Have you had roaming aded to your account, if you have it will work. You are probably better off getting a pre paid connection while you are in Italy, it will be a lot cheaper.

I have, mine worked all over Europe.

$.19 a minute? Damn it, T-mobile sucks.

Is there a way you can un-block your phone? I have an unblocked phone, and in France I just bought a sim card through Orange (about 30€ – and you get a French cell phone number: +336 and so on. You can do it through an Italian carrier to have an italian number)I simply put the new sim in my phone and charged it with the mobicard (5,10,20€ and so on) real calls took up most of the mobicard minutes, of course, but you can send loads of textos with a 5€ mobicard. If ppl call you, it is at no charge to you though – and Orange roamed in UK, Netherlands, LUX, Germany and UK with no problem. It was pretty easy. When you go back home, simply put your cingular sim back in your phone, and set the network to the US, and you’re sorted. Of course, if you are planning to stay in Europe for a longer time, then a cell plan would be cheaper than pay as you go.

Petitepaulette’s is a good option. But if you just got your phone, your phone company probably won’t let you unblock it until the 1-year (or 2-year) contract has ended.

Luv, you don’t need to go by the phone company’s rules Cingular is my carrier in the states, and if you are charming enough with the customer service people, they might just give you that sim unlock code you want. Not that I have tried this before or anything. Also, I know in the UK and Spain there are some dodgy places that will unblock your phone for you for a small fee, or sometimes for free. erm, not that I have tried this before either.
sneaky,
petite

user name-what type of phone do you have? When you say you used all over Europe, did that include Italy?

Its a Nokia..and yes Italy included..Everywhere for that matter. There wasn’t a place it didn’t work. Even on the sea travelling from Greece to Italy and back.

This site says its at least $1.29 per minute on cingular:

http://www.cingular….

How do you figure its 19 cents?

Once again, good advice from petitepaulette. Folks, this is a good idea, if you have the opportunity. Petite, it won’t screw up your service when you go back home, will it?

rapps-I contacted customer service at Cingular, and was told that if I buy the $3.99/mo. international calling package to add to the package I have now(I can cancel it after I get back)then the calls would only be 19 cents a minute. It’s called the Cingular Basics package.

quote:
Once again, good advice from petitepaulette. Folks, this is a good idea, if you have the opportunity. Petite, it won’t screw up your service when you go back home, will it?

Thanks Luv. I’ve gone back and forth from France loads, and so far it hasn’t messed with my service, and I’ve kept my Orange sim for whenever I need to go back. You just need to make sure to set the network you need between Europe and The States, but that’s easy enough. The one thing though – In The States, unless you call your carrier and tell them you will be away for X ammount of time, they will still charge the monthly fee. Me, I never cancelled Cingular (they cancel service while you’re away, then connect you again when you come back and give them a ring) since I was constantly checking voicemails to my US number. I have no complaints with Orange – the mobicards weren’t that pricey, and you could find them anywhere in France at every FNAC, epicerie, and tabac.

Hi,
I’m not doubting what cingular told you….I’ll give them a call too. I just don’t want you to go over there and make a ton of calls and be charged a fortune.

On this site: http://www.cingular….

It seems that the cheap 19cent rate is for calling those countries from the US….not while over there and back to here.

I’ll call them to find out also…as I’d like to do this also when I go over….but does anyone else see it this way?

This seems like the rates for when you are roaming in a foreigh country. The other rates seem too cheap. It isn’t even 19cents from most payphones with a good calling card, let alone a mobile.

http://www.cingular….

Thanks

quote:
I have no complaints with Orange – the mobicards weren’t that pricey, and you could find them anywhere in France at every FNAC, epicerie, and tabac.

Awesome. I did the same last year with my dual band phone…seems that all phones nowadays in the US are dual band. I bought a sim in Greece by a local mobile provider called Cosmote, widely available at kiosks and a chain of electronic stores called Germanos. I’d like to have one for France too…I may be returning there this year. FNAC and any tabac did you say for Orange? Sounds very easy to get. Awesome.

I’m leaving for Europe in 10 days and got a Riiing gsm card which seems like a great option. I just wanted to see if the orginal poster can update us….

How much did cingular end up charging for your Europe to US calls?

I’m finally back from my wonderful Italian vacation. The only downside was the whole cell phone ordeal. Here’s what ended up happening. One of the responders were right(if it sounds too good to be true…). The 3.99 Cingular Basics package is only for calling international from the states. After many go arounds with Cingular before I left, I did get the 5.99 package in which calls were 99 cents a minute. I’m not sure what the cost is going to be since I haven’t received my bill yet, but due to Cingular’s poor customer service, they overlooked removing the restriction that would allow me to call the States from Italy!!! I ended up having to buy a calling card (5 Euros for 210 minutes) which Cingular is reimbursing me for! I was able to receive calls from the States and make calls to Italy from Italy. Overall, I didn’t use my phone much and when I go back I probably won’t even mess with it, just use the calling card.
I’ll let you know how much they nab me for when I get my bill.

Thanks for the update. I thought it sounded too good…but I’m glad you were able to get a good calling card. I posted on another thread about using a cell phone in europe. Hopefully Cingular will not give you too much grief.

Search "riiing" in google and you will find a very good option for a gsm sim card. No roaming charges throughout most of Europe and free incoming calls. I’m leaving in 6 days with it and I’ll post my results when I get back.

Jason