Will cell phone from Cingular work in Asia?

Question

I have a cell phone that works with Cingular SIM card. I'm going to Asia soon. Does anyone know if I can use my phone over there with their service? Is it possible to crack the phone and make it workable for Asian GSM wireless companies?

No, I don't want to use the service from Cingular in Asia. I just want to use the phone itself. I will buy a prepaid GSM SIM card over there. The country I'm going to is Mongolia. They have a cellphone company called "MobiCom" that uses GSM network. All the phones that work in Russia, Korea, Japan & China also work with "MobiCom" without even cracking it or unlocking it. My phone is "Sony Ericsson W600i". Any ideas? Do phones from Cingular support GSM feature?

Answer 1

Check your phone's documentation to see if you have a quad band phone, meaning it can operate on 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz radio frequency bands. If it is a quad band phone then you can use it in any country that supports GSM networks, which would mean most of the world. I don't mean that you can necessarily use it with Cingular service, but the phone itself will be able to work. If your phone is not a quad band phone then it will be harder to use it abroad, and you may be better off just purchasing a prepaid phone when you get to Asia.

If you can use your phone, I would recommend buying a prepaid international sim card anyway, or research your destination country to see if you can buy one there. You can get your phone "crack"ed, but most people I've heard have referred to it as unlocking a phone ;). Most US cell phone carriers make their phones only work with their own sim cards, or "lock" them. When you put a non Cingular sim card into your phone it will prompt you to enter a code. If you call Cingular customer service they should be able to give you an unlock code, or some companies call it a subsidiary code. I don't believe that cellular companies can legally not allow you to unlock your phone if you request it. Then you can just shop around for an international sim card that will give you the best rate for the country you will be in. As far as I understand it, you could also just wait till you get to Asia to buy a sim card there. Most every country besides the United States sells prepaid sim cards that you can put into any gsm phone.

Answer 2

Depends on the phone. Did you know the phone you buy here is different from the same phone sold in europe. Has to do the the GSM feature. Like Sims cards are all different. But you did not say which phone you had. Some usa phones are not sold in Europe cuz they do not have the GSM feature. But never worry, if in Asia your phone does not work, you can always rent a phone there.

Answer 3

nicely, those GSM numbers are the bands that it helps, like radio frequency.despite if that's a Quad Band telephone which helps all 4 bands, you ought to use it everywhere interior the worldwide. however the bands that cellular telephones use in North usa of america are the 850/1900 MhZ. basically make effective that it says it helps those GSM bands/frequencies.

Answer 4

it will work but they will charge you extra for 'roaming'. check with cingular.