 About cellular service options
THE VERY BASICS
To use a cellular phone when traveling you need to have two things:
- The Phone - a Tri-band GSM phone, and
- The Service - a subscription to a network, provided in the form of a SIM card (a small chip inserted into the phone)
ABOUT THE SERVICE
The SIM card used with the cell phone determines your service rates and coverage. In other words, to switch from your current service plan to another you just need to remove the SIM card from your phone and replace it with another.
This is the procedure that you would want to do if you want to escape from the ridiculously extreme roaming rates offered by the cellular providers, and particularly the US and Canadian ones (Roaming rates is what you pay when traveling outside of you cellular provider's coverage area).
With the differences in rates you can save up to 80 or 90%! Depending on your usage profile, this could sum up to hundreds of Dollars per trip.
BUT, there is a small and very important detail to verify. Most cellular phones, especially phones provided as a part of a monthly plan are SIM-LOCKED. In other words they are programmed to accept only SIM cards from your current cellular provider. It also means that with a locked phone you cannot use a more economical service when traveling.
If your phone was not specifically purchased as an unlocked phone, then it is most likely locked as most of the phones are provided with a plan and they come locked. To verify you can try inserting a SIM card from another provider (borrow from a friend).
Unlocking your phone is one possibility. There are usually costs involved and a certain risk of ruining your phone.
Bottom line – you WANT an unlocked phone to have the option of much better rates when traveling
Your options for a world cellular service
Selecting the service that is right for you depends greatly on your travel profile.
Before diving into the alternatives, there is important background to understand. In most countries around the world cellular billing system is different from the one used in North America. In the US and in Canada, the user of the cellular phone pays for use of airtime regardless of who initiated the call.
In Europe and many other countries, there is a different system. The calling party pays for the full cost of the call. In other words receiving a call to your cellular phone is always free and paid in full (including the airtime) by the calling party. The exception to this rule is when the cellular user is traveling outside of the carrier coverage zone.
When using this SIM card outside of your providers coverage are (i.e. traveling overseas with a Cingular, T-Mobile, AT&T or Rogers plan) your cellular phone subscribes to antennas and network of a different cellular providers. Both providers want a cut of the action and you are charged painful rates for "Roaming". Roaming rates are also charged when you buy or rent a local country SIM card. If for example you have a local SIM from the Spain and you are now traveling to the UK, you will be penalized for roaming.
With the above in mind, these are the general types of GSM services available for travelers:
Using the SIM card from your current carrier |
Very Expensive
As soon as you are traveling out of the coverage area of your carrier your rates fall under the definition of "Roaming Rates". In most cases there is a charge for both incoming and outgoing calls. Some carriers simplify the roaming rate table by offering a flat rate per minute, usually over $1.50 per minute!
Letting go of your current cellular provider and choosing any of the alternatives will most likely result with significant savings of somewhere between 50-90%
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Using local country SIM cards |
Good for local calls
A SIM card from a local provider in your travel destination country has no roaming charges as long as you remain in that country. In most cases it would also offer free incoming calls and very good rates for calling local numbers
International and long distance calls are relatively expensive and you do not want to travel with these SIM cards outside their coverage zone. Roaming charges are painful, especially on some of the prepaid cards.
If you travel often of plan to visit several countries you should get local SIM cards for every destination country, or consider other alternatives.
Local SIM cards are available either prepaid or post-paid.
Prepaid SIM cards are available in most countries for anyone who walks into a cellular shop, post office, shopping mall or kiosk. You buy a card charged with initial credit and reload it with more credit whenever your balance runs low (or out).
Prepaid cards are usually limited in their lifetime so whatever credit is left at the end of your trip is in most cases lost. Factor that into the service costs and you will find that the real cost of calls was higher than the published rate.
The reload and support that comes with local cards is also an issue as in many countries it is offered in local language.
Post-paid SIM cards require a subscription contract and are available only to local residents or through rental companies. There are contracts to be signed, logistics of receiving the phone and SIM before the trip and then returning then at the end of the trip. There is no lost and unused credit, but the rental offerings usually have monthly minimums and minute plans (including premium fees for minutes used beyond the plan quota). Factor all the above into your cost of using the phone to have a sense of the real rates.
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Using global roaming SIM cards |
Great for long distance and roaming
These SIM cards are implementing a callback system that enables them get the best of all worlds:
Incoming calls are free in most countries
No roaming charges – meaning that you can travel with the SIM card to numerous countries with the same rates
Very competitive long distance and international rates
The majority of these SIM cards are prepaid but without the expiration sting of the local SIM cards. These SIM cards may be valid for more up to nine months from the last use. Make one call and you just extended the card validity by another nine months. On the down side, most of the roaming cards do not support data and local calls might be no the high end compared to the local country SIM cards.
The credit on their prepaid account does not expire as long as the card is valid, so whatever was not used in a given trip or month will be available for the next trip.
Owners of these cards can use the same cellular number throughout the world and their travels. Reload is multi-lingual or at least in English and is made very simple via Internet, SMS or physical scratch cards with reload codes.
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