I use Google maps on my Blackberry phone (ATT/GSM) here in the U.S. I'll be traveling to Italy, Switzerland and Germany and want to access the Web. DO SIM CARDS PROVIDE AFFORDABLE INTERNET ACCESS and DO I NEED A SIM CARD FOR EACH COUNTRY if I want internet by phone?
Posted by
OH, OH, USA
1158 posts
Greg,
You will need to check with ATT. I am with t-mobile and they claim there would be a charge of $.35/KB but I've never been charged anything when I use the internet overseas.
You don't need a different SIM card for each country, you use your ATT service overseas.
Posted by
Richardson, TX, USA
153 posts
I have a GSM phone (a Treo 680) with Internet capability. The rates for international roaming are quite high, and Google maps is an application which chews through the megabytes very quickly. I limit my web use when out of the States to email and mostly don't download the full messages or attachments unless it seems particularly interesting.
I have used a local SIM from time to time, but it's not a sure thing that you'll get to the web with it. I had a prepaid SIM which I used for local calls.
Posted by
U-District, WA
45 posts
I've been wondering a similar thing about my upcoming trip to London, Scotland and Ireland. My past experience with ATT (calls only didn't have the Blackberry at that point) is that overseas roaming is really expensive--.99 a min (and that's with their add-on that makes global roaming less expensive).
I haven't tried yet, but it might be possible to research what providers in those countries have to offer/if the internet connection is possible to obtain. Like I said, I haven't tried yet, but I would think it wouldn't be too hard to find out who the local providers are and from there to find their website.
Good luck!
Posted by
Hendersonvlle, NC
486 posts
Check http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en which will show you both national and international operators. Click on the offers for each and see what they charge for internet/data use.
Posted by
Rochester, NY
25 posts
What you're really looking for is a GSM/HSDPA connection data card - there was a wiki with all the different countries and their respective plans/prices/requirements.
In the end, it would require a local SIM to access each country's network, and the cards ran anywhere from $25-$35 for a "monthly" contract. You would get blazing high speed internet if you had an HDSPA (3G) connection, or regular old EDGE (2G), but I think you're better off either using Google Earth on a mini-laptop, buy a GPS, or print out maps/occasionally use wifi when available.
Brian
Posted by
Gloucester, MA, USA
59 posts
ATT charges .0192/kb for roaming data in any counry in the world regardless of the dataplan you have in the US.
If you have a $139 international dataplan, you get the first 100MB free then pay the .0192/kb after that but only in certain countries.
Google maps will eat datafast. I would only use it for email (no attachments).