Traveling abroad? Do not be afraid to bring in a mobile phone
It is summer time. And you know that means: the harrowing international travel with your mobile phone.
While the sour economy could be to preserve some travelers closer to home this summer, good deals on flights and hotels, and the growing strength of the dollar is enticing some travelers to take their passport and book a flight to Europe and other parts of the world. (I would be one of them. I have just bought a plane ticket to go to France in August.)
  And because mobile phones are now so much part of our daily lives, it is hard to part with him when we hop on a plane to another country. But stories of $ 3,000 iPhone bills, when we get back, have scared many consumers to switch off their phones or leave them at home.
But what if you want to check on the children to return home during your visit, or you need to find your travel while fellow wandering around the Gothic quarter in Barcelona? Or maybe you met some interesting locals who want to catch up with you later, but he needs your number text you? Well, I’m here to tell you that shooting up a mobile phone in another country need not be afraid or expensive as you might think.
But first you need the facts. To help you get started, I have compiled this FAQ, which may answer some basic questions about what phones and carriers offer services abroad, and what you can expect to pay. For more information, please contact your carrier on the website. Also check a few stories written by my colleague Kent German CNET reviews, which wrote a very informative brief guide to the international telephone service, as well as a comparison of some of the hottest phones on the world market.
Does it matter which wireless operator, me, if I want to use your phone overseas?
Yes it is. Although all four major wireless operators in the United States, can provide international roaming in some parts of the world, some carriers have more limited scope in which they can offer services based on the technology they use.
In the U.S. wireless operators have two major cellular technologies: GSM and CDMA.
GSM or Global System for Mobile communications, is used in many countries around the world, including in Europe (where the default), Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, as well as most of Asia and the Middle East. In the United States, AT & T and T-Mobile USA operates a network of GSM. As a result, AT & T and T-Mobile has the widest network abroad.
AT & T has roaming agreements in more than 190 countries around the world. Its triband and quadband phones will work in most countries, except Japan and South Korea, where you need a special GSM phone, which uses 2100 MHz. Coverage also extends to some cruise ships.
T-Mobile USA is owned by German telecommunications provider Deutsche Telekom, which operates a T-Mobile wireless services in seven European countries, including Germany, Britain and the Netherlands. T-Mobile has roaming agreements with more than 190 countries and provides services throughout Central America, Australia, much of South America and some African countries. He also suggests that the coating on some cruise ships. Like AT & T, service in Japan and South Korea requires a special phone.
CDMA, which stands for Code Division Multiple Access, is less than the worldwide cover GSM. United States is one of the largest markets for CDMA. This technology, which uses the largest operator in the United States: Verizon Wireless. Sprint PC also uses a network of CDMA. In the old part of Sprint Nextel network uses a different technology called identity, which is used in a limited number of locations outside the United States
Verizon Wireless, jointly owned by Verizon Communications and the world’s largest wireless operator, Vodafone, has roaming agreements with more than 40 countries for its CDMA service, and more than 140 countries that use GSM. Verizon subscribers can use their CDMA phones to roam in China and Taiwan, Guam, Guatemala, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Israel, New Zealand, Thailand, Mexico, South Korea, most of South America and some Caribbean islands. A software update may be required for some countries. Coverage is available on some cruise ships, as well.
Sprint CDMA subscribers can roam in 26 countries and four U.S. territories. And the company has contracts with carriers in more than 100 countries, offers the service on CDMA / GSM phone. The network identity only to provide services in 11 countries and one U.S. territory. Sprinter CDMA phone should work in most countries of Central and South America and the Caribbean, along with New Zealand, Indonesia, China and Taiwan, South Korea, India, Israel, Thailand, as well as several U.S. territories.
With Nextel user identity roaming restricted Canada, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Jordan, Peru, Brazil, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Israel. Nextel also offers a dual mode iden / GSM phone as the Motorola i930, which can be used for voice calls in approximately 100 countries.
The bottom line is that the devices used in the AT & T and T-Mobile network, are more likely to work in other countries around the world than the devices used on Verizon Wireless or Sprint networks.
Does this mean that every GSM phone from AT & T and T-Mobile will work in Europe or the GSM network in Asia?
Not necessarily. GSM carriers can be the best choice for a ball, a leg, especially those traveling to Europe, but not every GSM phone works in every country. The reason is that in different regions of the world use different frequency bands for transmission of signals GSM. In the United States, GSM operators to use only 850 MHz and 1900 MHz bands. In Europe they use 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands. Japan and South Korea to use 2100 MHz. Thus, to verify that you are covered in most regions, you must either get a triband (GSM 900/1800/1900), and quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) handset. Travelers in Japan and South Korea are likely to need a new phone. But the phones that work in these areas can be removed from his vehicle.
