CDMA phones
 

Will a Verizon wireless CDMA cell phone work anywhere outside the US, in particular in Asia?

Thanks.

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Who is John Galt?
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Theoretically it could work in South Korea, but I doubt there is any roaming infrastructure to support it. You might call Verizon Wireless and ask them.

You need AFAIK to rent a 'smart card' at the airport. Of course then you will be paying ridiculous rates. You can rent cell phones at most airports in Asia fairly reasonably.

CDMA in S. Korea only (and N. America). Japanese system different than the rest of the world.

The rest of the world GSM.

Or buy a gsm phone at home. Voicestream in USA I think there's some others too, or International prepaid from Swisscom.

Be cautious if you want to use SIM from other company - SIM Blocked. Also make sure phone is the right frequency (900/1800 Intl; 1900 N. America). I Recommend world phone although I have 1800 Nokia for Intl and several 1900's for home.

good luck

Nextel has a dual-mode phone that works on their network in the U.S. and on GSM networks in other countries.

i asked verizon and was told no. north america only

Thanks for the replies - I think I'm going to rent a GSM (I'm going to HKG, SIN & BKK).

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Who is John Galt?
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If HKG is your first stop, for what you pay in rental, you might want to consider picking up an inexpensive GSM 900 phone there, and then getting prepaid cards in the various countries. A prepaid card in HKG from SmarTone can be purchased at many locations, including most convenience stores. They cost HK$300. Recharge vouchers come in a variety of denominations. The nice think about the SmarTone card is that it will roam in BKK (and can be refilled overseas as well... don't have to be in HKG). It also roams in China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia, Taiwan, and many European and south Asian countries as well. Unfortunately it doesn't roam in SIN, but you can pick up 'The M Card' for SIN$28.

Prepaid rates are generally competitive with subscriber rates.

If you feel more comfortable getting the SIMs before you leave, check out Telestial where you will of course pay a nominal surcharge for the SIMs.

If you plan to use the phone for more than just a few days you might find renting and paying the high per-minute rates to be quite expensive.

Any opinions on the best current CDMA phone? Motorola v60i looks ok.

Will be used throughout North America, but principally in SF Bay Area.
Rich

Agree with UAL Traveler; purchase a GSM900 phone in HKG and then just purchase pre-paid SIM's during your travels. I purchased a NOK61xx in HKG a couple of years ago for 50 USD; a 3310 might be one to look for now although you may wish to purchase a similar model to your U.S. phone so you can share accessories. FWIW, in Singapore M1 does offer a roaming SIM card but they've had problems with it. Many local pre-paid SIM's offer excellent rates for calling back to the U.S. For example, the M1 card costs 18 U.S. cents per minute to call back to the U.S. and in Australia an Optus SIM cost ~ 16 U.S. cents per minute.

Which carrier do you use or plan to use?

Verizon
Rich

Verizon does not seem to have a lot of phones to choose from. I have heard good things about Samsung's from people on Sprint PCS. HTH

Yeah, it's a dilemma. I like the t68i GSM phone, but both Cingular and Voicestream have poor service in the Bay Area. I'll probably get one for travel outside of North America.

The Verizon service is good in the Bay Area, but their best phone seems to be the Moto v60i, according to reports on www.deja.com anyhow.
Thanks.
Rich

SK Telecom in S. Korea now allows GSM roamers on their GSM network. You use your GSM SIM card in a CDMA phone (that accepts SIM cards) see:

http://www.sktelecom.co.kr/english/p...ing/index.html

I used this with an Orange UK account with no problems a month ago. My UK number worked fine. If anything it was less problematic than other asian countries. Calls from the UK to S. Korea terminated in a few seconds (as opposed to 20-30 seconds sometimes to other countries)