GSM... Europe and USA

[cyberobin]

Hello --

New here and a have a phone questionl. I am off to Europe later and was wondering if I could buy a phone there (as long as it's quad band, right?) and bring it back here for a new SIM from Cingular? This makes sense to me but don't really know. For all I know phones a more expensive there then they are here and I won't get one but when you do the prepay you're stuck with small collection of mediocre phones unless you want to pay retail price. Thanks, Robin

[bobolito]

I am not really understanding your question. You say that you want to get a phone in Europe, where they are more expensive then bring it back here? Why not just buy it here?

As for your question about Cingular, you should be able to activate new service with any GSM phone you bring them. Although they will try to encourage you to get a Cingular phone instead.

[viewfly]

Yes, you could buy a phone in Europe, Quad band as you say. But it needs to be purchased 'SIM unlocked' or your will have to pay to get it unlocked later to use in the USA. It is almost certain to cost you more $$ in Europe. Also, if you wish to use web features, voice mail, etc, the settings will have to be changed to Cingular's account...not too difficult or illegal to do, just something to be aware of. Beware of a European 'world phone' because they have 2 euro frequencies, but only one cingular frequency. The world tri band phones bought in the USA are just the opposite...2 cingular freq. and 1 euro. Quad bands are the best choice, but the USA tri bands work just fine in most of europe.

However, you probably would be better off buying a phone off the web. There are plenty of sites that sell unlocked phones on the web (or ebay), and cheaper compared to walking into a store in europe and paying retail prices. Phone prices in europe can also be discounted when tied to a plan, just like here, but doesn't help you. And I can tell you from personal experience in Paris...there are no great phone deals there!

Welcome to the WA forums.

[bobolito]

Getting a bit more on the technical side, another thing with European phones is that they are set to use the EFR codec as opposed to the AMR codec, and the Automatic Time/Date Update with is usually disabled in European phones so you have to put in the time and date manually (weren't they supposed to be more advanced than the US?). Also, there could be other issues, such as problems with voicemail notification and MMS.

I know if you are a former AT&T Wireless subscriber you can not use the mMode service unless you are using a phone model previously sold by AT&T Wireless regardless of the original carrier.