Traveling to Ireland and Italy in late June, early July, and was wondering
about mobile phone service. (We are from Canada)

Currently, I have a North American compatible mobile (CDMA?) which is not
GSM compatible... so I am wondering about this. We don't expect to need it
every day, but would be nice to have in an emergency, etc.

Are there pay as you go or disposable phones that could be used
trans-Europe? Is having a mobile phone while traveling a reasonable
expectation?

Thanks for the responses.

The Real Grammer Police wrote:

    > Traveling to Ireland and Italy in late June, early July, and was wondering
    > about mobile phone service. (We are from Canada)
Having your own phone does provide a certain amount of peace of mind.
We've been on two trips without one (and needed one each time), and
on two trips with our own phone (and didn't really need it).
You're right -- most phones in Canada, such as the ones from Bell
Mobility, are CDMA. Rogers and Fido are GSM, but they're usually locked
to the particular service provider and they use a different frequency
than the European services.
What you will need is an unlocked GSM phone that covers 900/1800 mhz.
I bought an unlocked phone on eBay, complete with dual-voltage
charger, apparently brand new. The service in England and France seems
to be phenomenally good: I never found an area that didn't show very
high signal strength, which is more than I can say for my CDMA phone
here at home. I often see phones advertised on the Toronto or Hamilton
buy/sell newsgroups.

-- Ron
Hamilton, ON

The Real Grammer Police wrote:
    >
    > Traveling to Ireland and Italy in late June, early July, and was wondering
    > about mobile phone service. (We are from Canada)
    >
    > Are there pay as you go or disposable phones that could be used
    > trans-Europe? Is having a mobile phone while traveling a reasonable
    > expectation?
    >
O2
<https://shop.o2.ie/catalog/default.php?cPath=25&osCsid=6fd07f2390d76d92d57cb7 4e769023fc>
have an SE 290i for 69 Euro, with included call credit of 70 Euro.
You can order it online, and arrange to have it shipped to your first
hotel/BnB.
It's good enough to keep for future trips, or you could sell it on to
another traveller.
Check with them about roaming in Italy - I know I can roam on my Orange UK
phone, but I don't know O2's roaming policy.

Incoming calls in Ireland are free, but incoming roaming gets charged.

I wouldn't want to travel without my phone - it's saved me from being
stranded on more than one occasion.

Sheila

On Mon, 09 May 2005 16:24:03 GMT, "The Real Grammer Police"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >Traveling to Ireland and Italy in late June, early July, and was wondering
    >about mobile phone service. (We are from Canada)
    >Currently, I have a North American compatible mobile (CDMA?) which is not
    >GSM compatible... so I am wondering about this. We don't expect to need it
    >every day, but would be nice to have in an emergency, etc.
    >Are there pay as you go or disposable phones that could be used
    >trans-Europe? Is having a mobile phone while traveling a reasonable
    >expectation?
    >Thanks for the responses.

I don't know about Ireland, but you can now buy a basic GSM
pay-as-you-go phone for less than 50 euros in Italy. These are
generally sold unlocked. I can't remember the cost of the cheapest SIM
card, but there wasn't a very large setup charge when I got mine. I
wouldn't bother getting a new SIM card in the second country; I would
just make sure I had a comfortable amount left when leaving the first
country and then I would burn it up roaming.

A cell phone is a great convenience if it doesn't cost too much. For a
trip of several weeks, I would be willing to spend about 50 euros or a
bit more for the convenience. I wouldn't bother if it cost a whole lot
more than that. Remember that you may also waste some time finding a
store, deciding what to get and setting it all up.

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

The Real Grammer Police wrote:
    > Traveling to Ireland and Italy in late June, early July, and was
wondering
    > about mobile phone service. (We are from Canada)

See:
http://www.prepaidgsm.net
http://www.thetravelinsider.info
http://nordicgroup.us/intlrate

I recommend you buy an unlocked GSM 900/1800 (dual-band) or
900/1800/1900 (tri-band) phone before you go and get either a Vodafone
or 02 prepaid when you get to Ireland. You might also want a Riiing
prepaid, just because.

I recommend a Voda or 02 prepaid in Ireland, if you don't have GSM
roaming with your home carrier, because Meteor's coverage in the West
is/was sparse to non-existant. Meteor's rates are better, but if you
don't have a signal.... They were in the process of forcing the other
two to let them roam, but I don't know where this stands now.

