PRE Pay GSM in the states

[DVDA]

Hey guys,

I want to know if I can use a prepay plan from the states (A GSM prepay) on a GSM phone bought in europe. (Assuming its unlocked).

if so what companies offer GSM prepay plans? any other issues?

[n1ckel5]

One thing to definitely consider. The US and European GSM bands/frequencies are different. The US runs on 850 and 1900. Make sure that any European phone you plan on using contains at a minumum the 1900 band, and for the best compatibility also 850. (If you are unsure, check out phonescoop.com for your phone's details.)

Now, assuming it's unlocked, the easiest two would be Cingular and T-Mobile. There are a couple/few other GSM prepaids, but none spring to mind at the moment.

From what I know, that's a pretty common thing for US travelers to do in Europe. With an unlocked GSM phone (US version) with 900/1800 bands, they can use European prepaid SIMs while abroad.

But I stress, make sure the European phone has the US bands!

[roberts1953]

Originally Posted by DVDA

Hey guys,

I want to know if I can use a prepay plan from the states (A GSM prepay) on a GSM phone bought in europe. (Assuming its unlocked).

if so what companies offer GSM prepay plans? any other issues?

There are two major GSM networks un the US, as nickels mentioned, tmobile and Cingular. I would go with whatever network is going to provide you with the best coverage there you need it. The nice part is that tmobile offers an online coverage tool that allow you to zoom in to see if their prepaid coverage will meet your needs.
Prepaid Coverage Check - Coverage Maps for your calling coverage and service coverage areas
Cingular recently added a close up tool as well, but only for postpaid. This is the best you will get for cingulars prepaid coverage.
Get Started | Cingular Wireless
You will find that both of these networks prepaid coverage is less then postpaid. That is because for the most part, prepaid coverage doesn't roam, and consists of the home networks native towers only. Cingular GoPhone doesn't roam at all, but has a larger native network then Tmobile, especially in the Western US. Tmobile has recently added roaming on other carriers without any extra roaming fees. For the most part you will find that either network will cover most cities and major routes in between. If you are going to be traveling into remote areas, espescially in the West, GSM may not be what you are looking for.

As far as phones go, if you choose to use cingular, I would make sure the phone is capable of both 850 and 1900. If you choose tmobile, the vast majority of their coverage is 1900 only, so you could get by with just this. But some of the new oaming areas use 850. Again, check the coverage to see if you can live without the 850 roaming with tmobile.

Now for companies, tmobile togo offers the cheapest GSM rates. As low as 10 cents/min an up to a 1 year expiration. This is much cheaper then cingular. Cingular has two GoPhone prepaid plans, $.25/min, OR $1/day and $.10/min. The $1/day plan gets you free M2M with other cingular customers. Unless the majority of the people you will be calling in th US will be cingular customers, I would avoid this plan. Even the $.25/min plan is really overpriced. I only even mentioned Cingular because of there network. In the US there are companies called MVNO's that resell a carriers network, and often give much better rates then the carrier's own plans. The best deal going on Cingular's network is Beyond GSM | Get Connected -
Beyond Wireless GSM has rates from $.10-14/min, and decent expirations. So my advice, if you like tmobile's network, get Tmobile ToGo prepaid. If you like the coverage of Cingular's network, get Beond Wireless GSM. They will have the exact coverage and frequencies as Cingular prepaid.

Now for getting a SIM. You can go to any Tmobile store and get a prepaid SIM. If you are happy with the deal that Cingular GoPhone gives you you could pick up one of their SIMs at any Cingular Store. I'm sure you could look on their websites to find a store near where you will be traveling. You can also buy a SIM from a store that sells Beyond Wireless, but they are going to be fewer and farther between. You might want to give them a call to see if there is a place where you can pick one up once you get in the States. Check on prices for the SIMs at the retail stores, though. You can end up paying $30 or much more just for the SIM. This is way overpriced. The absolute cheapest way to get a Tmobile SIM is on ebay. eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices
You can get a SIM with 60-150 starter minutes for $6-11 including shipping! This comes to $.10/min and $.07/min respectively. These will be good for 60 days. You can get a Beyond Wireless SIM directly from their website for $10.
If you need you can add more minutes to the account with a credit card over the phone, or from their websites. I'm not sure where you are coming from, but if you are in Canada then you should be able to get the SIM mailed to you before you leave. If not, then maybe have it sent to a hotel or friend that you will see once you arrive in the States.

[roberts1953]

Another option for temporary prepaid service in the US is a GSM Tracfone.
tracfone.com

Tracfone is cheap to start, but expensive to maintain. So temporary prepaid is the ideal situation to use them. You can get a Nokia 1100 for $20, and comes with 60 minutes. You can activate with a referral and get another 120 minutes free. BTW it is very easy to find a refferal and doesn't cost anything. So for $20 you get 180 minutes good for a couple months. There is a link on tracfones website to "retailers" that lists all the places you can pick up a tracfone. And they are much easier to come by than trying to find a store that sells SIMs. The other nice part about a GSM tracfone is that you don't have to worry about compatability, unlocking, or loosing your own expensive phone. Tracfone will operate on GSM 850/1900 in the US. The other part is that tracfone GSM will roam on many GSM providers. Meaning you will get the combined coverage of cingular, tmobile, and other regional GSM providers. Once you are done with your trip, burn the minutes and throw away the phone. You could also resell it, give it to a friend, or keep it for your next trip to the US. Once the account is expired the phone number will eventually be lost. If you wanted you could always reactivate the phone with a refill card on your next trip to the US, even if quite a long time later. You will be issued a new phone number if you do this.


Tracfones have a special firmware in the phone that locks the SIM to the phone, and cannot be unlocked. You can't use a tracfone SIM in a non-tracfone phone, or a non-tracfone SIM in a tracfone phone. But for huge coverage, a SIM, phone, and 180 min for $20 you can't go wrong.

Other things to look for in US prepaids:

No major US prepaid has free incoming minutes like in Europe.
Domestic calls in the US are charged the same rate if you are calling another cell or a landline, unlike Europe.
If you plan to call internationally out of the US, most US prepaid rates are very high. If you plan to call home get an International Calling Card with a toll-free access number in the US.

[Ace587]

Originally Posted by roberts1953

No major US prepaid has free incoming minutes like in Europe.
Domestic calls in the US are charged the same rate if you are calling another cell or a landline, unlike Europe.
If you plan to call internationally out of the US, most US prepaid rates are very high. If you plan to call home get an International Calling Card with a toll-free access number in the US.

Thats why i love europe... asia is the same thing, i hope the US will soon follow our footsteps.