Re: Calling While On Holiday
America uses a different Cell network so i don't think you could just use a different SIM.
(dependant on the phone that you have)
I could be wrong though
edit: gonzo's post below clarifys what i meant by some phones: The 'some phones' i meant are ones that support GSM 1900 and 850
Re: Calling While On Holiday
Re: Calling While On Holiday
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GoNz0
That was actually one of the pages I read, but other pages seem to suggest that the phone itself needs to be registered to a network as well as the sim card (or is that just phone locking like we have here in the UK?).
My other issue is that ebay is telling me that each sim is going to cost about £20, which will amount to a small fortune for all the phones. In the bargain section, I'm sure there's been many threads just giving away UK sims. Is there a similar way to get free/cheap US sims?
Re: Calling While On Holiday
us is still very expensive for mobile networks, sms is always an option to keep costs down tho
also you need at least tri band phones afaik if not quad band to hook up to there networks, and yeh it has to be unlocked to use a us sim.
Re: Calling While On Holiday
GSM-900 and GSM-1800 are used in most parts of the world
GSM-850 and GSM-1900 are used in the United States, Canada, and many other countries in the Americas.
Tri band phones support GSM-1900 so they should work if they are unlocked
edit: Today, most telephones support multiple bands as used in different countries. These are typically referred to as multi-band phones. Dual-band phones can cover GSM networks in pairs such as 900 and 1800 MHz frequencies (Europe, Asia, Australia and Brazil) or 850 and 1900 (North America and Brazil). European tri-band phones typically cover the 900, 1800 and 1900 bands giving good coverage in Europe and allowing limited use in North America, while North American tri-band phones utilize 850, 1800 and 1900 for wide-spread North American service but limited world-wide use. A new addition has been the quad-band phone, supporting all four major GSM bands, allowing for global use.
Re: Calling While On Holiday
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GoNz0
us is still very expensive for mobile networks, sms is always an option to keep costs down tho
Sorry to keep throwing a load of questions, but I have another.
My first post kind of asked how a call to a UK mobile from a UK mobile with both of them located in the US would work. Does anyone have an answer?
The reason I ask is that it's probably fairly simple to find the cost of a call from UK to US, but I don't think I've seen the price of one as described above. Does it cost extra because the call (I assume) needs to go from my phone in the US to O2 in the UK and back again to the recipient in the US? Also, is the recipient still charged the 120p/min fee?
I was looking at prices, and I did notice that the minimum charge was for 1 minute, which is quote annoying at 137p/min.
Re: Calling While On Holiday
there are added fees as your network that you are registered to 'roams' on another network providers backbone to give you the signal...
but just dialing the mobile number in america should work, you don't need a country code or anything as far as i know
Re: Calling While On Holiday
I know that T-Mobile is a network out there... but if its the same as here I don't know.
Re: Calling While On Holiday
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jay
I know that T-Mobile is a network out there... but if its the same as here I don't know.
no, it's not the same network as here (just the same company), as they use GSM 1900 & 850 in the states whereas in the UK (and most of the world) they use GSM 900 & 1800
the states is actually quite far behind in it's acceptance of mobular networks.
but things are starting to change as instead of taking the intermediate step they are jumping straight to HSDPA. (mainly T-Mobile pushing things along) but it's still got a very low uptake.
Re: Calling While On Holiday
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ajbrun
The reason I ask is that it's probably fairly simple to find the cost of a call from UK to US, but I don't think I've seen the price of one as described above. Does it cost extra because the call (I assume) needs to go from my phone in the US to O2 in the UK
and back again to the recipient in the US? Also, is the recipient still charged the
120p/min fee?
I was looking at prices, and I did notice that the minimum charge was for 1 minute, which is quote annoying at
137p/min.
When calling a UK phone while roaming from another UK phone, you are both charged the appropriate part of the roaming charges. You are charged the outgoing portion as you are making a roaming call, the other party is charges the incoming portion for recieving a roaming call. So you can easily be charged a collective £2.50/min.
Unfortunitely the US doesn't really have decent PAYG as far as I know (unless this has changed). It certainally isn't as flexible as Europe (and indeed a lot of the rest of the world). I know someone with one phone and UK, Norwegian, Finish, Polish and Spanish PAYG sims.