SIM will allow you to surf the web as if you were back in the states. So your Google search results won’t be target for the market you are in. Also, programs like Pandora which only work in the US, will work with your US SIM, but you’ll have trouble getting it to work with a foreign SIM. This may become a bigger issue, if you visit a country that censors the net like China. You can use your phone to surf the unfiltered web with your American SIM, try searching for Tiananmen Square 1989 with your US SIM, they try the same with the PRC one, and you’ll get two separate results.

Voice calls: With the possible exception of Canada and the ‘plus Canada plans’ from AT&T and Verizon (does tmo or sprint offer them?) there is no way of getting around sky high voice calling prices. Many times they start at $0.99 and go up to $1.99 or more. Some carriers offer a discounted plan, where for $5.99/mo you can save $0.10 or $0.20 per minute on some calls; however even with plans like this it is still very expensive.
If you have T-Mobile and your phone supports UMA (AKA WiFi or hotspot calling) you can use that while traveling.
iPhone users may use Skype over WiFi or their data plan. Keep in mind the call quality and ease of use makes this someone difficult and impractical for business travelers. Also, if you are working off of 3G data it will use up a lot of data off your plan.
Picking up a SIM that just supports voice calling is easy and in many situations relatively cheap.

saved for future use

saved for future use.

What would work really well if the board software supported it would be to compose a wiki. The things you mention are good points, but need to be better organized into sections. There are several ways you can work it when you're traveling internationally and sometimes it will depend on where you're going (such as multiple countries) vs. single countries. Noting that if you opt for buying prepaid SIMs that you will have a different number than your regular service, but there are fixes for that as well. A wiki would work well since it can be a collaborative endeavour.

Hi,

I've already tried to have a go at this for roaming data - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...ed-thread.html

But requesting it to be made into a sticky has not worked.

ClimbGuy, can we work together to consolidate our efforts? Send me a PM.

Good start, you might want to include www.prepaidgsm.net - this site gives info on individual country's prepaid options, costs, etc.

I'll post if other some other thoughts pop up....

T-Mobile loyalist,checking in...
 

Here goes:
According to http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm51885.xml, you can unlock your T-Mobile phone as long as you have at least 40 days of service with T-Mobile. The unlock process, I may add, is very painless(unlike my experience with AT&T's unlock process...)
Most phones that do T-Mobile USA 3G(aka 1700Mhz/2100Mhz) will also do 3G outside of the US(900mhz),but check the manual.
In Canada, you can use WIND and Mobilicity and get 3G on a T-Mobile 3G device or the N900 or the (T-Mobile) Nexus One...but you'll need a different SIM card for 3G(?).
Voice and Data roaming is activated by adding the "WorldClass International Service" feature to your line for free(use My T-Mobile). Data roaming is only 2G though(confirm?) and you pay $10/mb in Canada and $15/mb elsewhere.

I've only used the Verizon plan once, but it was unlimited data for $65 a month. I only used it for a week so it was pro-rated to ~$16. I used it in Haiti, and I believe it was Comcel that my phone was connected to.

Now, using my phone to call back to the US was a different story. I came home to a $200 international roaming charge, I only used it for about 3-4 minutes a day. :eek: However, they graciously removed the roaming charges as I was on a mission trip. ^

If you need anymore info just let me know. Oh, BTW I was using a BlackBerry Tour.

AT&T in Haiti defaulted to Comcel... I had full bars and 3G all over Port-au-Prince.

It's not really integrated, but FT does have a wiki. I created a starting point based on the OP's OP:
International Mobile Phone Roaming Guide Americas

It's recommended that new wiki users register and sign in before editing.

I seem to be going in the opposite direction. I have an unlocked Israeli cellphone (Orange) that will work in the US but I would rather put in an American SIM.

Any suggestions of where I can get one and how much it would cost? (My preference would be something I can pick up at JFK when I arrive.)

This thread will probably be helpful, even though you only want to buy the SIM:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-weeks-us.html

Thanks, Mia.