My husband is leaving for Saudi for 6 months?

Question

And we want to be able to keep in touch via cell phones. We have cingular. Can he use his phone over there? He has a motorola slvr. Also I have heard that you can buy pre paid sim cards for over there? is this true? anyone know where to buy them?

He is going to Eskan Village. Not sure whats closest to that.

Answer 1

More than likely his cell phone won't work. In Qatar, my bosses Blackberry will work, but I think its because its using a military system.
He can get a cell phone over there, but I am not sure how much it will cost. In Qatar, which is near Saudi, they had stores just like here in the US. I assume he is going to Rihayd, and since its the capitol, I am sure there are plenty of stores there that sell them.

Eskan Villiage is near Rihayd. I was assigned about 50 miles south in Al Karj. I can't remember how its spelled, we called it Al's Garage.

Answer 2

Yes - The motorola slvr should be a quad band phone and will work internationally. Double check and make sure it is "quad band" just ask any cingular rep next time your in a mall.

The phone must be unlocked before it will work with a prepaid sim. Again ask cingular to unlock the phone. You can buy prepaid sims online just do a search for them include the words prepaid sim and saudi.

To learn more about unlocking cell phones and links try dan mobile's blog at http://danmobile.blogspot.com/

Answer 3

You'll be able to buy them online. The SLVR is a quad band phone and can be used internationally where ever a GSM signal is present. In Saudi they do in fact use GSM (900 band). The one thing you will want to do is call Cingular and tell them that you will need to unlock your phone to be able to use an international prepaid SIM card that you have for when your husband goes to Saudi. You will not be able to use the prepaid SIM until the phone is unlocked, other wise you will be stuck with Cingular's roaming fees:
country details

Saudi Arabia
INTERNATIONAL WIRELESS CARRIERS, COVERAGE, AND SERVICE

Network Carrier-(Coverage)-Available Services -Technology & Frequency
Aljawal -(Covers Riyadh and major highways.)-Voice- GSM 900

Etihad Etisalat Company-mobility-(UMTS coverage is available in the cities of Riyadh, Buraidah, Unaizah, Dammam, Dhahran, Khobar, Jubail, Ras-tanurah, Qatif, Safwa, Saihat, Jeddah, Makkah, Madena, Taif, Abha and Khamis Mushait.)-Voice, Data-EDGE, 2-way text messaging-
UMTS 2100; GSM/GPRS 900
You may not be able to place calls to international destinations other than United States while roaming in this country. Calls can be completed within the visited country and back to the United States.

INTERNATIONAL WIRELESS ROAMING PER MINUTE RATES
Roaming:
Calls Placed/Received
While in Saudi Arabia
Cingular Standard International Roaming $2.49
Cingular World Traveler $2.29
Data Usage:
All GPRS pay per use rates are $.0195/KB

Text, Picture and Video Messages:
Send Text Message $0.50/ message sent
Send Picture and Video Messages $1.30/ message sent
Receive Text, Picture and Video Messages Home pay-per-use or package rates apply to all text, picture or video messages received when roaming internationally. Please visit www.cingular.com for details.

Answer 4

yes. he CAN ue it over in saudi.

his first option is to roam. since the slvr is a quad band phone, it will work in any country. however, roaming charges will be very expensive.

i recomment buying pre paid sim cards. they're a good easy way to make calls back to the US and stuff. plus, it wont affect your cingular bill back here in the US.

Answer 5

If you have a domestic plan from cingular no. Contact them and see what they have for international plans. Also look up sat phones not cheap but really cool.

Answer 6

Sorry that I do not know about the phone....
but I want to let you know that your husband (and you) will be in my prayers.