Does Go Phone work in Europe?

I'll be travelling to Germany next month and I have a Cingular GoPhone
account and an LG C1500 device. I've looked on the Cingular website and
it indicates that the phone will work there, however, it is not clear
as to whether I have to subscribe to some service or if it I do,
whether it is available for a Go Phone account. Does anyone know if I
have to subscribe to some other service?

---

› See More: Does Go Phone work in Europe?

On 1 Sep 2006 07:30:16 -0700, [email protected] wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>I'll be travelling to Germany next month and I have a Cingular GoPhone
>account and an LG C1500 device. I've looked on the Cingular website and
>it indicates that the phone will work there, however, it is not clear
>as to whether I have to subscribe to some service or if it I do,
>whether it is available for a Go Phone account. Does anyone know if I
>have to subscribe to some other service?

What did Cingular say when you called Customer Care?

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

On 2006-09-01, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:

> I'll be travelling to Germany next month and I have a Cingular GoPhone
> account and an LG C1500 device. I've looked on the Cingular website and
> it indicates that the phone will work there, however, it is not clear
> as to whether I have to subscribe to some service or if it I do,
> whether it is available for a Go Phone account. Does anyone know if I
> have to subscribe to some other service?

IIRC, you've got a couple choices:

1) Have international roaming activated on your account.

2) Get your phone unlocked and get a prepaid SIM card for Germany.

If you're going to make more that a few phone calls, 2) is
probably cheaper.

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! Yow! I'm out of
at work...I could go into
visi.com shock absorbers...or SCUBA
GEAR!!

Grant Edwards <[email protected]> wrote:
> IIRC, you've got a couple choices:
> 1) Have international roaming activated on your account.

Ouch! That's a few dollars per minute in most places.

> 2) Get your phone unlocked and get a prepaid SIM card for Germany.

For post-paid accounts, Cingular will provide the unlock code if you call
customer service, or submit the request via the "contact us" web page.
I don't know if they would unlock a go phone, though.

> If you're going to make more that a few phone calls, 2) is
> probably cheaper.

Some few calls... There would be a charge to get a phone unlocked if
Cingular won't do it for free, and then the base price of a foreign SIM,
which usually includes enough call minutes to be somewhere near $0
eventually. But the roaming rates from Cingular are high enough that it
wouldn't take much to tip the balance.

I'm not sure how well go phones roam internationally.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

On Fri, 01 Sep 2006 14:52:47 GMT, John Navas
<[email protected]> wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>On 1 Sep 2006 07:30:16 -0700, [email protected] wrote in
><[email protected]>:
>
>>I'll be travelling to Germany next month and I have a Cingular GoPhone
>>account and an LG C1500 device. I've looked on the Cingular website and
>>it indicates that the phone will work there, however, it is not clear
>>as to whether I have to subscribe to some service or if it I do,
>>whether it is available for a Go Phone account. Does anyone know if I
>>have to subscribe to some other service?
>
>What did Cingular say when you called Customer Care?

Oops! Just checked, and your phone is:
GSM 850 USA) / GSM 1800 (non-USA) / GSM 1900 (USA)
For international use you also want the GSM 900 (non-USA) band.
I'd suggest getting a cheap unlocked phone on eBay for international use
that has both GSM 900 and GSM 1800 bands.

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

On 2006-09-01, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
> Grant Edwards <[email protected]> wrote:
>> IIRC, you've got a couple choices:
>> 1) Have international roaming activated on your account.
>
> Ouch! That's a few dollars per minute in most places.

Yup. Useful for emergencies, but painful for chit-chat.

>> 2) Get your phone unlocked and get a prepaid SIM card for Germany.
>
> For post-paid accounts, Cingular will provide the unlock code
> if you call customer service, or submit the request via the
> "contact us" web page. I don't know if they would unlock a go
> phone, though.

Can't hurt to ask. T-Mobile's site lists the conditions for
unlocking phones, but I never could find the same info on
Cingular's web site.

>> If you're going to make more that a few phone calls, 2) is
>> probably cheaper.
>
> Some few calls... There would be a charge to get a phone
> unlocked if Cingular won't do it for free, and then the base
> price of a foreign SIM, which usually includes enough call
> minutes to be somewhere near $0 eventually. But the roaming
> rates from Cingular are high enough that it wouldn't take much
> to tip the balance.
>
> I'm not sure how well go phones roam internationally.

Dunno. Check the specs on the phone. If it's dual band it's
probably 850/1900 (which won't work in Eruope which operates on
900 and 1800).

The cheaper go-phones like the Moto C139, Nokia 6030, Sony
Z300a, are all dual band phones that won't work in Europe.

The Pantech C300 is "tri-band" (850/1800/1900), which will work
in Europe.

For best coverage in Europe you'd want a quad-band
850/900/1800/1900 phone like the Razor V3.

You can get cheap unlocked GSM phones on craigs list or eBay.
Last time I checked the latter, there were a large batch of
Moto V220 or V400 (I forget which) quad-band phones that were
going for around $40-$50, and some quad-band V180's going for
about $40.

Tigerdiret.com also has unlocked GSM phones at decent prices.

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! I wonder if there's
at anything GOOD on tonight?
visi.com

Grant Edwards <[email protected]> wrote:
> Can't hurt to ask. T-Mobile's site lists the conditions for
> unlocking phones, but I never could find the same info on
> Cingular's web site.

