ecosse

Hi
I'm moving to New York next month and was wondering how to set myself up with a mobile in America....any tips on best provider? I am after a contract rather than pay as you go.
Thanks

BritGuyTN

www.cingular.com

pretty reasonable with euro style phones

sibsie

Hard to get a contract with no credit history. I use Verizon as their US wide coverage seems to be the best and I call coast to coast a lot.

snowbunny

and really the only choice if you want to do international GSM roaming.

anotherlimey

Worry not about your cellphone; do worry about your credit rating before applying for one.

Before you leave, get an AMEX card, then have it changed to a US version when you move here.

There are some international banks that will do the same, just look up 'credit cards' using the search function.

Bob

T-mobile too...

ecosse

oh is Verizone the same as Vodafone?
Thanks for the tips!

BritGuyTN

Nope, vodaphone has a stake in the company but verizon uses dodgy technology incompatible with the rest of the world

cingular has the biggest network in terms of subscribers and geographical coverage to the best of my knowledge. - they purchased ATT wireless about a year ago who in their own right had a pretty sizable network

t-mobile has the smallest (maybe worst) network

Big D

as stated credit history is the problem - maybe once you have some history with a land line they can bundle in a cell phone?

Remember that you pay for incoming calls on all mobiles so this reduces any free minutes

Got a virgin PAYG for my wife as she is a low user and at the time they went the longest between requiring top ups.

Good advice on the Amex - well worth doing to establish a history

Good Luck!

sibsie

Mr Sibsie uses Verizon on overseas trips and never has a prob with it.

Out of interest, why don't they use SIM cards over here?

Big D

T-mobile and Cingular do - the others are on a different technology - there endeth my techie knowledge!!

fatbrit

SIM cards are part of the GSM spec so you'll find 'em in TMobile and Cingular phones. The rest of the providers use different systems that didn't include a removable memory chip in the phone.

snowbunny

The mind boggleth.

Verizon uses CDMA technology..... what kind of phone does Mr Sibsie have, cos I'd be interested!

Bob

Though it works in south korea, canada and chile....

and to be fair to T-Mobile...they probably have the best GSM coverage in the New England area...not that that's saying much

fatbrit

I dunno! I think of it like the BetaMax / VHS argument. Convinced Verizon has the best network for quality and coverage if you're in the US. (Alltel share the network BTW.) However, you pay through the teeth for it and it don't work almost nowhere else!