cell phones in britain

Heather, how long are you going to be gone? AT&T has begun offering an international package that you can get for the length of your trip and although it isn't cheap, it is easy to get, especially for a short trip. It lets your kids call your home cell numbers and reach you. Look at the AT&T web pages that talk about international use: AT&T International There are other options. Check out the discussion that has appeared here in recent months. For example: i phone use in europe Can we stand another question about phones/sim cards in Europe? AT&T cellphone in Scotland

Heather, You'll first have to check whether your phones are quad-band models, as they won't work in Europe unless they have the two European frequencies. Also, are you on a monthly contract plan or PAYG with AT&T? Another very important question is whether you're using Smartphones (ie: iPhone or Blackberry) which access cellular data). Data roaming charges can be HUGE so you need to address that question. If you're only making a few voice calls and using text most of the time, roaming with AT&T is a reasonably cost effective option if you sign up with their "international roaming" plan (you'll have to check with them on the current costs and details). One other point to mention is that anyone calling your home number will reach you wherever you are. It's highly annoying to be paying expensive incoming call charges for frivolous calls (or worse yet, to be awakened by frivolous calls at 03:00). Be sure to tell your contacts NOT to call you when you're travelling! You'll have to verify whether the Chargers for your phone are designed for "world operation". Look for the words "Input Voltage" which will be listed somewhere on the Charger. If this states "100-240 VAC" then you'll only need Plug Adapters. Happy travels!

Some points to consider: If you want people in the US to be able to call you, you'll want to stay with AT&T. That's because calls from the US to a UK cell phone are very expensive (much more than calls from the US to a UK land line). Receiving calls on a UK mobile is free, regardless of where the call originates; this is the downside of that arrangement. However, texts to a UK number from the US are usually not expensive (varies by plan, but the most I've heard of is $0.50). And everything else about a UK cell is much cheaper: calls within the UK, calls from the UK to the US, and receiving calls (as I said, this last is free). If you want to receive any calls within Britain, you'll want a UK phone; they're not going to want to make an international call to reach you. So, if you have several phones and don't mind carrying them, you might do best with one on AT&T (to receive calls from the US) and one or two unlocked with a UK SIM (to use for calling within the UK and back to the US). This is assuming you have quad-band phones and they are unlocked (or you can get them unlocked). If you have to start buying new phones and/or paying to get them unlocked, this starts to erode any cost advantage of using a UK SIM. It all depends on how many calls you are making. continued..

continued.. The UK is a very competitive cell phone market (they say "mobile" rather than "cell"). For details (and I mean details) of rate plans, etc. check out this site: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/uk.php My friend uses T-Mobile UK, and has done very well with their "boosters." These are deals where, for instance, you put on 5 pounds of credit, then get 10 pounds of calls to the US. As I said, other UK carriers probably have similar deals, so if you're making a lot of calls home, you'll really save with a UK SIM vs a US one.