Help with Cell Phones in Europe

A very limited response. I have a Palm/Verizon and it doesn't work in Europe. When I inquired at Verizon they indicated that they would rent a phone that worked in Europe and the charges would be rough a dollar a minute. I am not that important so I passed.

Unlocked phones don't work differently than locked ones. A locked phone is one that is limited to service from one provider. You can get a code to enter to unlock your phone so that you can replace the current SIM card with one from whatever country you are visiting, assuming you have a phone that will physically work in Europe. You could either buy a SIM card for each country or look at international SIM cards that cover many countries. If you google "international SIM cards" you'll be able to investigate several different companies. There have been lots of previous discussions about phone options here. You might try looking at the topic "getting more answers to your questions" for information about searching for them.

Thanks. I'm a newbee and wasn't sure how to search the archives. Thanks for the tip.

Peter,

Are you planning to carry on with business when you're travelling and receive calls in Europe? That will have a bearing on which phone option to choose. Be sure to consider the time difference for making & receiving calls.

As you noted, your regular Verizon phone won't operate in Europe as it uses a different technology (Verizon CDMA vs. GSM which is used in 85% of the rest of the world). One unique characteristic of GSM phones is that these use a SIM card which is a small chip about the size of a postage stamp (normally sits under the battery). This contains subscriber information and the phone number.

As a previous post mentioned, a "locked" phone will operate only on the network that originally sold it, while an "unlocked" model will operate on any GSM network simply by inserting a new SIM card.

One other important point is that to travel in Europe, the phone handset must also be a quad-band model. Europe uses 900/1800 MHz frequency bands, while North American GSM networks use 850/1900 MHz (there are additional bands for data, but you can ignore those for now).

A few possibilities.....

You could rent or buy a phone from one of the "travel phone" firms such as Call In Europe, Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Mobal or Telestial. They also offer SIM's for those that have their own phone. The advantage of using a "travel SIM" is that the rates would be the same in all the countries you'd be travelling. Be sure to check their rates carefully so you have some idea on what the costs might be.

You could buy an unlocked phone off E-Bay or elsewhere, and buy SIM's in Europe when you land. However, keep in mind that if you buy a SIM in Italy, when you use this in other countries you'll be "roaming" and the rates will be higher. I don't feel that buying a new SIM for each country is a practical solution, as the number will change each time.

Good luck!

I bought a quad-band unlocked GSM phone (Motorola RAZR) from Tigerdirect.com a couple of years ago and then got a multi-country SIM card through Range Roamer. It's been easy to use and a satisfactory solution for us. It may not be the cheapest method, but it's all done before I leave on my trip.

Prepaid SIMS can be cheaper, if you reliably use most or all of the SIM value when you travel. If you come home with $10 or $20 of unused value on your preaid SIM, it will probably expire before you can get back to Europe. In this case it may have been cheaper to use a postpaid SIM like Telestial, even if it costs something like $1.49 a minute (particularly if you only use your phone for 10 or 15 minutes on a trip).

Peter,

Getting back to the point that I mentioned in my first post, are you going to be conducting business while you're in Europe and receiving calls from customers???

If you use either a European SIM card or most of the travel SIM's (which are often based on networks in Lichtenstein or elsewhere in Europe), any customers calling you direct will have to call an overseas number and pay the long distance. You may be able to get around this to some extent by forwarding your regular number to your travel phone. However, in that case you'll be paying the long distance on every call (but your customers will be happy as they'll still be calling your local number).

One of the firms I mentioned, Call In Europe has a "Keep My Number" option which allows call forwarding. Another of the firms, Roam Simple offers "Business Solutions" services and a "Direct Connect" option which will allow you to forward your normal Cellphone to your travel number. You'd have to contact them for all the details.

The "bottom line" is that travelling with a Cellphone is a wonderful convenience, but it can be expensive (especially with data roaming). The biggest challenge is to keep the costs to a manageable level. I've been travelling with a Cellphone for a number of years (so far using roaming with my home network but I may consider a travel SIM in future). I keep costs down by using text to contact family back home most of the time, supplemented with E-mails when I can get to a Net Cafe. I try to keep voice calls to a minimum!

Hope this helps. Good luck!

I am NOT conducting business in Europe--purely pleasure trip. Nor do I want to phone home to the USA or receive calls from friends and family in the States. My sole purpose is to make reservations at hotels and sights and other travel-related communication. I will be phoning from one country to another to make reservations in advance of traveling there.

Peter:

Given your latest reply, you definitely should get a GSM phone that will work in Europe. I've bought them from ebay and from tigerdirect (a source another poster mentioned). Because you label yourself as "pretty illiterate" when it comes to cell phones, I'd be tempted to get a new one from tigerdirect rather than take a chance. Or, you can just buy one when you get there. There is more selection and sometimes even better prices, despite the exchange rate. (I see you've listed Italy first as one of your destinations. If it is your first stop, this last bit of advice may not be good. I seem to recall that there is some difficulty for foreigners to get mobile numbers in Italy (and France, too). England is the easiest.

The European Union now regulates how much a mobile carrier in one country may charge for calls from one country to another in the EU. Did you check out the slowtrav link? Search there for roaming with cell phones and you'll find an explanation on these limits.

Peter,
I am also looking into a cell phone for an upcoming trip. The best option that I have found for our particular application is Eurobuzz (owned by Mobal). You buy the new phone ($49) and they keep your credit card number. They bill you every 15 days or 100 minutes of use($.79/min). As long as you are in Europe the calls within Europe or back to the States are .79/min. This is the best option I have found for us. I like it better than the prepaid because you will never run out of minutes. If you are planning on traveling to other continents (in the future) this will not be a good option as the cost can exceed $3.00/minute. For Europe this is the cheapest I can find. You could allways buy a Sim card in the future ($10) and use the phone. I have not used it yet but can let you know how it worked in early Feb. Happy Travels!

Peter,

Thanks for the clarification in your lastest Post. Based on the circumstances, some options you might consider:

Purchase a quad band, unlocked GSM Phone off E-Bay or other sites (or course, the "caveat emptor" rule usually applies, although I've found most vendors to be reliable). Not only would you be able to use it on your spring trip, but also on future trips. If necessary you could always pick up a PAYG card from AT&T or T-Mobile and use it in the U.S. if desired. You could use the phone either with a SIM card from one of the "travel phone" firms that I mentioned earlier, or pick up a SIM card from an Italian network when you arrive there. You'll have to check the rates to determine which choice will be the best option for you.

Purchase a phone when you arrive in Europe. This may be a dual-band (Euro only) model, a tri-band or a quad-band. Buying an unlocked model would be a good idea, so that you'll be able to use with other SIM's if the need arises.

When using a SIM (and plan) from one of the Euro networks, be sure you're clear on how to top this up (usually very easy). On the issue of roaming with Euro phones, the E.U. has managed to reduce the roaming charges somewhat but be sure to consider the higher roaming rates when looking at the which option would be best for your situation.

If you want more comments and suggestions on this topic, you might have a look at www.howardforums.com as that's the most knowledgeable Cell phone group that I know of. If you ask the same question there, you'll probably get some interesting replies.

Good luck and happy travels!