global cell phone options

I'm in need of a global cell phone, but I really have no clue what all the acronyms mean (like EV-DO and 3G, etc). I'm not sure what I should look for in a global cell phone. I've been told my current phone is N. America only. I've also been told I can just buy "SIM cards" while in other countries and it would be cheaper than using my North American provider while overseas.

So, requirements: functions as a phone in at least Europe and South America.

Would be nice: functions as a phone in North America as well so I only have 1 phone to carry all over.

I have a separate PDA, so I don't need an all in one phone, but I'm not opposed to that.

What should my list of specifications look like to fit my needs? Some suggestions for moderately (<300 USD) priced phones would also be welcome.

where are you going middle of nowhwere jungle or desert? if so you need a sat phone and that is enough.
I you are planning to stay in areas where there is cell coverage all you need is the phone to be quad band and unlocked. tri band does not worl because in certain south amrican countires they use the 850 band. thus you have a lagre range of phones which can be used.

Yep, GSM quad band is the way to go.

Assuming you live in the US, the other important thing that you'll need to do is request international service for your phone. You can get international cell calling plans from your carrier for $3-$5/month and these will offer substantial discounts on international long distance and roaming.

AT&T/Cingular had the best rates the last time I looked. Roaming in country calls can be expensive, a couple of dollars/minute in the most expensive and much less in developed countries.

If you're going over for work, and you have a longer call, you might ask to borrow a colleagues phone.

Have a great trip.

i agree with the GSM quad band phone
that's what i use and have had no issues using it around the world, except for japan of course ....

even with roaming, it's amazing how expensive some countries are (like germany and the netherlands) and how cheap other countries are (like switzerland and hong kong) so trying to find a calling plan with your carrier as suggested above is a good idea

Dont know much about the options available but I have a global Blackberry with Verizon and it worked great in Europe. But it's expensive, about $1.50/min iirc

Cost $100 with my usual 2 year renewal

Not to hijack, but are there any global pre-paid cell phones?

My current phone is a Verizon phone. It will not work overseas. I rarely travel outside the US so this is fine by me; Verizon coverage rules in my area.

However, this year I will be taking two trips to the Far East. A pre-paid global phone would be just the ticket for those trips. Once I'm done with the trips, I can ditch the phone.

Thanks in advance.

Your verizon phone should work in Asia as CDMA (most verizon tech) is the preferred standard there. Japan is its own special place however.

When I looked at prepaid global cell phones, most were much more expensive in both fee and per minute call charges than paying roaming.

I have heard that it is cheaper to rent a phone on the ground in country. I never did this myself, but it makes sense.

what you really want is two gsm phones.

I used to use cingular, and that gave pretty good service. now I have sprint, with a quad band gsm/CDMA phone. that works everywhere, except korea and japan.


CDMA phones from the US shouldn't roam internationally - some places use CDMA, but I don't believe US phones will roam there, unless CDM you have personal experience with that.


why you want two phones? - get one unlocked and pick up a local sim where ever you go. that is absolutly the cheapest way to go. then, people can call you on your number, and you call them back on your local sim, or have your co-workers and family call you on the local sim. to give you an example - in india you can get a sim that calls the US for less than 10 cents a minute, and is less than 1 cent a minute local, although that is pretty cheap. most places sell sims in the airport, you just have to get used to picking them up.


there are global prepaid cards - I used one for a while, it was basically a call back service, but it wasn't such a great deal for the agrivation involved. I would do an internet search, I don't remember the company name. but, you could get a sim like that for using in countries where you don't want to buy a local sim because you will only be there for a day or two.

if you have specific questions, let me know.

Depending on areas where you'll be traveling, check out either TravelSIM or United Moible. Difference is the countries where they have free incoming and cheaper outgoing.

Originally Posted by Ace Rimmer

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Not to hijack, but are there any global pre-paid cell phones?

My current phone is a Verizon phone. It will not work overseas. I rarely travel outside the US so this is fine by me; Verizon coverage rules in my area.

However, this year I will be taking two trips to the Far East. A pre-paid global phone would be just the ticket for those trips. Once I'm done with the trips, I can ditch the phone.

Thanks in advance.
Yes, there is. You can google it but I've seen it advertised in SkyMall of all places. There's a company that will give you a cheapie triband with a world sim. IIRC, you are not charged monthly/annually, rather, only when you make calls. There might also been something crazy like free incoming calls/texts but this was about a year or so ago that I remember seeing the ad. If you had to do a lot of traveling to different continents, that honestly doesn't sound like such a bad idea. If you were only traveling to say, France and England, or countries known for GSM coverage and easy prepaid sim access, then I'd probably advise you to get a used UNLOCKED GSM phone off ebay and buy sims when you get to that country. Often times ebay will also have people selling prepaid sims from certain countries at a discounted rate.

Thanks for all the advice. Either way I need a new phone, so I may use the two phone option since the sims are cheaper than an international calling plan.

Ditto on the Verizon BB. I have the World Edition and it works just about everywhere, including getting my email.

Do you plan to browse the web and/or receive emails in different countries?
You can buy international internet service from verizon, but beware, it is a total ripoff ! (I really don't understand providers' policy, they discourage people from buying this service, and lose much revenue).
Anyway, if you plan on only reading emails, use BB.

my plan with sprint is $60 a month for data, world wide. all my emails, all my surfing, for $60.