Posted June 21st, 2010 by Janeese Parker
As my good friend and colleague who I’ll just call the “Girl in the Paisley Dress” goes off to Europe for a well-needed getaway, I’m wracking my telecom brain to help her navigate the mobile phone landscape for travelers abroad. In an attempt to make her the quintessential savvy traveler, I’ve decided to blog about useful tips when traveling with a mobile phone overseas, as it may serve other travelers well.
First on the list is to find out what type of phone she has to see if it will work in Europe as some U.S. phones work in Europe and others do not. She should check with her carrier to see if her phone is GSM enabled (the European standard).
If the phone is not GSM enabled, she should consider one of the following: She could buy a GSM enabled phone in the U.S., which would allow her to use her same phone number while overseas (so that her friends and family can call her on their speed dials). She could also buy a cheap phone at her destination that matches her paisley dress, with a local SIM card. The SIM card is sort of like the brain of a GSM phone and the phone will not work without it. Or, she could take her GSM phone and put a local SIM card into it when she gets to Europe.
Advantages of buying a SIM card overseas:
She gets a local number, no roaming charges, free incoming calls (usually), international calls and text messages will be cheaper than from her U.S. phone, local calls at her destination are not international calls so are much cheaper, and she has to pay as she goes so there are no hidden costs.
Disadvantages of buying a SIM card overseas:
She will not have the same number she has in the U.S., she must have a phone (or buy a mobile phone) that can take the SIM card, and people calling or texting her from the U.S. will be calling or texting to an international number so it may be more expensive to the calling party.
Since the Girl in the Paisley Dress usually has her stylish pink phone glued to her ear, I recommend that she get a cheap mobile phone in Europe and then buy a SIM card with prepaid minutes so that she knows how much she is spending on her phone.
Here are some Do’s and Don’ts for the Girl in the Paisley Dress traveling in Europe:
For more information on our “Wireless World Travel Week”, see the following resources: