GSM in italy and US

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ET - 18 Mar 2005 14:45 GMT

I will be going to Italy and want to get a GSM phone for there that I can
use as an extra phone here. (I have Verizon for my regular phone). The
phones I like are 900/1800/1900 which they tell me won't work too good on
ATT/Cingular. Does this limit me to T-mobile which has less coverage or is
it still a good choice. In the US it will only be an extra phone to leave in
the car, lend to a visiting friend ect...

Thank You
Joe

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Richie - 18 Mar 2005 18:23 GMT

If i were you, I'd go with a quad band phone 850/900/1800/1900 for best
coverage in USA and abroad.

850/1900 USA/Canada
900/1800 Rest of the world

I use Cingular and I keep a spare phone at $9.99 per month to lend to my
friends who visit from overseas. It makes it easy to keep in touch with
them and they really appreciate it. I live in California, but if a friend
visits NYC, and I don't get to see her, I just mail her the sim card ahead
of her trip.

T-Mobile is only 1900MHz in USA and i heard that they have good coverage in
the major metro areas. I don't know if they would allow roaming on an
850MHz network if no 1900MHz coverage is available. Anyone knows?

>I will be going to Italy and want to get a GSM phone for there that I can
>use as an extra phone here. (I have Verizon for my regular phone). The
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Thank You
> Joe

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shneor@my-deja.com - 18 Mar 2005 22:14 GMT

I have T-Mo in the US. I'm in California, have used it in Arizona and
on the
East Coast. Coverage is good in cities and major highways, spotty
elsewhere. I've also used it in Greece and will be using it in Italy. I
did not get a different SIM card in Greece, so using the phone was a
bit expensive. But I plan to get a Vodaphone SIM card in Italy for GSM
and GPRS. There's a Vodaphone store just outside security at Fiumicino
airport.

Shneor

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Michael Pronay - 19 Mar 2005 07:27 GMT

shneor@my-deja.com wrote:

> I have T-Mo in the US. I'm in California, have used it in
> Arizona and on the East Coast. Coverage is good in cities and
> major highways, spotty elsewhere. I've also used it in Greece
> and will be using it in Italy. I did not get a different SIM
> card in Greece, so using the phone was a bit expensive. But I
> plan to get a Vodaphone SIM card in Italy for GSM and GPRS.

Be sure that your phone has the SIM-lock removed; if not, the
Italian Vodaphone SIM won't work in your phone.

M.

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Donald Newcomb - 20 Mar 2005 05:58 GMT

> I will be going to Italy and want to get a GSM phone for there that I can
> use as an extra phone here. (I have Verizon for my regular phone). The
> phones I like are 900/1800/1900 which they tell me won't work too good on
> ATT/Cingular. Does this limit me to T-mobile which has less coverage or is
> it still a good choice. In the US it will only be an extra phone to leave in
> the car, lend to a visiting friend ect...

If you get an unlocked ex-Cingular 850/1800/1900 phone (while I don't like
this combination) it should work fairly well with a Wind SIM in Italy. Wind
is about 95% GSM 1800 and has pretty good coverage, unless you just like
wandering around the boondocks.

Signature

Donald Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

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