I bought a Tim Sim card in Italy during my visit there. I found that I can also use it in London, Istanbul, and Athens. My problem is that I'm unable to use it in the U.S. When I turn on the phone, it gets connected to the local phone networks like AT&T. I get the Welcome message from the network. However, when I dial a number, it doesn't go through. Does anybody know the correct code sequence for dialing within the U.S.? Thank you.
Posted by
The Hague, NL (AMS)
2207 posts
My wife struggled with this also when she went to the States for a visit. We found she could send and receive text messages (local and internationally) but could not call out. She was in the Miami area and it connected also with AT&T. So we adjusted and utilized the text function. A friend told me that the "service level" you will get in the US depends on what "partner" network you hook up with in the States? Not sure if that's correct but as of yet have had no experience to disprove. I am also seeking a BETTER answer to this issue as we use our TIM phone worldwide... but not in the US with a TIM Sim card.
Ciao,
Ron
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32212 posts
The first question I have about this problem, is whether the TIM cards were purchased on a contract or PAYG plan? If these are PAYG SIM's, that might explain why they work in London, Istanbul & Athens, but not in the U.S.
The GSM networks use a system called Transferred Account Protocol to manage billing between Operators. It's a bit difficult for a U.S. cell network to recover costs from a PAYG plan that was purchased in Europe, therefore usually only contract plans are covered for roaming.
When landing in the U.S. and switching on the phone, the network recognizes that a valid GSM phone is connected, but I doubt it "knows" which type of plan the user is on. That might explain why you get the "Welcome" message, but still can't use the phone. As for the fact that SMS messages seem to work, it's possible these are handled differently by the roaming protocols (the cost is minimal for these, so perhaps the various networks aren't concerned with these)?
I'll do a bit of research and if I discover anything that might explain this, I'll post another note.
Cheers!
Posted by
Calitri, Avellino, Italy (& US - where I live the majority of the time)
223 posts
ken -you totally lost me (I'm not that high tech!) but, my TIM doesn't work in the US - I just take out the card and pop in a T-mobile one when I'm in the US and switch the cards again whenh I'm in Italy.
Posted by
OP
Castro Valley
2 posts
Just an to my old post. I can call using my Italian Sim card within the U.S. All I do is dial as if I'm calling long distance from Italy. For example, if I have to call somebody in New York, I just enter 00 followed by 1 and then the area code and phone number. For some reasons, you can only recharge your TIM using an Italian-issued credit card. However, I found a way to recharge the SIM while in the U.S. by contacting GGE Communications in Italy. If you're interested, send an e-mail to Giuseppe Mannina at ggecom@libero.it and tell him the amount of recharge you want. There's a service fee of 5 euro. He will reply to you with instructions to pay using PayPal.