new thread
I did a google and found this site on cell phones and Europe and saw some of the info you received in your thread way down was not all correct. Example Verizone does not do GSM although they will or are in the process for the future. I travel over there and have Verizon. AT&T and Cingular have merged and they do work over there and have plans that will make roaming over there more affordable.
For a one off trip though it may not make sense, I looked into it and said never mind.
Cell phones have become so important to some that the cost is worth it but not for all so that would be up to you.
Here's the site
http://www.thetravelinsider.info/2002/0308.htm
Kevin
Thanks Kevin for the information and the site address. I will certainly look over their presentation. My carrier is somewhat regional (Alltel) but I beleive it is somehow associated with AT&T. The whole bit about having a phone there is just to avoid the steep charges of using a hotel phone or such, but maybe it's cheaper than a roaming charge. Really, I think I may just tell anyone over here to not expect to hear from me for the week as it is a vacation anyway!
Thanks again, MB
I just had a conversation with AT&T last week, and they told me that ALL their phones are global phones. Costs no more to make a call while in Italy than while in GA. That was impressive, so if your phone is hooked up with AT&T, you may have all you need.
If not, it is also possible to get a cheapy phone while you are there. That means you can call in Italy for practically nothing which is useful if you have contacts there to make. It won't allow for talking to people at home without higher charges, but you could at least give them the Italian phone number and they could reach you in the case of an emergency.
Bob
If I were going to Italy, I would just buy a new SIM card and use my current phone (the SIM card is the ID card for a phone). But, some phones can be "locked" to only accept SIM cards from a particular carrier. In most European countries, phones are either sold unlocked, or carriers have to unlock the phone if you ask them to (if you're on a new contract, they might ask you to pay several months in advance to cover the cost of the phone).
But, I've read that US carriers are reluctant to unlock phones, and aren't legally required to. It's worth looking into though, since buying a pre-pay SIM is much cheaper than buying a whole phone.
This all requires a suitable GSM phone, the older system (still used in the USA) was switched off several years ago.