Cingular is pretty good for a normal account.
I've had subsidy unlock codes delivered within a couple of days of the
request. They require that you turn on international roaming, which costs
nothing. But that's on a post-paid plan.

> > I'm not sure how well go phones roam internationally.

> Dunno. Check the specs on the phone. If it's dual band it's
> probably 850/1900 (which won't work in Eruope which operates on
> 900 and 1800).

I don't see any mention of roaming rates for the go phone.

> The cheaper go-phones like the Moto C139, Nokia 6030, Sony
> Z300a, are all dual band phones that won't work in Europe.

John Navas pointed out that the phone in this thread is not suitable for
use in Europe.

> You can get cheap unlocked GSM phones on craigs list or eBay.

I was surprised at how cheaply a friend sold a Cingular locked V3.
I would have taken it at that price.

> Tigerdiret.com also has unlocked GSM phones at decent prices.

And if the Cingular go SIM worked in the new phone, it would be an upgrade
for home use as well.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

[email protected] wrote:
>
> Grant Edwards <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Can't hurt to ask. T-Mobile's site lists the conditions for
> > unlocking phones, but I never could find the same info on
> > Cingular's web site.
>
> Cingular is pretty good for a normal account.
> I've had subsidy unlock codes delivered within a couple of days of the
> request. They require that you turn on international roaming, which costs
> nothing. But that's on a post-paid plan.

If you use the Cingular international roaming plan, an unlocked phone is
not necessary. The existing SIM and account will work overseas
(providing the phone has the correct bands).

What the unlocked phone buys you is the ability to pick up a European
prepaid plan, with its own SIM (and phone number). You just swap out
SIMs when you go overseas.

--
Paul Hovnanian mailto:[email protected]
------------------------------------------------------------------
When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.
-- Etaoin Shrdlu

On 2006-09-01, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:

>> Tigerdiret.com also has unlocked GSM phones at decent prices.
>
> And if the Cingular go SIM worked in the new phone, it would
> be an upgrade for home use as well.

I bought one from TigerDirect, and my "go" SIM works fine.

Well, there is a problem when replying to SMS messages that
came through the e-mail gateway, but I'm pretty sure that's not
the phone...

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! Now I can join WEIGHT
at WATCHERS!
visi.com

On 2006-09-02, Paul Hovnanian P.E. <[email protected]> wrote:

>> Cingular is pretty good for a normal account. I've had subsidy
>> unlock codes delivered within a couple of days of the request.
>> They require that you turn on international roaming, which
>> costs nothing. But that's on a post-paid plan.


> If you use the Cingular international roaming plan, an
> unlocked phone is not necessary. The existing SIM and account
> will work overseas (providing the phone has the correct
> bands).
>
> What the unlocked phone buys you is the ability to pick up a
> European prepaid plan, with its own SIM (and phone number).
> You just swap out SIMs when you go overseas.

Yep, the international roaming requirement is odd, since I
would think the main reason for wanting your phone unlocked
would be to put in a pre-paid SIM while overseas.

[You can even buy the prepaid SIMs before you go.]

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! .. My pants just went
at on a wild rampage through a
visi.com Long Island Bowling Alley!!

[email protected] wrote:

> Grant Edwards <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>IIRC, you've got a couple choices:
>> 1) Have international roaming activated on your account.
>
>
> Ouch! That's a few dollars per minute in most places.
>

Hi,

in Jamaica it was 1.99/minute... but txt msgs were .50 and all we really
wanted to do was let the folks back home know all was ok... so we txt'd
them....

we'd turn on the phone for a while in the evening before dinner and if
there were any txt's from the kids they'd come in.

(incoming txt's are .10)



--

- Call me ruthless, amoral, but never call me dishonest. -

Grant Edwards wrote:
>
> On 2006-09-02, Paul Hovnanian P.E. <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >> Cingular is pretty good for a normal account. I've had subsidy
> >> unlock codes delivered within a couple of days of the request.
> >> They require that you turn on international roaming, which
> >> costs nothing. But that's on a post-paid plan.
>
> > If you use the Cingular international roaming plan, an
> > unlocked phone is not necessary. The existing SIM and account
> > will work overseas (providing the phone has the correct
> > bands).
> >
> > What the unlocked phone buys you is the ability to pick up a
> > European prepaid plan, with its own SIM (and phone number).
> > You just swap out SIMs when you go overseas.
>
> Yep, the international roaming requirement is odd, since I
> would think the main reason for wanting your phone unlocked
> would be to put in a pre-paid SIM while overseas.

I recently conducted an interesting experiment along this line. We had a
family reunion in The Netherlands. I brought along an unlocked Razr and
my brother brought his Razr, which had his US plan with international
roaming. He had to pay roaming charges, plus international calling
rates, since his phone still had a US number. I had a local number with
0.25 Euro per minute charge for placed calls only.

> [You can even buy the prepaid SIMs before you go.]

I never looked into that.

> --
> Grant Edwards grante Yow! .. My pants just went
> at on a wild rampage through a
> visi.com Long Island Bowling Alley!!

--
Paul Hovnanian mailto:[email protected]
------------------------------------------------------------------
Optimist: "The glass is half-full."
Pessimist: "The glass is half-empty."
Engineer: "The glass is twice as big as it needs to be."