Im going to England/Ireland in a few months and need a cell that works there. I was told Cingular has them but I'm in a contract with Verizon and I dont want to leave them since they give better service. Can I get an international cell from them?
2006-11-28 15:34:00 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Consumer Electronics ➔ Cell Phones & Plans
How often do you plan on going to Europe and for how long? If you go a lot and want to use your US number over there, Verizon has "Global Phones" you can buy. There's the Motorola A840, Samsung A795 and Samsung I830. These phones work in both CDMA and GSM. Service is $1.29 per minute.
If you don't go very often, you might be better off renting a handset from Verizon. They charge $4 a day and $1.49 per minute. Alternatively, you can purchase an el cheapo GSM unlocked phone on eBay and use a SIM card Verizon will provide you with for $10. Make sure the phone is made for European GSM frequencies; 900 MHz and 1800 MHz.
For more information on Verizon's international services, visit:
http://www.vzwrentinternational.com/
Something else you may want to consider is purchasing a pay as you go service in the country your travelling to. Remember in Europe on mobile phones, incoming calls are free as they are paid for by the person calling you. For example, at Carphonewarehouse in the UK, you can buy 10 pounds worth of airtime and you'll get a free SIM card. This is with the "Mobile World" service. You can use this in a handset you get from eBay for cheap. The service costs 5p/min to the US and Canada. Incoming is free and calls within the UK landline and mobiles are 15p/min. Their service uses the 1800MHz band so you'd have to have a phone capable of using that frequency and it should also be unlocked. Older Nokia phones are typically cheap on eBay, reliable and are often unlocked by the person selling it or you can usually do it yourself with a keypad code from any number of code generators found with google.
2006-11-28 15:58:35 · answer #1 · answered by Geoff S 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
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2016-08-07 13:58:05 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Verizon does NOT offer cell phones that use a SIM card chip, which is what you'll need. I have a nice Motorola Quad-Band that I bought for use in Canada and here in the States so I know what you are going through right now. I bought mine on e-bay and a very reasonable price and I'm very happy with it. The "quad-band" refers to the different megaHertz signals that different countries use to make and receive calls.
It's nice that you are loyal to Verizon, but for your trip you'll need a multi-band cell phone. I was able to buy a year's worth of talk time
for $100 from T-Mobile.
You have time before your departure to go online and check out the different service providers.
You want an UNLOCKED cell phone which allows you to use the provider of your choice WITHOUT signing a contract of any sort.
Have fun in England!
2006-11-28 15:49:57 · answer #3 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You MUST have whats called a tri or quad band PHONE!!!
They operate on different frequencies over there and the phone must be able to switch from ours to theirs and back !
Then you gotta have a GSM provider. T Mobile is one !
Im not sure if Verizon is GSM or not !
All Europe has IS GSM technology so this is CRITICAL !
T Mobile is GSM here and there. ATT is too I believe
Ask them !
If you do the above and are willing to pay about a dollar a minute extra-you can make and get calls as if you were at home !
I do it all the time and it costs $$$$$$
2006-11-28 15:38:47 · answer #4 · answered by fred6636 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well you will need a Quadband phone helps and you really need a digital phone not analog. I know cingular has GSM which is very big in Europe, dont know about Verizon, I suggest asking a sales person.
2006-11-28 15:38:31 · answer #5 · answered by The-Natural 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know if they SELL them but I do know they RENT them however you have to go thru a larger market to get one. The nearest to me that can do it is Denver so you may want to call customer service at 800-922-0204, enter your cell number then it's option 0 to get a live person and ask about international phone rentals. Last I checked (about 2 years ago) it was fairly expensive but it may have gone down.
2006-11-28 15:41:42 · answer #6 · answered by cell_chik 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You want a GSM phone; basically, a phone with a sim card. Cingular would work, as well as T-Mobile.
2006-11-28 15:39:17 · answer #7 · answered by the_bald_one_mpls 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Verizon only has CDMA phones. CDMA doesn't work in Europe. You need a GSM phone.
2006-11-28 16:10:56 · answer #8 · answered by Joan of Fremont 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
nope you need a different kind of phone because verizon doesn't use sims card
2006-11-28 16:39:53 · answer #9 · answered by Kung-Phu 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why not call customer service and ask?
2006-11-28 15:38:29 · answer #10 · answered by know_it_all_NOT 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