International/Overseas (Cell) phones

[Guest IGB]

After using the search function, I didn't find much, or any really, information about anyone talking about using their domestic cell phones overseas while TDY, vacation etc. Aside from a straight up world wide plan, does anyone use the unlocked phone and international SIM combo while flying over seas for the calls or SMS home?

Any gouge and advice would be welcome.

[Clayton Bigsby]

I do - mine (Cingular w/ International) works fine. I get signal at Manas, the 'deid, Ramstein, etc...no idea how much it costs, I just got the phone recently and haven't quite had the chance to budget it, but it does work.

only beef is Caller ID doesn't work. So, I'll be sleeping (or doing whatever) at the 'deid, and a friend will call, doing the usual BS they might do back home - kind of sucks to be paying 3 bucks a minute or whatever it is to listen to BS games. Sucks to be a dick and say "listen, I'm overseas, make it sweet", but that's what you gotta do.

I wish they somehow had some sort of secretary voicemail prompt thing that said "hey, I'm overseas, but press 1 to go ahead to call me, otherwise just leave a voicemail and I'll talk to you when I get back" That way necessay stuff gets through, and the BS waits for when you're back home.

[Scooter14]

Chuck,

No kiddin? Sprint just really pissed me off, and I'm looking at dropping them like a bad habit. How much extra is having the international service? That sounds like a nice feature.

I like your quote.

[Guest 89 Ride]

My sprint phone didn't work on Guam. In Oman, some guys bought satellite phones. I guess it depends on where you are and who your provider is.

[Guest V1vaLaRob]

Originally posted by Scooter14:

Chuck,

No kiddin? Sprint just really pissed me off, and I'm looking at dropping them like a bad habit. How much extra is having the international service? That sounds like a nice feature.

I like your quote.

Beware, I just got back from Germany and used my Cingular phone (with international package) while on vacation and it was about $1.20 a minute!! I accidently saw the price for calling from the US to Germany and other countries, and not the other way around. I was pretty pissed when I saw the bill, but that was my own fault in the end. Also, I had caller ID when over in Germany. The phone pikced up O2 service and T-Mobile mostly.

https://www.cingular.com/customer_service/cingular_world

I dont think Sprint or any of the CDMA carriers have the ability to be used anywhere else besides north america.

-Rob

[Batman]

Try text messages for the quick stuff...much cheaper (around .10 to send and .35 to receive each call). There's also the option to go computer(text)-to-cell phone with T-Mobile.

Batman

[ 08. March 2006, 22:41: Message edited by: Batman ]

[Guest V1vaLaRob]

Originally posted by Batman:

Try text messages for the quick stuff...much cheaper (around .10 to send and .35 to receive each call). There's also the option to go computer to phone with T-Mobile.

Batman

VoIP, if available in other countries, and if your going to be there awhile, sounds like a much better idea than cell phones.

And also to give a little more input to the posters original question, over on howardforums, Im sure I read somewhere that some of the guys will call up there GSM provider and say "Hey, im going to Iraq next month, can you give me the code to unlock the phone" and they would give it to them, which would make you able to put in a sim card from another country. But who knows if those rates are cheaper than just using your US carrier to begin with.

-Robert

[ 08. March 2006, 22:44: Message edited by: V1vaLaRob ]

[Guest nghtswmng2]

I'm looking for some of the same info about Japan. I'll be PCS'd to Misawa and have been calling around to every company out there. Right now it looks like Cingular might be the best for rates, although Japan uses a new system, different from the 3G in Europe. No Cingular phones available. I'm starting to think more of things like www.skype.com.

1)I'd like my family to call me for free over there.

2)I'd like to still have my same cell # when I get back.

Any advice?

[Champ Kind]

It's not portable like a cell, but I've heard good things about Vonage from some of my buddies who are overseas.

[Guest Hydro130]

Originally posted by LawnDart Driver:

I'm looking for some of the same info about Japan. I'll be PCS'd to Misawa and have been calling around to every company out there. Right now it looks like Cingular might be the best for rates, although Japan uses a new system, different from the 3G in Europe. No Cingular phones available. I'm starting to think more of things like www.skype.com.

