Can my French cell phone work (cheaply) in Berlin?

Martine, Whether your phone will work with a SIM card in Germany will depend on whether your phone is unlocked. If it is unlocked, it should work fine in Germany. It won't matter whether you phone is a dual-band or quad-band. As it was purchased in France, it will have the two European frequency bands. Happy travels!

Thank you, Ken. I will find out if my phone is unlocked.

Martine, one easy way to find out if your phone is unlocked is to stick a SIM card in it from some other company. In the U.S. that would be T-Mobile or AT&T. If it works, it is unlocked. One caution: Your phone may only have the frequencies for Europe, so it might look like it wasn't working, but that might only be due to the fact that it couldn't find a radio signal and not that it was locked. You can search for your phone's name and model on the Internet and find out if it is designed as only a dual-band phone.

The phone only works in Europe. I guess I'll have to try there. Thanks for your help.

Martine, I suspect that the phone IS unlocked. European networks seem to provide unlocked phones, rather than locking to a specific carrier. If it turns out that the phone is in fact "locked", the Cell shop where you purchase the SIM card may be able to help you with unlocking (or will direct you to someone who can take care of that). Cheers!

Thanks for the tip, Ken! In that case, French phone will definitely be joining me in Deutschland. It's worth a try.