Verizon Wireless Global Roaming???

From verizonwireless.com FAQ

Q: Does Verizon Wireless have an International Roaming program?

A:
Yes, Verizon Wireless does have an International Roaming program that enables you to have access to wireless service in certain countries. For more details on the program, including pricing, eligible countries and areas where available, please contact Customer Service at 1 800 2 JOIN IN.


I called Customer Service to get more info and they had none. I called my local Verizon Wireless store and they were no help either.

Does anyone have any info on Verizon Wireless International Roaming? Is it similar to AT&T World Connect service.

Please advise

HK

[KevinJames]

That is hillarious! "We have a product, but we don't know what it is."

I know two possible leads for you: Their news links provides several email contacts for various products. See if you can find one that relates to international services. Here is one such link: http://news.verizonwireless.com/proa....vtml?id=51688

Verizon has various regional offices (internal business, not sales offices) throughout the country that you can find by using Yahoo Yellow Pages. See if there is one local to you.

I'm still laughing :-)

Having gone through this exercise with Verizon....

First, you called the wrong number. 2-JOIN- is a SALES number. You should have called Customer Service (*611 or 800-922-0204). They would have referred you to the International/Major account number 800-711-2900. Those people can set you up....

Basically, if you have an existing Verizon account, you can rent a Europe (or Asian) capable cell phone by the day or month (about $3/day). You pay usage charges (varies by country from $1.49/minute (the UK) up -- WAY UP! It's nearly $10/minute in some parts of the Middle East). There is a hefty deposit and initial setup fees charged to a credit card.

You are assigned a European (usually British) cellular number. You can then forward your US cell number to that phone while out of the country. You will pay the LD charge from the US. It may or may not be included in the usage above. You can roam freely with the phone throughout Europe and the Middle East -- or at least, you can roam everywhere that the British carrier has roaming agreements.

Depending on the countries you intend to visit, and how much time you plan to spend there and on the phone, there are other -- and usually much more cost effective -- ways of obtaining European cellular service on a "temporary" basis. You can purchase "prepaid" cellular service and a cheap (if not free) phone simply by walking in to any cellular phone store (and many pharmacy, department, and similar stores) once you get to Europe. ("Everybody" in Europe seems to have a cell phone in their ear!) In most cases, you can "refill" the phones with minutes at the same locations. This is especially useful if you don't need to keep the same phone number. If you do this, you would simply have your US cell phone activated for International calling and then forward the US number to the European cell phone. Achieves the same result as Verizon's solution....

If you travel to Europe a "lot", you might consider obtaining a permanent European cell account. (Use it as described above! Forward IT to the US cell number while not in Europe if you felt that desirable!) You might even consider one of the "World" phones. The per minute costs would be substantially less.....

It looks like AT&T Wireless World Connect Service is a better way to go. You get excellent coverage in North America and will have the same cellphone number when roaming on GSM 900/1800.

HK

[DiverDown]

Hey I am a college student with Verizon Service, and I am studying abroad for my major in the U.K this summer.

And just to understand you right all i have to do is to get international dialing enabled on my phone, then just have it forwarded to a prepayed phone number from one of those orange phones in the U.K.

Does this mean that my friends and family are only dialing a local call? Thats awesome I don't if your a man or women, but I am just going to be sexist and assumer your a man, and let me say you may be more conniving and brilliant than myself (notice how humbe I am), and yes that is a big compliment

For DiverDown,

I'm the one I think you're referring to in your post. "Conniving?" Not sure that's an active element of my repertoire. "Brilliant!" I'll accept .... ;-)

But in specific comment to your scheme:

This stuff is NOT free. "SOMEONE" will have to pay Verizon for all of the LD charges generated by forwarding your cell account number to a European phone. Generally, the calls that are forwarded are treated as if the cell phone itself had made the call. You will also have to pay for the Verizon cell account for the months while you are in Europe (else they will cancel the number!). You will pay a fee to activate and keep International calling -- and perhaps a per call charge for each call forwarded. If YOU (or whoever is paying for the Verizon cell account) feel real generous and are willing to pay all the LD and other charges that your friends will generate on it by calling you, then go right ahead and do as you suggest.

The suggestion for European prepay is still valid however. You can walk into any of hundreds of Cell phone stores throughout the UK (especially the UK!) and purchase however many minutes of cellular service you might want -- charged right to your (American) credit card. They will activate a phone on the spot and you can walk out the door using it. Unlike most US prepay plans, your European minutes don't expire. As long as you don't exhaust your minutes, you can "reup" the time in almost any other cell phone store and continue using the same phone and same phone number.

You are actually in the best location for this. LD calls from the US to the UK are the cheapest of any European Country and the intra-UK cell rates are also cheaper than most others in Europe. Likewise calls FROM the UK to the US are among the cheapest going... Be real glad you're not spending the summer in Israel or the countries of Eastern Europe. Your cell bills there would be substantially higher than your college tuition -- and probably your airfare and lodging.

Have a great summer!!!!!!

PS: I'm not sure what "those orange phones in the UK" have to do with this. You should be able to use ANY phone in the UK (including the cell phone you just purchased) to forward your US number. Also, it is STILL cheaper to use calling cards and the "USADirect" number for your favorite American carrier to make calls FROM the UK to the US. Just don't use hotel or other public phones that will enact a (probably hefty!) surcharge on International calls billed to them. If you're going to have an apartment in the UK with your own private wired phone, it will doubtless be cheaper to use IT for calls to and from the US than the cell phone. If you're willing to forward to your cell phone, you should be willing to forward to your wirephone.

PPS: You're correct. I'm male. My wife would reject that I am sexist. She's trained me well!!!

[aiwapro]

Before you continue searching for any other International service, know that you have to have a tri-band phone "world phone," because they operrate on a different frequency over seas.
Voicestream offers International roaming and coverage on there monthly plans. You can check this out at the following link.
Voicestream Wireless (World Class)