A Verizon Wireless and Sprint has a “world phone” that can be used in countries where GSM is the dominant cell phone technology is used?
Yes they do. Verizon offers several “world phones” that are both CDMA and GSM radios built in. These include the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, BlackBerry Storm and the Motorola Z6c. Sprint has a few world phones, such as the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, a Samsung IP-830w, and the HTC Touch Diamond.
I need to call my carrier before I leave to activate international calling?
Yes, you should call your wireless service provider to make sure the phone is ready to make and receive calls in foreign countries. You can also ask your operator for exact rates in the countries where you are traveling.
How much will it cost me to use my phone in another country?
This will depend on which carrier you have service here in the States. Calls will be charged on per minute basis. The inner voice, text messaging and data plans do not apply when traveling to another country. SMS-text messaging is usually the cheapest way to communicate with people in a country where you travel, as well as with your family and friends at home in the United States
Here is a brief overview of what you can expect from the four major national carriers in the United States
AT & T offers World Traveler plan, which offers discounts on most roaming rates in over 195 countries. Cost is $ 5.99 per month. Users can subscribe to the service for only one month if they are going to leave, and they can cancel the service if they return home. But AT & T officials suggest that subscribers pay special attention to their billing cycle to make sure that the plan included the entire period of their absence.
Without a service plan, AT & T charges per minute roaming rates, which range from 59 cents per minute and $ 3.99 per minute, depending on the country and roaming carrier used. It costs 50 cents to send text messages and receive text messages in a foreign country, but also receive messages from anyone in the United States, is free. Sending a multimedia message is $ 1.30 per message and receive MMS messages from the United States is free.
T-Mobile USA, does not offer special travel plan. Thus, the company charges per minute roaming rates. These fees range from 49 cents to $ 3.99 per minute, depending on where you travel. Text messages cost 35 cents per message and 20 cents for each message.
Verizon Wireless charges 69 cents to $ 2.99 per minute for roaming calls. And it costs 50 cents to send a message and 5 cents to receive the message.
Sprint Nextel offers a $ 2.99 monthly plan to enable people to travel to Canada to pay only 20 cents per minute for calls. Roaming charges vary from 59 cents to $ 4.99 per minute for Sprint phones. Text messages and multimedia messages, as the cost of data transmission services. Nextel customers can sign up for the Direct Connect Plan, which allows them to talk to other Nextel Direct Connect customers in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru
What about these charges?
Travelers should be especially careful of data charges. The prices of these much more expensive than it is for roaming voice calls and text messages.
AT & T offers its customers a smartphone, which are iPhone, BlackBerry or Windows Mobile device a special data plan to help save costs. The cheapest plan offers 20MB of data in 65 countries for $ 24.99 per month. In the 50 MB package is $ 59.99 per month, 100MB package is $ 119.99 per month, 200MB, and the package is $ 199.99 per month.
Without a plan, users are charged 2 cents per kilobyte. If you journey to a country which is not one of 65 supported at the international level data, then the standard data roaming rates apply.
AT & T officials said that the subscribers need to pay special attention to their billing cycle, with registration at the international level data. If a customer signs up for a couple of weeks in the billing cycle immediately prior to the trip, the service fee will be proportionately and so will the total amount of megabytes available. The client should ask the customer service agent, who is signing their contingency plan to the date of their plan to make sure they get a bucket full of data as they travel through their journey. The monthly plan can be canceled without the hassle of next month.
T-Mobile USA charges $ 10 per megabyte in Canada and $ 15.36 per megabyte, and throughout the world.
Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel have different rates that apply depending on the country you are traveling in.
I have heard horror stories about iPhone users who have had extremely high phone bills when they travel abroad. Why did this happen?
In the iPhone was made for the transfer of data, and as a result, it can cause some problems for international travelers, as the data transfer speed is usually much higher than voice rates. For instance, iPhone in the visual voice mail is working on the network. So when iPhone subscribers to receive voice mail while traveling, and by telephone, voice mail, that message will be charged data transfer rate, irrespective of the fact that iPhone subscriber checked his voice mail. If iPhone users have their email pushed to them all the time, it can also throw down the prices of their services. And streaming video from any of the mobile network will enhance the collection of data very quickly, regardless of whether you’re on a smartphone, or using data, 3G-card.
What can I do to make sure that this is not a problem for me?
Here are some suggestions from AT & T sprinkled with a few suggestions of my own.
