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International roaming in the US with a European GSM phone
Three years ago, I bought a triband GSM phone with the idea of being
able to use it on visits to the US. (I live in Italy.) Since then, I have used it in other European countries with no problem at all. However, it has taken me a while to learn how to use it in the US. The first time I went to the US, I bought a SIM card from T-Mobile and used the phone in the New York and Philadelphia area. The card cost about $70, of which $40 or so were set-up costs. However, there was a bonus of 60 free domestic minutes, so the $30 of calls included in the cost really yielded $60 worth. Both incoming and outgoing calls within the US cost $.50 a minute. The card lasted me a little less than a week of my 12-day trip. What really soaked up the minutes was calls back to Italy. Worse, you have to buy more minutes while there is still a positive balance on the card, otherwise you have to start all over again with a new phone number and a new set-up cost. When I had a small balance remaining, an incoming call from my husband in Italy wiped me out. I decided to do without a cell phone for the rest of my trip. On my second trip, I decided to use international roaming. When I arrived in the US, I got an SMS message from my Italian provider telling me how to make calls back to Italy. It involved dialing *101*COUNTRY-CODE-PHONE NUMBER# and hitting send. Then an incoming call would alert me that my call was being placed. This procedure, although a bit cumbersome, worked fine. However, I couldn't manage to make calls locally in the US. I tried just dialing the number, which didn't work. I tried using the procedure as instructed for calls to Italy, but substituting "00-1" for the country code. "00" is the code for an international call in Italy, and I assumed that it would be needed because the call was being routed first to Italy. This didn't work either. In any case, I was travelling with my daughter who had a US cell phone, so I didn't persist very long in my efforts, but just used her phone for local calls. When I returned to Italy after that trip, I called Tim, my Italian provider and asked how to make local calls while in the US. The person who answered my call didn't know the answer, but transferred me to someone who was supposed to know everything. This person told me, after putting me on hold for a few minutes, that it was impossible to make local calls when roaming in the US. A few weeks ago, I again went to the US. I was undecided whether to buy a US SIM card or try the international roaming, using some other means for making local calls. I was a bit dubious about the information I had got from Tim; it seemed very strange that I could only use the phone for calls back to Italy. It occurred to me that I had never tried calling locally exactly as I called Italy, with the country code for the US ("1") and no code for international dialing. When I got to the US, I tried it and it worked. I used the phone for 12 days, supplemented by a cheap calling card I bought in a Duane Reede drug store, which I used for local calls whenever there was a phone handy. However, whenever I was in a place where it was inconvenient to use a local phone, I used my cell phone for both local and international calls. During the 12 days, I used about 60 euros worth of service. That is not exactly inexpensive, but it works out to less than buying a TMobile SIM card. I'm not sure if I was paying for incoming as well as outgoing calls, as is usual in the US but not in Europe. I also don't know if people in the US who called me were paying more than they usually would to call me in Italy on my cell phone. Finally, I don't know what my husband was paying to call me; he just dialed my local Italian number to reach me in the US. I don't have much hope of getting this information from Tim, since it seems as though they know next to nothing about the service. At any rate, until they get some better-priced prepaid SIM service in the US, I would recommend that Europeans try international roaming if they have a tri-band GSM phone. Occasionally when I made a call there was an inordinately long wait for it to go through; often I gave up and tried again later. Other than this, the service was pretty good. I've heard that GSM coverage is a bit spotty in the US, but I was travelling mostly within a few hundred miles of New York City. -------- Barbara Vaughan My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it. |
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International roaming in the US with a European GSM phone
Hi Barbara,
B Vaughan wrote: [...] someone who was supposed to know everything. This person told me, after putting me on hold for a few minutes, that it was impossible to make local calls when roaming in the US. Sounds unusual to me. A few weeks ago, I again went to the US. I was undecided whether to buy a US SIM card or try the international roaming, using some other means for making local calls. I was a bit dubious about the information I had got from Tim; it seemed very strange that I could only use the phone for calls back to Italy. It occurred to me that I had never tried calling locally exactly as I called Italy, with the country code for the US ("1") and no code for international dialing. When I got to the US, I tried it and it worked. It should be possible to call any number in the world while roaming in another network (at least this is the case with all 4 GSM operators over here in Germany). Always use the area code for all calls (even within the same city). That is to distinguish between network-wide GSM service numbers and (potentially identical) local phone numbers. the format of area codes may vary (here in GER they all start with a 0, this is a 1 in the US). I used the phone for 12 days, supplemented by a cheap calling card I bought in a Duane Reede drug store, which I used for local calls whenever there was a phone handy. However, whenever I was in a place where it was inconvenient to use a local phone, I used my cell phone for both local and international calls. During the 12 days, I used about 60 euros worth of service. That is not exactly inexpensive, but it works out to less than buying a TMobile SIM card. Roaming outside Europe IS expensive- up to 2 EUR / min. Local calls are a bit cheaper, as are incoming calls. I'm not sure if I was paying for incoming as well as outgoing calls, as is usual in the US but not in Europe. Situtaion for my GSM operator: When roaming in another country, you generally pay for incoming calls because the calling person cannot know you are outside your country and therefore only pays for a national call (you pay the difference for forwarding your incoming call internationally). Your phone number is still the national one! I also don't know if people in the US who called me were paying more than they usually would to call me in Italy on my cell phone. No, they pay the normal fee for calls to Italy (mobile). Again, you pay the cost fo forwarding back to the US. Unfortunately it does not help that your call is not physically routed via Italy... Finally, I don't know what my husband was paying to call me; he just dialed my local Italian number to reach me in the US. He pays the normal fee as if you were in Italy. You pay the rest (which is the largest part). HTH, Marc |
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