Wireless "World Phones" Now Enable You to Chat While
AbroadFor
years, Americans traveling abroad were held incommunicado when
it came to their cellular phones, however, some wireless providers
are now offering international service, all for the cost of a
roaming charge.
"Companies
such as Cingular Wireless offer customers international service
on their own phones not only in Europe, but also in Asia, Africa,
and South America - almost the entire globe, even in Iraq and
Afghanistan," said Mike Bennett, consumer and government
affairs executive director of Cingular Wireless.
Cell
phones from the United States don't usually work overseas, Bennett
said, because when wireless technologies were being created the
United States used systems that were incompatible with those in
the rest of the world, which opted for a single standard called
GSM ("Global System for Mobiles").
Today, more than one billion people use GSM phones, making it
the
dominant mobile phone system worldwide, comprising about 70 percent
of the wireless market.
"Fortunately, GSM phones are now widely available in the
United States, and Cingular Wireless is the largest provider of
GSM services in the nation," he adds.
"If
you have a GSM phone, activating international roaming service
is as simple as contacting your provider," he says. "Your
GSM phone assumes the characteristics of the wireless network
in each country visited. So if someone is traveling in Italy the
phone will work like a local Italian wireless device. Under Cingular's
plan, customers roaming internationally are charged at the per-minute
voice roaming rate without additional long distance charges."
Bennett
says it is important to remember that just because a person has
a GSM phone, it does not guarantee that it will work abroad. "Travelers
must remember to ask their carrier for a 'World Phone' that operates
on the four major frequencies used by GSM carriers around the
globe."
Before GSM phones were available stateside, travelers from the
United States had few options other than renting GSM phones while
in Europe, which is expensive and inconvenient. "If your
local carrier does not offer international service, you can always
buy a cheap GSM world phone then buy pre-paid minutes, while out
of the country," he explains. Typically this is cheaper than
a week's rental of a GSM phone. At the end of your trip you can
keep the phone for next time, recycle it, or sell it.
You can learn more about cell phone services online "Ask
the Wireless Guru" at www.thewirelessguru.com.
(Source:
Cingular)
|