Donald Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

Donald N wrote:

    > The Real Grammer Police wrote:
    >
    >>Traveling to Ireland and Italy in late June, early July, and was wondering
    >>about mobile phone service. (We are from Canada)
    >
    > See:
    > http://www.prepaidgsm.net
    > http://www.thetravelinsider.info
    > http://nordicgroup.us/intlrate

Don't forget http://www.telestial.com - it offers phones and SIM cards,
including a prepaid O2 Speakeasy SIM.

There are lots of sellers offering unlocked tri-band GSM phones on eBay,
too.

    > I recommend you buy an unlocked GSM 900/1800 (dual-band) or
    > 900/1800/1900 (tri-band) phone before you go and get either a Vodafone
    > or 02 prepaid when you get to Ireland. You might also want a Riiing
    > prepaid, just because.

The tri-band would be good for Canada, too - buy a Fido prepaid SIM card
for service there (assuming that the OP is in a GSM-friendly area).

I'm looking at picking up an unlocked tri-band GSM phone for my next
Europe trip as well.
--
dgs

dgs wrote:
    > Don't forget http://www.telestial.com - it offers phones and SIM
cards,
    > including a prepaid O2 Speakeasy SIM.

I'm not sure if you work for Telestial or not (they are a good
company), but I would only buy from them or CellularAbroad if I
absolutely had to have a working prepaid the moment the plane touched
down. The premium they charge is just too high. When I was in Ireland a
couple of years ago, all the carriers sold their basic prepaid SIM pack
for 20 Euro. Look at what Telestial charges for the same thing and
decide if it's worth it.

I currently have a T-Mobile (US) postpaid, a Riiing prepaid, a O2 (UK)
SIM from Mobal and a Wind (Italy) prepaid. Today, I think any
international traveler should have an unlocked, multi-band GSM phone
and at least a Riiing prepaid.

Donald Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

"Donald N" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] oups.com...
    > dgs wrote:
    >> Don't forget http://www.telestial.com - it offers phones and SIM
    > cards,
    >> including a prepaid O2 Speakeasy SIM.
    > I'm not sure if you work for Telestial or not (they are a good
    > company), but I would only buy from them or CellularAbroad if I
    > absolutely had to have a working prepaid the moment the plane touched
    > down. The premium they charge is just too high. When I was in Ireland a
    > couple of years ago, all the carriers sold their basic prepaid SIM pack
    > for 20 Euro. Look at what Telestial charges for the same thing and
    > decide if it's worth it.
    > I currently have a T-Mobile (US) postpaid, a Riiing prepaid, a O2 (UK)
    > SIM from Mobal and a Wind (Italy) prepaid. Today, I think any
    > international traveler should have an unlocked, multi-band GSM phone
    > and at least a Riiing prepaid.
O2 and Vodafone Ireland pre-paid sim packs are 29 euro each. Voda has a shop
in the arrivals area of Dublin airport.

Alec

Alec wrote:

    > "Donald N" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] oups.com...
    >
    >>dgs wrote:
    >>>Don't forget http://www.telestial.com - it offers phones and SIM cards,
    >>>including a prepaid O2 Speakeasy SIM.
    >>I'm not sure if you work for Telestial or not

That would be a "not."

    >>[...] I would only buy from them or CellularAbroad if I
    >>absolutely had to have a working prepaid the moment the plane touched
    >>down. The premium they charge is just too high. When I was in Ireland a
    >>couple of years ago, all the carriers sold their basic prepaid SIM pack
    >>for 20 Euro. Look at what Telestial charges for the same thing and
    >>decide if it's worth it.
    >>[...]
    >
    > O2 and Vodafone Ireland pre-paid sim packs are 29 euro each. Voda has a shop
    > in the arrivals area of Dublin airport.

Hm. 29 euro ... or about 39 US dollars at current exchange rates. Am
I missing something here?
--
dgs

dgs wrote:
    > > O2 and Vodafone Ireland pre-paid sim packs are 29 euro each. Voda
has a shop
    > > in the arrivals area of Dublin airport.
    > Hm. 29 euro ... or about 39 US dollars at current exchange rates.
Am
    > I missing something here?

Just one thing. I checked online and the current retail price of a
Meteor SIM pack is actually 19.99 Euro and an O2 or Vodafone pack is
9.99 Euro.

Donald Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net