Phone for use abroad in England?

Question

I have a US verizon phone, but will be studying abroad for a year. What do you suggest is the best option for me regarding cell phones?

Are there any good places to buy a cheap used cell that I could insert a sim card from the uk into when i get there? also, do all tri/quad band phones work abroad?

Answer 1

Hi Jen
Your best bet if you are going to purchase a GSM phone here in the States would be getting an UNLOCKED quad-band GSM phone. England is GSM900 and GSM1800 so be safe and get a quadband. On Ebay, you can get a brand new unlocked non carrier branded motorola quadband phones cheap.

As of todays offerings for UK PAYG, I would recomend getting a T-Mobile UK sim. Again, based on todays offers, they are the best for a American spending time in England.
All call to UK mobiles and landline are 15p a minute. All incoming calls are free. You can also buy a package for cheap calls back to America. You can pay £2.00 and that will give you 50 minutes of calls to america, thats 4p a minute to phone back home.
You can get a T-Mobile UK sim prior to leaving the US, the sim will have your UK # that you can give to family and friends before you leave. You can also top-up the card before you leave if you use an American Express card
Cheers

Answer 2

While I was staying in the UK as an exchange student, the cheapest mobile deal I found was a pay as you go SIM card from Talkmobile (available at the Carphone Warehouse). Calls to the US only cost 4p a minute, while texting is a bit more expensive (15p). A good alternative is Lebara, where calls cost you 4p a minute and 10p per text to the US. As always, there's an up- and a downside in regard to priceplans. These two deals are cheap for making calls abroad, but aren't the best offers for making calls in the UK.

Answer 3

My son is studying abroad this fall, and the company that I have his cell phone with is PICCELL. Very reasonable rates.
www.piccellwireless.com