• Include data Roaming “OFF”: Be sure to download and install the latest version of iPhone software from iTunes. By default, this setting for international data roaming will be in the “OFF” position. In turn, the data roaming “ON / OFF” tap on Settings> General> Network> Data Roaming
• Use a Wi-Fi instead 3G/GPRS/EDGE: Wi-Fi is available in many international airports, hotels and restaurants to browse Web or check e-mail. You can even use voice over IP services such as Skype, to telephone calls.
• Turn to obtain new data, “OFF”: Checking e-mail and synchronize contacts and calendars manually, rather than the data pushed to your iPhone automatically. Thus, you will be able to manage the flow of data coming to your iPhone. To disable automatic checking functionality tap on Settings> Download the new data, change Click on the “OFF” and choose to download manually
• Consider buying a packet of data at the international level: acquisition of data packets can significantly reduce the cost of using data abroad. AT & T currently offers four discount international data packages.
• Reset using tracker to zero: When you arrive abroad to the tracker in the general settings menu and select reset statistics. This will allow you to track the use of estimates. To reset to zero Tracker Using tap on Settings> General> Applications> Reset
• Do not upload videos on your iPhone or laptop while traveling. This will help you avoid some of the most expensive data charges. If you want to stream video, music video, or TV shows on your phone, go to Wi-Fi “hot spots, and to download movies over the network.
Are the charges enormous problems for other users as the BlackBerry smartphone users phone or Windows Mobile?
Not a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile phones using visual voice mail, so it is no concern for these devices. But streaming video on these devices could also build some hefty data charges as well. Therefore, be careful.
How to download an e-mail or get pushed email, Windows Mobile users will also need to be careful. These phones allow users to turn off push mail function. But BlackBerry users do not need to worry as much, as Research In Motion, the creator of a series of BlackBerry, has developed a very effective way to deliver e-mail for end users who do not eat a lot of traffic.
Are there any other options that may be cheaper than using my U.S. carrier service?
Yes, you can use a GSM phone is unlocked, if you’re traveling abroad. Just put in a SIM-card from a local carrier to make a low-cost local phone calls, while in the country, and cheap texting to other mobile phones and in the same country in which you are traveling.
How can I get your phone unlocked?
You can buy the unlocked phone with some retailers and on various web-sites such as Amazon and eBay. But if you’re an AT & T and T-Mobile USA customer, you can unlock your phone you have. Just call your ISP customer support number. (This applies to most GSM phones, except the iPhone, which AT & T will not provide the code to unlock.)
Give them the model number of your phone, and they will send you a special code you’ll use to unlock your phone if you put a new SIM-card. Once the phone is unlocked, the unlocked for good and can be used for future travel. Make sure to call your mobile operator in advance.
Sometimes it can take as long as a week for customer support to send a unlock code. Again, make sure that your phone is in the range of three-or Quad-band phone that will operate at the frequencies used in this country you are. Japan and South Korea will require special telephones.
What if I have Verizon Wireless or Sprint Nextel customer? Can I unlock these phones and use a local SIM-card?
If you have a CDMA phone or just the identity, the answer is no. These devices do not use SIM cards, and they do not work in networks GSM. But if you have a phone with Verizon or Sprint world, which also has a GSM radio, it can also be unlocked. Call your carrier and tell them you need to unlock the code, and they should send it to you.
What are the disadvantages of using a local SIM-card?
In addition, some functions may not be available on your phone, such as voicemail, call waiting, e-mail and Web surfing. And you can not receive calls, voice mail, text message or e-mails sent to your U.S. phone number, but with a different carrier, SIM-card.
At the same time, using a local SIM to save money, especially if you use it for local calls. Texting, usually the cheapest way of communication. And SIM cards can be saved and used again, if you are traveling to the same country again.
Are there any other tips I should know?
Here are some tips that my colleague Kent German is cited in its brief guide for using your phone for international travel:
• calls to voice mail, and the operator will incur all applicable taxes, but to call the carrier’s customers are typically free of charge.
• Method for local calls in each country will vary, so make sure you know how to do it. Also, remember that emergency dialing will be different from 911.
• When in a foreign country, you have to use the appropriate country and area codes for calls within the State or third country. To call the U.S. dial 001.
• Your phone should automatically find and select the network in each country, but you may have to do it yourself through the phone menu. You can also try turning your phone off and back.
• Free mobile to mobile minutes on the same carrier, as a rule, are not available outside the United States.
• When roaming, the name of the local carrier will appear on your phone.
• Roaming charges will appear on the regular wireless bill, although they may take several weeks to do so.
• Not all of these functions will work the same way when you’re abroad.
• Do not forget the electric module adapter for the charger.
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Tags: AT&T, cell phone, international travel, roaming rates, smartphone