1)I'd like my family to call me for free over there.

2)I'd like to still have my same cell # when I get back.

Any advice?

"AU" (dominant Japanese cell phone) has plans with carriers in the States (I don't recall the details).

When I was at Yokota, I lived on base and had primary phone service thru that, but also had my AU cell (alerts, exercises, etc).

Friends who lived off-base just had a local cell phone and then would go on base to make calls back to the states with cheap calling cards.

I didn't ever get billed for incoming calls on my AU cell, so that could be a deal too... Folks in the States tend to get better overseas phone deals that even the calling cards we get...

You'll love Japan!

Cheers, Hydro

EDIT: Sorry, to more directly answer your questions: Skype / Vonage / etc is the only 'freebie' currently. And no, you can't keep your same number unless you pay for hibernation on your current phone while you are gone...

No one I knew ever used a US-carrier cell phone in Japan...

[ 08. March 2006, 23:16: Message edited by: Hydro130 ]

[Clayton Bigsby]

Japan has been the one place (well, besides Diego Garcia, but they just don't have service at all) my phone hasn't worked - they're running quad-band shit, all way ahead of what we are.

As has been said, text messages are the way to go.

W/ Cingular, the International plan is another 10 bucks a month I believe, plus whatever charges you incur using it internationally. The rates vary from place to place. Also, I haven't had to do any code or sim card BS, it all just works. Have a Moto Razor for a phone.

For me, it doesn't cost me too much, as I'm single - I don't have a girlfriend or wife at home to help run up the charges. Honestly I have it for emergencies, so people like my landlord or family can get ahold of me if need be, friends can sort of stay in touch, etc, etc. I actually use it as my alarm clock wherever I go too.

The tanker guys at the 'died (Forko Grande at the moment) have squadron iridium phones, so they can stay in touch with family, no matter where they are...and avoid the "morale line" issues you get with the DSN system.

[M2]

In the mean time, start reading this...

Cheers! M2

[Guest croftfam]

Originally posted by LawnDart Driver:

I'm looking for some of the same info about Japan. I'll be PCS'd to Misawa and have been calling around to every company out there. Right now it looks like Cingular might be the best for rates, although Japan uses a new system, different from the 3G in Europe. No Cingular phones available. I'm starting to think more of things like www.skype.com.

1)I'd like my family to call me for free over there.

2)I'd like to still have my same cell # when I get back.

Any advice?

1) Only way to do that is with something like Vonage

2) Not possible

second everything that has been said so far. Cell phones from the states don't work over here (Japan). I've never seen one in the time I've been here. I use Vonage for my wife, and so my family can call. $27/month and it's a local call for the parents. I think it's a great service.

[Guest JArcher00]

try www.skype.com if you have wi-fi acess overseas.

[Login Name]

Originally posted by MajorMadMax:

Shit, I just saw an ad for an international 'pay-as-you-go' cell phone in an in-flight magazine. As I fly home tomorrow, I will try and find it again and will post here...

Cheers! M2

that's what i'd recommend to do. if you're over in europe a lot buy a cheap phone and go pay as you go. vodafone is all over europe. it's pretty cheap and you can top-up at most little grocery/mini-mart stores. the most expensive thing is buying the phone. a lot of people that are over here just use that rather a contract. i used to have a contract but they suck ass and now i'm pay as you go. lot more bang for your buck.

[Guest Hydro130]

That's all well-and-good for TDYs... I had to pay like that for cell phones in Thailand, for example.

But they were cheap and disposable plans.

My point was, if you are going to be stationed in Japan (or have a hella TDY rate there), go with AU...

Pretty simple!

For keeping contact with folks back in The States, Vonage or Skype are IT.

For plain cell phone convenience, "AU" is IT in Japan.

Cheers, Hydro

[Guest IGB]

Thanks VivalaRob,

Looking at (https://howardforums.com/showthread.php?s=&...008#post1308008) it sounded so easy just to call Cingular and tell them to give me the unlock code. I called, told them I needed the code, they checked my account history and are due to e-mail me the phone specific code to unlock the phone. Now you can use any prepaid sms card like MMM mentioned in his link above.

