# Cell phones in a foreign country **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 8, 2008, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-in-a-foreign-country/455638 "2008-07-08T02:13:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-in-a-foreign-country/455638/21 "2008-07-09T16:37:09Z")
[QUOTE=wheresgeorge04] My wife and I would like to go to Europe, probably within the next 2 years. [/QUOTE] The good news is that you have lots of time to sort this out. I bought a GSM phone from [http://www.mobal.com](http://www.mobal.com) – you can get one for as low as $49.00, but I opted for the next service level up. It’s a U.K. company, so you get a U.K. phone number … but it doesn’t change because you are buying the phone and you keep it. It’s a one-time purchase – no monthly charges. You are only charged when you make a call. It’s hassle-free because the SIM card in the phone works all over Europe and most of Latin America. This means that you don’t worry about whether you will get a signal as you cross borders. It works, period. The catch is, you are charged when you make a call – and the per minute rates are moderatley high. But that fit my needs well, as I only wanted a phone that I would use in emergencies while I am overseas on business, which is once or twice a year. That, and to make one or two calls on each trip to briefly check in with my family back in the States. I didn’t use the phone to conduct business, make hotel reservations, chat with friends, or anything else that would run up my bill while overseas. But if I really needed to do any of that, I knew that my Mobal phone would be there and that it would work for me. If you have similar needs, this option may work for you. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-in-a-foreign-country/455638/22 "2008-07-09T23:06:38Z")
[QUOTE=susan] Not true. I have a Verizon phone that works about everywhere but Japan, and my old Verizon phone worked in a number of countries. [/QUOTE] OK, so you bought a special Verizon phone that is specifically designed to be used internationally. That’s not the same as taking your Verizon phone oversees and expecting to make calls. CookingWithGas: > [@](#): > > I’ve been a Verizon Wireless customer for something like five years and this was news to me until I looked it up. Verizon does indeed offer phones that will work on GSM networks and corresponding calling plans for them. Yes, you can rent or buy a special phone from them. They have done this to cover the fact that their standard phones won’t work on the GMS network. It’s a far cry from taking your iPhone oversees, turning it on and being able to make calls back home by just touch screening who you want to call on the “Contacts” screen. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-in-a-foreign-country/455638/23 "2008-07-09T23:42:14Z")
[QUOTE=Spartydog] Yes, you can rent or buy a special phone from them. They have done this to cover the fact that their standard phones won’t work on the GMS network. It’s a far cry from taking your iPhone oversees, turning it on and being able to make calls back home by just touch screening who you want to call on the “Contacts” screen. [/QUOTE] FWIW, I have heard rumours that Telus, one of Canada’s two large CDMA carriers, is thinking of switching to GSM. This is an enormous undertaking that will involve putting in new transceivers on every one of their cell sites, probably replacing a lot of their network infrastructure, and giving each of millions of subscribers a new phone. And they’ll have to do it in stages as well, running old equipment in parallel with new. But such things have been done before, such as when Rogers shut down their old IS-54/IS-136 “TDMA” system ( a digital system which pre-dated GSM). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-in-a-foreign-country/455638/24 "2008-07-10T18:40:34Z")
[QUOTE=Spartydog] OK, so you bought a special Verizon phone that is specifically designed to be used internationally. That’s not the same as taking your Verizon phone oversees and expecting to make calls. [/quote] Actually, it’s exactly the same. You just get a multi-band phone instead of a CDMA phone. You take your Verizon phone overseas and make calls. > [@](#): > > It’s a far cry from taking your iPhone oversees, turning it on and being able to make calls back home by just touch screening who you want to call on the “Contacts” screen. It’s exactly the same, except it’s not an iPhone. You use the same phone at home or abroad, same Contacts list, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-in-a-foreign-country/455638/25 "2008-07-13T13:27:40Z")
One other data point: check out [Lebara](http://www.lebara.com/) for a SIM. It has a 4 pence ($0.08 USD) per minute from England to the US. Even the roaming wasn’t outrageous. When I took it to Germany I think it was 30 pence per minute. I could add minutes through the Internet, too. That was extremely handy as we were in a different city every couple days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phones-in-a-foreign-country/455638.md?page=1)