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Phone Collector
Has anyone just taken their prepaid T_mo phone to Europe...in FRANCE, GERMANY and
Italy.. and used to from there to make calls??
calls from there to North America and calls locally there ??
I know it can get pricey .. but can it be done?
I've got more phones than fingers
Your answer to your questions can be found here...
http://tinyurl.com/27flccv
T-Mobiles international rates are expensive.
In preparation for a trip to Europe we are planning I bought 2 quadband phones off GraigsList, unlocked them with codes furnished by T-Mo. Just before we leave I plan on buying international SIM cards such as ekit or similar (I'm in the preliminary stages of comparison shopping). International SIMs have less expensive rates and calls back to the US are reasonable.
I've climbed a cellphone tower
The link below has many useful info - to check out operators, bands used & prepaid options. You will find T-Mo in U.K. and Germany but USA T-Mo PP sim card will not roam international at all, except for Mexico & Canada. For Germany & France, it's partnering with Vodafone - might be worthwhile to get their prepaid sim card.
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/germany.html
Roaming calls & calls to the US using prepaid sim can cost easily 2.00 Euro + per minute compared to inexpensive local calls on their native network - as mentioned, unlocked quadband phone is a must - and data/sms charges are extra options, not a given. Euro networks are usually 900/1800 and WCDMA 2100 vs. North America's 850/1900 & WCDMA 1700 - research your existing phone's specs & plan accordingly. Buy a local prepaid sim kit upon landing oversea is often the best option - some of the global sim card offered on the web are overpriced & not worth the money.
Have a safe trip ....
NW.Fam.Share 1400 F&F, Unl. In-Call & N/W, Opera Mini/Skype w. WM6.5 & WiFi access, Goggle Mobile Maps/GPS. AT&T MEdiaNet & T-Zone on GSM. On the Job: UHF 5W Duplex HT DTMF-PL repeater (backup: 800Mhz Motorola & Nextel portables) - private 900Mhz alpha-numeric paging net for 24/7/365 Incident Command - Is your "Go" Kit ready? Mass Transit Tips: "If you see something, say something - Call 911 !"
Phone Collector
I don't think that TMO allows prepaid customers to roam internationally, other than in Canada, Mexico, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. See this page http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/prepaidrates.aspx
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I've got more phones than fingers
Originally Posted by lucky89
The link provided is for REGULAR TMO, not prepaid.
Your advise about unlocking the phone and purchasing SIMs locally in the country where you want to use them is probably good.
You are correct.
Post Machine
The only thing you can do with a T-Mobile USA account in Europe is call 112 (emergency services.) The only roaming T-Mobile USA has outside of the US is in Canada and Mexico.
And no, it's really cheap since you can't make any regular calls with it.
Moderator yahoogroups forum T-Mobile-US http://groups.yahoo.com/group/T-Mobile-US
Phone Collector
[QUOTE=lucky89;13798658]Has anyone just taken their prepaid T_mo phone to Europe...in FRANCE, GERMANY and
Italy.. and used to from there to make calls??
I tried my prepaid phone with USA T-Mobile SIM in turkey and greece in March 2010. The phone would not register on any network with that SIM.
All of my prepaid UK SIMs would register on one of the local networks. I would get a text message with the cost to make and receive calls.
I purchased a Greece SIM and it worked well in all islands and mainland areas.
I was unable to purchase a SIM in Turkey due to documentary requirements. Passport was not enough to purchase a prepaid SIM.
Phone Collector
No, you can't even do that, as it won't register with the network at all.
TMO USA doesn't roam outside the four countries mentioned (which is odd, as you would thing that at a very minimum they would allow the other T-Mobile countries), but you can use a UMA phone from a Wi-Fi hotspot overseas to use it at domestic rates (I do in Germany).
Most European markets are very competitive (France is a notable exception) and prepaid SIMs can be had very cheaply when you come to Europe, often with a giveaway phone, so in general an "international" SIM isn't worth the trouble (IMHO). For example, in Germany you can often get a Vodafone or T-Mobile prepaid SIM with basic phone for 7-10 euro at one of the big electronics stores like MediaMarkt. However, as their international calling rates are poor, the best all-round choice for visitors is the SIM-only Fonic, which costs 10 EUR for the SIM and has 9 cent calling to the US and European landlines. In the UK, prices are similarly low, except that cheap international calling is more common, with Vodafone offering 5p a minute to the US (you have to activate this with an SMS). And international roaming is standard.
As mentioned above, PrepaidGSM.net has a good overview of offers by country (Disclosure: I'm a regular poster there).
I've climbed a cellphone tower
Take a look at this T-Mo link for prepaid deals in England, free sim card, great choice of phones vs. USA T-Mo's and low rates for international calling starting at 5p per minute (that's less than 10 cents USD) -
http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobil...-you-go/costs/
When our visiting relatives living in France were staying here in the US, they're still getting free ??? incoming calls on their postpaid mobile phones, and if they do call back oversea, it's a matter of calling their parties abroad & then hang up, and let them call back & continue with the lengthy conversations - not sure if this is still good these days (I supposed being postpaid is a bit different) and what hidden deals/offers are for any of the major European based prepaid sims. Prepaid GSM.net is THE place to start out ....
Phone Collector
AFAIK, any GSM phone will register on any GSM network to allow calling emergency services, as long as the phone is able to operate on the frequency used by the network. Even a phone without a SIM card can be used to call emergency services.
The SIM card might not allow you to call anywhere else but you can always call emergency services.
I've got more phones than fingers
I think he's talking about using a US dual band phone which operates on 850-1900 frequencies in Europe where the frequencies are 900-1800. The phone would not connect for any reason.
AFAIK, any GSM phone will register on any GSM network to allow calling emergency services, as long as the phone is able to operate on the frequency used by the network. Even a phone without a SIM card can be used to call emergency services.
The SIM card might not allow you to call anywhere else but you can always call emergency services.
Post Machine
You are wrong. It won't register for regular calls, but as long as you have a handset that is capable of frequencies used in Europe it can be used to contact emergency services regardless of whether it "registers" with a network. The only place it won't work is in the UK where you have to have a working line to call 999 or 112. Pretty much everywhere else as long as you have a phone that works on that frequency you can call 112.
Post Machine
No, they won't get incoming free if they are roaming. They will pay whatever the roaming tariff is to reach them in whatever country they are visiting. And it doesn't matter if it's prepaid or postpaid they'll pay the roaming tariff.
I've climbed a cellphone tower
Thanks, this make more sense & that's why I had ??? about it.
For countries outside Europe, emergency/police number aren't always 112 (999 in UK & Hong Kong) - for China & Taiwan, it's 110.
As taken from wiki
Most GSM mobile phones have 112, 999 and 911 as pre-programmed emergency numbers that are always available.[1] The SIM card issued by the operator can contain additional country-specific emergency numbers that can be used even when roaming abroad. The GSM network can also update the list of well-known emergency numbers when the phone registers to it.
Using an emergency number recognized by a GSM phone like 112 instead of another emergency number may be advantageous, since GSM phones and networks give special priority to emergency calls. A phone dialing an emergency service number not recognized by it may refuse to roam onto another network, leading to trouble if there is no access to the home network. Dialing a known emergency number like 112 forces the phone to try the call with any available network.
Phone Collector
I was speaking from experience above. For whatever reason, when I tried it (in Italy, Germany, Poland, and the UK), the TMO USA SIM would search endlessly for networks, briefly landing on each and announcing "Network not available" - and not, as you would expect, "Emergency only".
But of course, if you use a phone that lacks the 900 and 1800 bands, you won't get anything at all.
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