Your roaming experience in Europe/Asia and New Phone Release Discussion

[ShoresGuy]

I think it's time to liven up this forum a bit and ask my fellow WAers which phone(s) you use when roaming outside of the US. Rather than gathering just a long, boring list of phones, perhaps you would like to share any questions about what new phones are now out in Europe and what they may cost. You can also comment on your roaming

I'll start with the phones I use:

Nokia Original N-Gage
Motorola V525

At the moment, I'm using E-Plus Germany and Vodafone UK. Many roamers coming to Germany prefer either Vodafone and T-Mobile (more the latter since you guys on T-Mobile USA can roam the best on T-Mobile Germany) but E-Plus and O2 Germany tend to be popular as well.

However, the most common questions that I come across on HoFo and on WA are:

1) What roaming options do I have?
2) How much does a SIM card cost?
3) Is there free incoming?
4) Will my US phone work?

With quadband Motorolas, 4) is obviously moot. There is a sufficient number of countries with providers using GSM 1800-only and any unlocked US phone will work just fine on those networks.

Perhaps the next most important aspect to roaming here in Europe is whether data access is available. While some of you may be used to having EDGE access through Cingular or even T-Mobile, Europe is going the route of skipping EDGE (TIM Italy has deployed EDGE as well) in favor of a direct transition to 3G/UMTS 2100 Mhz. Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and SE have released a number of handsets in the last year with GSM 900/1800/1900/UMTS 2100 capabilities. UMTS buildout has also been completed to the point where UMTS video calling and UMTS data access is possible in most cities. The actual UMTS coverage really depends on the country you're visiting and which network you roam on.

Of course, GPRS is available no matter where you go. A large number of providers also offer GPRS for prepaid customers so that is a possibility for short-term visits.

I heartily recommend that any potential Europe/Asia roamers look at the European SIM thread:

http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/showthread.php?t=8351 (Europe SIM Info/Helpful Links)

PrepaidGSM.net (www.prepaidgsm.net) gives a very detailed overview on roaming in Europe and in Asia as well as prepaid SIM options for using one SIM in multiple countries. Please address all prepaid SIM-related questions in that thread.

As always, I welcome any questions or comments you may have.

Thanks and a hearty welcome to all posters ,

ShoresGuy

[JR1]

I have used my sony ericsson t306 to roam in London without any problems. I have cingular and it works fine there. It has roamed on orange, vodafone, and 02.

I have bought a local vodafone and 02 sim cards. There are from 10-20 pounds. I find the prepaid to be a little less forgiving than roaming. With prepaid there was some areas that would only allow emergency service...with the 02 sim card. One of those was my hotel room in piccadilly circus. Once I stepped outside it would work fine. It was funny cause the phone would roam with on 02 inside the room fine with the cingular sim.

The vodafone was much better and worked almost everywhere I went except some places on the tube.

[ShoresGuy]

Thanks JR1. Coverage on the Tube is sporadic at best since there is no underground microcell or leaky coax antenna setup. The limited coverage is most common on the lines which are directly underneath the street (i.e. District Line) where the signal from street level leaks through the platform stairways. The deep lines such as the Jubilee Line and Piccadilly Line have no coverage whatsoever.

[Charlyee]

Great idea for a thread ShoresGuy.

Until I got my Nokia 6230 last November I used my T-Mobile V66 in Europe, Brazil and in Malayasia. The countries in Europe that I have used it in were England, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands. I am sorry I did not note what carrier I was roaming on.

After I got the 6230, on my trip to Egypt I also took the V66, since Egypt is 900MHZ only, but with Cingular SIM and roamed on MobiNil all through the entire trip.

My trip to Brazil (Rio) was the first time I was able to take the 6230, again with Cingular SIM, majority of the time it roamed on TIM Celular S.A. (TIM BRASIL)

[Andy]

I use a Motorola Timeport(don't remember the exact model #) while in Europe. It's a Tri-Band phone(900/1800/1900) and has always served me well. Additionally, I have three European Sim Cards(all prepay): Vodafone-D2(Germany), Swisscom Mobile(Switzerland), and Vodafone-Airtel(Spain). They have always served me well; all three providers have served me well with coverage throughout their native countries. While living in Europe, my famiy and I had 3-4 active D2 lines(all but 1 on prepay), and a few E-Plus(all but one prepay), and O2(all prepay). D2 was overall the best, I have never really found a spot where I have no service. Swisscom Mobile in CH has always also done me well; coverage is great, only places where I sometimes lost service was in some of the train tunnels(every carrier did, but Swisscom covered some of them), but from what I've heard, they're working on building train tunnels out as well, and whenever I go to CH I travel thoughout the country because I have family spread throughout.
Spain, I usually stay in the northern part, from Barcelona northward, but I have been through the south(mainly on the Med.coast), as well as Mallorca for a few hours.

Overall I never worry about looking at my phone making sure I have good service while in Europe-I am fascinated by the signal strenght I get in lower levels of appartment buildings, tunnels, undergound parking garages, and driving through towns, service is often full bars from one part to the other.

Hope this was interesting for some of you guys to read.

[ShoresGuy]

Amazing replies, thanks Charlyee and Andy. Andy, you probably have a P7389(i), T250 or T260.

[Andy]

I think it might be a P7389i...I'll have to check on that, though...keep 'em comin guys!

[ShoresGuy]

I have an old T250 back in the US, no way I'll ever go back to that phone . While we're on the roaming topic here, is anyone here interested in the development of 3G/UMTS? Some European countries have 3G for prepaid customers but this is limited to mostly to the Hutchison Whampoa "3" group (UK, Italy, Austria, Sweden) and to Wind in Italy. Vodafone D2 offers 3G-capable phones to prepaid users but requires them to sign a UMTS contract in order to gain 3G/UMTS access.

I don't know about Vodafone UK though. PrepaidGSM.net has listed whether there is 3G for prepaid users on their Operator Pages:

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/operators.html