International Cell Phone Service ?

Edwards Finance > Phones

Q. If you're buying an international 'world phone' be sure it operates in all three bands and is 'unlocked' to allow it to work with any service provider in the world.

A. This week we talk about how to get a cellphone that will work everywhere in the world. In part two we talk about the most affordable way to get inexpensive airtime as you roam around the world, including a strategy that will allow you unlimited free incoming calls, and in part three we offer a strategy that gives you one number that will work anywhere in the world. Part four summarizes the four different options you have for getting cell phone service internationally and helps you to choose which is best for you, while part five helps you choose the best type of phone for service in the countries you travel to. Lastly, part six showcases a very low cost solution for infrequent international travelers. Why Aren't All Cellphones Compatible? There are two answers to this question. First, there are various different types of radio frequencies and encoding services which different cell phone services use - and if your phone doesn't receive the frequency and encoding of the local service, it becomes, of course, useless. The second problem is a commercial problem - your phone will only work on other companies' services if there is a cross-billing (ie roaming) agreement between the companies. Roaming is common within the US, but becomes more problematic internationally. We talk about roaming in part two of this series. To get cellphone service in another country you need both a compatible phone and a compatible account. You can either buy or rent a cellphone, either in the US or overseas, but be sure you get one that will be compatible internationally in the countries you plan on traveling to (see part six). And you have several different ways of getting airtime as well. Read on for an explanation of all these issues and suggestions on the best way to get a phone working. Frequency and Compatibility Issues The good news is that almost everywhere in the world (except for the US and Canada) uses GSM type digital cellphone service. This service was originally at a frequency of 900 MHz and now increasingly is being upgraded to an 1800 MHz service. If you have a GSM phone, in theory you can access service in 212 different countries! (As of Nov 04) By contrast, in the US, most digital cellphone service is both of a different type (CDMA or TDMA, or, in Nextel's case, iDEN) and a different frequency as well! There's some good news and bad news, however. First the good news : Recently, several carriers have started introducing GSM type phone service in the US. Now for the bad news : Sadly, this GSM service is in a different frequency band to the rest of the world - 1900 MHz instead of 1800 (and 900) MHz. And there is no way that a 1900MHz phone will work at 1800 MHz (or vice versa). Frustrating, isn't it! Note that not all other countries use regular 900/1800 MHz GSM. Notable exceptions include Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, and some Central/South American countries, although there may be some limited coverage GSM networks in these countries, and/or GSM networks at the US 1900MHz frequency. These issues are discussed in detail in part six. Multiband Phones Some phone manufacturers (eg Siemens, Ericsson and Motorola) have started making dual and triple band phones to enable you to have a phone that will receive 1900MHz (and sometimes 850MHz) in the US and either or both of the international frequencies as well. This is a wonderful solution if you want one phone to work both locally and internationally. If you are going to choose one of these phones, it is very strongly recommended that you get a triple band phone that includes both the international frequencies as well as the two US frequencies. Murphy's Law being what it is, if you get a phone with only one of the two international frequency bands, you'll surely end up in black spots with no service much more frequently than if you'd bought a full triple band phone. So - bottom line summary : You need a 'tri-band' or 'quad-band' GSM phone that operates at 900/1800/1900MHz for maximum compatibility. Dual Band Phones This is an ambiguous term. It might mean a phone that has both the international frequencies (900/1800 MHz), or it might mean a phone that has one international frequency plus the US frequency (ie 900/1900 MHz). A dual band 900/1800 MHz phone works well everywhere except the US, where it is useless. A dual band 900/1900 MHz phone works perfectly well on the US GSM network, and on most (but not all) of the international GSM network. Triple Band Phones These are better. The cover either both international frequencies plus one US frequency, or both US frequencies and one international frequency. Most modern phones are tri-band. We recommend you should choose a tri-band rather than dual-band phone. A Warning about 'Triple Band' phones Now that the US is using two frequencies for GSM service (see the next section on Quad band phones) some phones are being sold as triple band phones which feature both US GSM frequencies and only one of the international frequencies - the 1800 MHz band. Unfortunately, the 1800 MHz band is less commonly used than the 900 MHz band in the rest of the world. This makes these types of triple band phones not as useful as a triple band phone with both international frequencies while traveling out of the US.

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