US Cell Phones

[cabrales]

I'd appreciate input from US-based eGulleteers as to what US cell phone companies they utilize and whether their phones operate well, to the extent they are GSM-compatible, in France. An indication as to the reasonableness of roaming charges, if available, would be appreciated.

[jordyn]

Your options are basically this:

1) VoiceStream (most of the country) or PacBell (California): These carriers use GSM 1900. It is possible to buy dual-band GSM 900/1900 or tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 phones. MOST GSM 1900 PHONES DO NOT WORK IN EUROPE! Be sure to specify that you need a "WorldPhone" with multi-band capabilities. Once you have such a phone, it is relatively easy to activate a global roaming service. This enables you to use your same phone and same phone number as you roam to other countries. VoiceStream has good romaing arrangements with carriers in many countries, and coverage in France is quite good.

2) Nextel. Nextel uses an iDEN network domestically (iDEN is also used in a few other countries in Asia and Latin America). The Nextel i2000 Plus phone is a dual-band iDEN/GSM 900 phone. THIS IS THE ONLY NEXTEL PHONE THAT WORKS IN EUROPE, although roaming is possible to other countries with iDEN networks with all Nextel phones. Unfortunately, the phone is rather clunky and very large. As with Voicestream, it is straightforward to enable global roaming on this phone; you use your same phone and phone number in GSM countries. Coverage is generally good, although to slightly fewer countries than VoiceStream.

3) AT&T. AT&T uses a TDMA network domestically. As far as I know, the US is the only coutnry with a TDMA network. There are no dual-band TDMA/GSM phones. AT&T does allow you to acquire a SIM card that can be inserted into a GSM phone. This SIM card is programmed to use your existing AT&T wireless phone number, so while you are in Europe you must use a different phone.

To the best of my knowledge, all of the options above are extremely expensive when roaming abroad. VoiceStream, which I think has the most reasonable rates, charges approximately $.99 per minute in a few Western European countires, $1.99 in some other "major" countries, and up to $4.99 per minute in more remote places.

Sprint and Verizon use CDMA. There is some limited CDMA network availability in Latin America and Asia, and it may be possible to arrange for roaming while travelling to such countries. However, neither of these carriers offers a romain option to Europe.

I use VoiceStream and am very happy with the types of phones I can use and my ability to roam internationally.

[Fat Guy]

Cabrales, it depends on how much you're planning to use the phone. If it is for emergency contact only, you may simply want to get roaming activated on a US cell phone. But if you're planning to be even a moderate user, you should just buy a phone in Europe. I don't know what deals are available currently, but I just did it in Canada and it worked out very well. It was about $150 (that's Canadian dollars) for the phone and activation from Telus I think it was. Then I was able to buy my minutes in $50 increments. They were maybe 25 cents a minute and there was a deal where you got free evenings and weekends with a very advantageous definition of evenings. In the course of maybe two or three weeks of casual usage I think I started realizing a savings over what it would have cost to use my US phone on roam at 99 cents a minute. Now I have that phone and can use it any time I go to Canada -- there's no monthly fee, you just buy the minutes as needed. I believe there are similar arrangements available in Europe.

[jordyn]

Pre-pay plans are indeed available in Europe and are generally more economical than comparable plans in either the US or Canada. Keep in mind, though, that if you do not use your phone for an extended period of time, its service may be deactivated, and you may lose any minutes that you prepaid but did not use.

One other advantage to using a European cell phone (or, if you have a non-SIM-locked GSM 900 cell phone, a European SIM card) is that incoming calls are generally free in Europe. This usually does not apply when roaming with a US carrier.

The downside to Fat Guy's approach is that you have to use a different phone number when abroad. Some US carriers may allow you to forward your phone number to the new one, but generally you will pay international long distance for this.

[anil]

You need a tri-band phone with GSM carrier to operate successfully in Europe.

Voicestream (soon to become T-Mobile) is the most reliable. Last year, Voicestream did not charge be international roaming, or incoming calls in

seven countries in Europe,Asia and South America as they (so I was informed) ironed out inter-carrier agreements.

You could also rent-a-phone. If you manage to get an inexpensive non-blocked tri-band phone, you could buy prepaid cards.

[Wimpy]

Hi Cabrales-

One suggestion- have you ever heard of SMS? It's the short message texting feature available on all GSM phones. It's fantastically popular in Asia where I live and essentially allows you to text messages via your GSM handset to another's at much lower rates than a voicecall. The response time is also almost instantaneous even across the globe (depends somewhat on your service provider's network configuration).

The drawback is that some have little patience for tapping out a message on miniscule keys. Also, of course you can only text to another GSM mobile handset owner.

When I travel abroad, my wife and I carry GSM phones and SMS each other when we invariably get separated (she's off looking for bags, me for food). Also, I touch base with friends/family at home via SMS without having to make a voice call (save that for emergencies and when you want to hear your kid's laughter).

Just a thought...

Trivia: The volume of SMS texting (per day) in the Philippines exceeds the volume of SMS texting in all of Europe combined.

[jordyn]

You need a tri-band phone with GSM carrier to operate successfully in Europe.

Triband phones include GSM 900/1800/1900. Dual-band phones available in the US will be GSM 900/1900.

Generally speaking, for roaming purposes GSM 1800 is not necessary, especially in Europe. In some places in Europe, it will be used by secondary carriers, but only when GSM 900 carriers are already in place.

[cabrales]

jordyn -- Thanks for the very useful information. Voicestream is promoting a basic package of (600 weekday minutes + unlimited minutes on weekends + free long distance and roaming within the US) for $39.99/month ($29.99/month for the same package with 200 weekday minutes). It's a decent deal even before taking into account the ability to use the same phone in France. According to one person at Voicestream, calls made from France to other points in France or to the US are 99 cents per minute -- not terrible (pricing to be confirmed; interested members should verify prior to reliance).

The two models I am considering are the Sony Ericsson T68M and the Motorola V.60. Do you have thoughts on either of the phones?

http://shop.voicestream.com/do/saveHome;js...x=30&GO%21.y=17

[Fat Guy]

Cabrales, also be sure to investigate Voicestream's actual coverage in France. The physical ability to receive a signal does not necessarily create a functioning phone. There must also be coverage agreements in place with local carriers. So you could be somewhere, getting a very clear five bars of reception, but you could try to make a call and get some sort of message in French saying essentially we don't recognize your phone. Generally -- and I can't say whether this general statement is true in France or not -- a foreign provider will make the requisite arrangements for coverage in major cities but the more sparsely populated areas can slip through the cracks. A domestic provider is more likely to cover the entire relevant geographic area to the greatest extent possible. Also 99 cents a minute is quite a bit of money if you're going to use your phone for any significant amount of time. I mean, you're basically talking about $60 per hour for both incoming and outgoing. At 1/4 that cost for minutes, plus no charge for incoming minutes, plus possible free evenings and weekends, a phone specifically purchased for Europe can easily pay for itself in three or four hours of usage. In terms of educating people about a new phone number, I consider this a good thing. I make my US cell phone number widely available -- I'll give it to you if you like -- but when I go to my Canadian phone I give that number only to my family and essential business contacts.

[cabrales]

Steven -- Thanks. I will investigate the possibility of purchasing a local phone once in France. In the meantime, however, the Voicestream US plan is not bad and there is no extra charge for enabling coverage in France (apart from calls actually made). I asked about the partner carriers in France, and was told there were three, including the significant carrier Orange.

[Fat Guy]

What is your primary intended area for US coverage, and are you planning to travel a lot within the US? Voicestream is not necessarily the best choice. In my opinion if you plan to be in New York mostly, you get the best reception with Sprint. And if you're going to be all over the place, Verizon is the way to go. Jason knows more about this than any of us, though -- perhaps he'll chime in.

[cabrales]

Steven -- I do not plan to travel very much within the US. Are there indications the reception in NY for Voicestream is less than acceptable?

[jordyn]

Cabrales: I have essentially the same plan as you mentioned through VoiceStream and have generally been very happy with roaming internationally. Fat Guy raises a good point regarding GSM coverage (just because you've got a signal doesn't mean you've got coverage), but because VoiceStream generally negotiates romaing agreements with multiple carriers, you are often slightly better off than if you were depending on a single domestic carrier's network. Specifically, in my recent trip to France, I was never without coverage despite driving in areas without any major cities or towns nearby. Also, if T-Mobile follows the same type of strategy that Vodaphone has adopted for international roaming, that there may be some cheaper options as long as you stay on a T-Mobile affiliated network.

Keep in mind, however, that VoiceStream's coverage in the U.S. is not particularly good outside of major cities.

One advantage of having a multi-band GSM phone is that you can take a middle route between Fat Guy's suggestion of acquiring a phone in Europe and using international roaming. It is possible to obtain a pre-paid SIM card from a European carrier. Simply place this in your phone and it will begin acting as a "European" phone, with the European phone number and pricing scheme. This will require a phone that has been SIM-unlocked. VoiceStream will allow you to do this after you have been a paying customer for at least 90 days.

Regarding the phones you mentioned, I would prefer the T68M. I am not particularly fond of Motorola phones generally, and actually find the V60 too small to talk into comfortably. The T68M has some amazing features (admittedly, that you are unlikely to use) and the one person I know who owns this phone is very happy with it.

[jordyn]

As an added note, although as I mentioned, VoiceStream has large gaps in its coverage outside of cities in the US, I find that coverage within the cities is quite good--I have not encountered major dead spots in any city since moving to VoiceStream in March. (The debates over which carrier has good coverage in which place is a bit of a moving target--the answer now is not likely to be the same six months from now.) Moreover, I think GSM degrades more elegantly than either CDMA or TDMA; generally you can lose quite a bit of voice quality before the audio cuts out completely.

[Jason Perlow]

Jordyn pretty much has it covered... Voicestream really is the only cell provider which will operate in both Europe and the US.

At the end of the day though, if you are going to be in Europe for an extended period, it may make more sense to get a pre-paid cellular phone in Europe, instead of dealing with roaming or any other extra charges for the privelage of having the same phone in Europe and the US.

[anil]

Both Voicestream (T-mobile) and NexTel have coverage in Europe. NeXtel's i2000. Nextel is also there in Brazil and Argentina. AT&T, does rent out a SIM for european usage- the coverage (i.e. agreements with other carriers) is spotty.

If monies are no object, try Satphone

[cabrales]

One advantage of having a multi-band GSM phone is that you can take a middle route between Fat Guy's suggestion of acquiring a phone in Europe and using international roaming.  It is possible to obtain a pre-paid SIM card from a European carrier.  **Simply place this in your phone and it will begin acting as a "European" phone, with the European phone number and pricing scheme.  This will require a phone that has been SIM-unlocked.**  VoiceStream will allow you to do this after you have been a paying customer for at least 90 days.

jordyn -- Did you purchase your cell phone from Voicestream? I need the SIM unlocking to be done earlier, and a "hack" vendor has V66s that is already unlocked. I have my trepidations about purchasing from anything other than a Voicestream store, and will investigate this weekend. Also, any thoughts on the v66 versus the v60?

[jordyn]

Cabrales: I purchased my phone from an authorized VoiceStream reseller, not from VoiceStream itself. This is a common arrangement and not one that should provoke a significant amount of concern. (Although vendors who hack their phones may be ones that I would think twice about doing business with...)

I was actually able to convince Voicestream to unlock my phone somewhat prior to the 90 day window, but I don't know how reliable this would be.

I can't comment about any specifics regarding the V66 vs. the V60. Generally I find Motorola phones to be less appealing than either Nokia or Ericcson phones, in terms of styling, user interface, and battery life. However, these differences are often quite minor and subjective in their nature.

[Fat Guy]

Cabrales, I vote no on any phone with a flip or other mechanical mechanism. They're just that much easier to break. Go for something that's a brick.

[jordyn]

I believe the T68 is a one-piece phone, and quite compact as such phones go.

I like a well-desiged flip. The Ericcson T28W is an example of such a phone; mostly a brick, with a small flip element that has thus far proven very resilient.

[Fat Guy]

Not in my clutches it wouldn't be resilient! I even managed to wreck the old Sony CMZ100 or whatever it was called -- probably the sturdiest flip phone ever imagined.

[jordyn]

Now that I think about it, my phone's flip is not so much sturdy as unobtrusive. I imagine it would be quite easy to break, but it seems to be always getting out of the way.

[Fat Guy]

I've wrecked so many flip-style phones -- I think I can point to five, maybe six -- and it took me forever to give up on them. But it only took a few days with my Audiovox CDM-8100 to convince me never to go back. It's such a sturdy contraption, it feels good in my hand, and it's quite thin so it sits in my pocket as well as some phones that are technically smaller. Good battery life, easy-to-read display, all the stuff I need and cheap.

[Wimpy]

By the way, does anyone know whether prepaid SIM cards are sold in France? If so, I plan to purchase and plug it into my GSM phone instead of using the roaming feature on my native SIM.

Thanks.

[cabrales]

Wimpy -- That's only a solution with respect to outgoing calls.