Cell phone in France

Chister,

A few comments to add to the others....

If you're with one of the GSM networks (AT&T, T-Mobile), your phone uses a SIM card or Subscriber Identity Module, which contains your phone number and account information. It's a small card that fits into the back of the phone, usually under the battery. Most Cell Phone networks "lock" their phones so these can ONLY be used with a SIM from their network. If the phone is "unlocked" it will operate with a SIM card from any GSM network.

European cell networks use two frequency bands (900/1800) and North American networks use two different freqency bands (850/1900). If your GSM phone handset is a quad band model, then it has all four bands and should operate just fine in Europe. The fact that your phone "covers the right band" doesn't mean that it's unlocked.

If you're only going to be making occasional calls and receiving VERY FEW calls from the U.S., you might consider roaming with your home network. You won't have to worry about unlocking or buying another SIM. If you're expecting calls from the U.S., be sure to tell your contacts to CHECK THE TIME! Nothing worse than getting a call at 04:00 because some moron forgot the time zone difference!

Another option (if your phone is unlocked) would be to use a "travel SIM" from firms such as Cellular Abroad, Roam Simple, Mobal or Telestial. However, BE SURE to read the fine print carefully, so you have a clear understanding of the rates.

One VERY important point to note - if your phone is capable of data use (I-Phone, Blackberry), you might want to disable that feature as data roaming in Europe is incredibly EXPENSIVE!

One other point is to ensure that the Phone Charger is designed for "world operation" from 100-240 VAC. If not, you'll have to pack a Voltage Converter. IF IT IS designed to operate on Euro electrical systems, you'll need at least a Plug Adapter.

Who is your provider? Mine is AT&T. We took our phones to Paris a few months ago and we were able to use them without buying an extra chip. AT&T offers an International plan for $5/mo. per phone. That knocks off I think about $.50 a minute. We decided to add that plan for one month (they allow you to drop it any time) for our 3 phones. We only made a few brief calls, so in retrospect the plan cost us more than what we saved in calls. We leave for Ireland in 6 weeks and I am trying to decide if we should try the plan again or just use our phones as is. This upcoming trip we are leaving our daughter at home, so we might have a few more calls to make...

My brother spent 4 months in Europe last year (his provider is T Mobile)and he bought chips in various countries. He said the chip in France was expensive.

Hi Chister,

An 'unlocked' phone is one that you can replace the SIM card with one from any provider. Most phones that you buy here (well, Canada, I'm assuming the US is the same) are locked by the provider who sold it, meaning that you can't put a SIM card from another provider and have it work. My phone is locked, and I've not researched how to unlock it, but I'm sure someone else on here knows how to get a phone unlocked...

Haven't done it, but I've been told on this site that you need to call your service provider and ask them to unlock your phone. Sometimes they won't do it, or you need to ask for several people before someone will. Sometimes they charge a fee, and sometimes you can bring it to a service center and pay to have them unlock it for you. On RoamSimple.com you can get a France SIM card for $19. There was a post on the General Europe link a few days ago titled "anyone use Roam Simple?" (I think). It had a lot of good information about SIM cards and overseas cell phone use.

Thanks for all the replies. I understand it now.