Thanks for the help.

[Guest LLoyd McPherson]

I was in Guam a couple of months ago (Sept) and the only cell phones that worked were Sprint. The rate was around $1.25 a min.

In Kadana we used some local cell phone pay as you go, they worked fine on the island but they they were money pits.

[M2]

Here is the web site for the phone I saw in the in-flight mag...

Cheers! M2

[M2]

Now THIS is the cell phone to have!

Cheers! M2

[Mambo]

When dealing with internet in Japan it really depends on where you live.

I spent 8 years at Kadena and have had dial up on base (which sucked!) and fiber optic off base. Depending on where you live and what is available you can get everything from dial-up to DSL to Fiber Optic. Last time I was at Misawa they had DSL in the hotel, so there are at least places wired for it.

Skype is definetly the way to go. I talked to my parents once a week and the sound quality was better than the phone lines, and it was free.

AU had a deal where you got a 1-800 number to give to folks back in the states for them to call back Japan, at no cost to them. It was only about 10¢ a min. We had a call-back service to call the US and it ran around the same price.

[ 10. March 2006, 23:53: Message edited by: Mambo ]

[CHQ Pilot]

I'm headed to the AMC world soon and was wondering what are the best and cheapest ways to call home. I was looking at calling cards, but I've heard they don't always work or you get hit with fees from the hotel for dialing out. My cellphone (Cingular) has an international plan that is something like 4.99 a month and then .99 a minute for most of western Europe. Does anyone do something like that? I'm looking at all options, even good text messaging plans if there are any.

Also, my wife just started as a flight attendent with an international DOD charter airline, so she will be overseas quite a bit as well. If anyone has good ideas or suggestions that might work well for us, it would be appreciated.

[Toro]

While I lived in Europe, I got Militel for my overseas service from home. It was actually cheaper for me to call the US from the UK with militel than it would have been to make a state-to-state call with most phone services. They also provided my a 1-800 to give to my family for calling me that was also cheaper than most state-to-state calls and they have very good international rates. In addition, they provide a calling card and toll free number for about 30 different countries for when you are TDY. I still use them as my long distance service now that I'm back in the states.

[LT4Life]

I too have been wondering the same thing as CHQ. I planned on using the Vonage service while over there. They have international rates but the kicker is if you call the states from overseas it is considered a local call. They have this small USB drive that can be connected to any computer with an internet connection (click here to see) and you plug one of those cell phone ear attachments into it and make your phone calls. If you get thier $15 plan (500 minutes) it works out to 3 cents/min and is 4 cents/min after that. Also they have a plan for 25/month for unlimited minutes. Of course this is all dependent on having a computer with an internet connection. I haven't been deployed yet so I don't know how common that is. Please give thoughts on this idea.

Also if the person you call is a vonage customer it in network and is free like cell phones.

[ 01. July 2006, 21:12: Message edited by: LT4Life ]

[CHQ Pilot]

This is good info. I hadn't thought of Vonage before. I have an email from my unit from awhile back about using the DSN to make calls, but it is buried somewhere in my achives, so I have to do some searching. I heard another option is getting a SIM card for your cell phone that will allow you to roam for somewhat low rates. It is prepaid and is .49 cents a minute back to the states and free incoming for most of western Europe. Some of the highest rates were from Kuwait at .99 a minute out going, .19 a minute incoming. Using Toro's advice I looked up Militel and (I still need to do some research with them) they have some plans that look like you may be able to call from the states to the cell phone for .06 a minute. That would effectively make it .06/min to Europe and .25/min to Kuwait. Since it is prepaid you can control the cost. Creativity seems to be the key. You need to have a compatible phone (Cingular and T-Mobile are for the most part) and have it unlocked. There are some reputable companies that will unlock it for a nominal fee (around $25).

[ 01. July 2006, 21:38: Message edited by: CHQ Pilot ]