Sattelite phone

A regular cell phone can work, assuming it's a GSM phone, your carrier provides the service, and your phone is enabled.

You should contact your carrier to find out.

A satellite phone is not required but you need to have a cell phone with a card for Europe. Your cell phone may or may not have the card required. Call your cell phone provider and ask. I use Verizon and they do not work there - so they told me - I went and bought a phone just for Europe and it was quite convenient. I got a UK phone number and can use all it over the world now.

Hubby just got a new phone and card through Verizon that WILL work there.

Really? Verizon's phones typically don't work in Europe. I would suggest anyways that you use a calling card or Skype as they are MUCH cheaper in any case.

We have AT&T (formerly Cingular), and our phones worked great. My brother has Verizon and said that, even though his phone is GSM, Verizon doesn't offer service.

Just an update. Hubby just called me from Sienna - on his new Verizon phone. It works just fine. It sounded like he was right here - except for the fun accordian music in the background!!!

Margaret, it would help to know which model of "regular phone" you're using, and which network you're with? As the others have stated, if you have a quad-band GSM phone, you should have no trouble using it in Europe via "roaming" with your home carrier. AT&T and T-Mobile offer GSM service in the U.S. Verizon & Sprint (among others) use CDMA technology which is not compatible with GSM networks (except as noted in the next paragraph).

Sally, your husband likely obtained one of the "dual technology" handsets that are now being offered by some of the CDMA networks. Two of these products are the Blackberry 8830 and Motorola A840. These also contain a GSM transceiver, and with a "travel SIM card" provided by Verizon (or other vendor), these are useable in Europe. However, I believe the roaming costs are slightly higher than that offered by GSM networks. This type of roaming seems like somewhat of an "awkward" solution, as while travelling the user is paying for two cell plans (CDMA postpaid and GSM prepaid), only one of which can be used at any given time. However, it does provide a solution, one that many people seem willing to pay for. I'm not surprised that he "sounded like he was right here", as I've found the audio quality on GSM networks to be excellent!

I always travel with a quad-band GSM phone using roaming with my home network (Rogers)! I tend to use it primarily to keep in touch with family back home via SMS (since I travel solo these days), and also for short "in country" voice calls (to confirm Hotels or whatever). It's been an extremely valuable and cost effective travel accessory so far (the call charges are fairly predictable). I call it my "American Express" phone - don't leave home without it!

Cheers!

Thanks so much for all the good information. Now I must get busy and check out my Motorola and find out what kind of service I have.

Margaret

Margaret, if you could indicate which cell network you're with, that would help to narrow things down very quickly! Also, which model is your phone handset?

Cheers!

My phone is a motorola razr and my service is cellular south.
thanks.

Margaret,

Unfortunately, it appears that Cellular South is a CDMA network, which means that your Motorola RAZR won't work in Europe. I checked their website briefly under "roaming", and it appears they do offer a Blackberry 8830 World Edition for those on a 2 year voice contract. I couldn't determine whether they are able to provide the SIM card for operation in GSM countries?

You might want to call your Cellular South representatives, to find out what options they provide for roaming and the costs for this service.

Another option would be to buy an UNLOCKED quad-band GSM Phone (such as a Moto RAZR) on EBay and use a travel SIM from Cellular Abroad or Telestial, or a PAYG SIM on an Italian network (TIM, WIND, etc.). You could also buy a Euro Phone from C.A. or Telestial if that would be easier. Be sure to check their web sites so that you have a very clear idea of what the rates are!

Good luck!

My regular cell phone doesn't work in Europe, so I purchased one through CallInEurope. It worked very well - shipped right to my door in Canada, very clear service while in Europe, and good piece of mind to have it with us to confirm hotels and restaurants in advance. And all of that for only $49.00!

http://www.callineurope.com