900/1800 MHz networks?

[zldecker]

I will be traveling to Spain with my Motorola V220 on the Cingular Wireless network in the next few weeks. The phone's box says it works on "GSM/GPRS 850/900/1900 MHz networks," with the notable exclusion of the 1800 MHz network. I don't know if there is any difference between the 900 and 1800 MHz networks, just that they're the two used in Europe... can anyone shed some light on this? I hope to use voice, text messages, and internet in Spain... can all this be done using just the 900 MHz network? In other words, is there anything I'll be missing out on by not having access to the 1800 MHz network?

[JR1]

Check out WWW.gsmworld.com

Under "GSM Roaming" they list all the roaming agreements. Click on Spain and it will tell you the required frequencies for it to work in Spain. (Spain uses the 900 or 1800 band)

You also need to have international dialing and roaming actived on your account. Most companies will do this if you have been a customer and paid your bills on time. You can activate this from the Cingular website.

You can also active Cingular World Connect to get cheaper roaming rates there as well. It cost 3.99 to 5.99 per month and then your calls to europe are cheaper. The roaming rate is 0.99 cents per minute with this plan. Complete information is available on the Cingular.com website.

The V220 is listed as 850/1800/1900 bands so it should work fine in Spain.