I’m heading down to Chile on a trip. I’m going to be renting a cell phone down there. Chile uses the GSM system for cellphones.
Will someone in the US be able to use SMS (i.e. text messaging) to reach me on the phone in Chile?
Shouldn’t be a problem. Once the message has left your phone and entered the system, compatability isn’t a problem. I’ve had messages from as wide apart as the USA and Thailand, normally just as fast as if they’re locally-sent.
The international SMS agreements between U.S. and outside carriers can be complicated. To really get an answer, you’ll need to know which carrier you’re going to use in Chile, and which one your associates are using in the U.S., and then find out if the U.S. carrier can exchange SMS with the Chilean carrier.
Doesn’t it depend on whether the user in the US is using the GSM system as well? Or perhaps, like Mr 2001 said, it’s a carrier agreement thing. All I know is that when I lived in Europe, I was pretty much able to send SMSes anywhere in the world except the US. That is, until T Mobile entered the market. I have since returned and have found that with T Mobile (which uses the GSM system), I’ve had no problems texting my friends abroad. With other providers and systems, though, I have been unable to send international SMSes.
I plan on using the only proven method of finding out if this works.
When I get to Chile, I’ll turn on the phone, type out a message and send it to my friend in the U.S.
But will my Chilean cell phone work when I’m on Easter Island?
Not really. For example, Verizon Wireless uses CDMA, but they can exchange SMS with BellSouth Chile. (They have a list of carriers in other countries on www.vtext.com if you click the “TXT International” link.)
That’s probably because T-Mobile is an international company, so they already had SMS agreements with plenty of other carriers. Text messaging is only starting to become popular in the U.S., and carriers that only do business here haven’t cared about supporting it until recently.
I’ve exchanged SMS messages with India, no problem. I’m on AT&T here in the U.S.
According to AT&T, they have service agreements with BellSouth International, Entel PCS, and Telefonica Movil in Chile. If your friends here use other providers, they should be able to find out the same info.
If you find you can’t go phone to phone, maybe your Chilean provider will have a web to phone service that your friends can log into to send you messages. (Again, AT&T has the same kind of service here - go to http://www.mobile.att.net/messagecenter/ to see what I’m talking about.) Alternatively, your friends might be able to use Yahoo or MSN Messenger to send you short messages. Kind of a pain, but I just thought I’d point out a couple other possibilities.