South Africa

[IrishBill]

My partner is a professor at NYU; she also teaches two months a year at University of Cape Town, South Africa. She has a Sony Vaio TX laptop. The only internet access she has in SA is thru hotel wifi's or internet cafes. Is there a wireless card from one on the providers (Sprint, Verizon, ATT,etc.) that she could install in her laptop to receive access in the US and SA? We already are ATT cell phone users in the US. Cost is no problem. Thanks in advance, Bill B.

[RadioRaiders]

MTN is South Africa's largest mobile provider. They have a 3G network down there, but it works on 2100 Mhz which is a different frequency than AT&T's 3G network.

MTN : 3G : Products & Services : Home

If I were you, I'd stop and ask your qestion at the local AT&T shop. Just make clear to them that you are looking for a data card that:

1) Is not SIM locked to the AT&T network (so you can switch to a local SIM in S.A.)
2) Can operate on 2.1 Ghz

Or if she'll be there for a long time, maybe it's just better to buy a 3G package from MTN instead.