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At work or at play, almost anywhere in the
world, enjoy the security and convenience of a cell phone.
In case you're confused after reading
parts
one and
two of this series on international cell phones - or even if you're not -
here is a very simple and low cost strategy for how to conveniently stay in
touch (and in turn be contactable) while traveling just about anywhere in the
world.
Part
four
will then help you compare the different options you have. Part
five
helps you choose what type of phone you need, and part
six
reviews a product that competes with the Hop product discussed below.
Step One: Buy an international GSM phone
US GSM networks offer a viable solution for use
throughout much of the US. Most local regions have good coverage, but if you
want a phone with the same excellent coverage that you have probably become used
to with your current non-GSM two or three band US phone, a GSM only phone may
perhaps not satisfy you.
Some of the US networks are now offering
'compromise' phones that include the US 1900 MHz GSM band plus also one of the
other US non-GSM bands. This is great for the US - it means your phone can use
either GSM or the more widespread non-GSM network, whichever is available, but
it makes the phone useless if you want to use it on other GSM networks,
elsewhere in the world.
This leaves you with two choices - either
abandon the concept of having one phone that works both in the US and
internationally. Get whatever (probably non-GSM) phone and service plan from
whatever provider that suits your needs best for domestic use within the US. And
then buy a separate dual band (900/1800 MHz) phone for use in any of the 174+
countries internationally that use GSM networks.
Alternatively buy one of the new quad-band GSM
phones that give the best range of options for service coverage in both the US
and internationally.
You can buy a dual band GSM phone for as little
as $100 or even less, and from various sources either within the US or
internationally (see part
one).
My suggestion - buy the phone before you leave home. That way you have time to
get the phone, check it, learn how it works, program in phone numbers, and have
everything optimized and ready for when you start your travels.
EarthWize Cellular
is an excellent and responsive company, with a good range of phones, at good
prices, and great service. You know that you won't have any potential problems
(like discovering the phone you bought is 'locked' and can't be used with
different SIMs), you can pay by credit card, and they are a reputable business
that will likely still be around to provide you with any service or support you
might need.
Step One Variation : Using the International Service in the US, too
I chose to spend only a very little more than
dual band phone costs, and selected a tri-band phone instead. I can use it as a
'loaner' while I'm at home in the US. For example, if I have guests with me that
need a phone, then they can use it in the US just as conveniently as I use it
when I'm abroad. And it also makes it easy for me to ensure that I use the phone
at least once a year and activate new top-up cards before traveling overseas.
Tri-band phones aren't much more expensive than
dual band phones, and the extra flexibility they give is very handy. (See my
comments in the Summary section for a suggested strategy.)
Step Two: Buy a Hop Abroad Global Roaming SIM
If your travels will take you to a number of
different countries, then a Hop Abroad roaming SIM is the very best way to stay
in touch. It gives you a low cost per minute to telephone anywhere in the world
(currently 95¢ a minute for calls you make from your phone, and 35¢ a minute for
calls you receive to your phone, with per-second billing for best value), and,
best of all, it gives you one single phone number that anyone can dial to reach
you, at any time, no matter where in the world you might be. Or, to be more
precise, no matter where in the 100 countries that participate in this global
roaming network you might be!
The Hop Abroad service is available through
InTouch Smart Cards.
A $99 registration gets you the SIM and international account, plus $15 worth of
airtime.
This establishes a pre-pay account for your
phone number, and as long as you have money in that account, you can place and
receive phone calls. When your balance is used up, you can get a 'recharge
code', either by phone or online from Telestial and add more units to your
account. You can check your account balance, for free, anytime you're in a GSM
covered area. Additional airtime can be purchased, either in lots of $50
(costing $65) or $100 (costing $120) - I think the extra cost covers the 'line
rental' part of the service.
Your phone number is actually a number within
the Monaco phone system that anyone can call from anywhere in the world. It does
not change as you move between countries, same as your phone number on a US cell
phone doesn't change as you move from one state to the next.
As long as you buy a $65 recharge at least once
a year, your phone number remains active and unchanged, so it can become a
permanent phone number for as long as you wish to keep it.
Step Two Exception: Long Term Stays in One Country
If you're going to be spending a reasonable
amount of time in one country (ie if you'll be making a lot of phone calls!)
then sometimes it is cheaper to have a local account as well as (or instead of)
your Hop Abroad account. For example, I use my Hop Abroad account when
casually/quickly traveling about Europe, but if I'm staying in Britain or Russia
for a week or two, I then switch to a local account, where the costs to call
locally within that country become very much lower.
Note that doing this has the disadvantage of
making it harder for people back home to know what phone number to use to
contact you.
When does it make sense to switch? The best idea
is to discuss this with a specialist, such as the helpful people at
In Touch Smart Cards,
and to follow their advice. They can sell you both single country SIMs and/or a
Hop global SIM, so they have no bias to force you one way or the other, and can
truly help you to get the best configuration.
Using Hop Abroad
I've used my Hop account in the US, UK, much of
Western Europe, and Russia.
In the US, it has always worked perfectly.
In Russia, when I first switched the phone on,
it initially told me 'no service'. This was at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport,
where I've made cell phone calls many times before, and so I started to worry.
After several long minutes, the phone suddenly showed full signal strength and
told me it was using the 'Bee Line' network - one of Russia's best major phone
services.
Phone calls did not always go through
satisfactorily, which was a bother and a frustration. Sometimes it would take a
number of redial attempts before the call would be completed. I don't know what
was the cause of this, but because the phone showed good signal strength, it
seems to be a network problem - either with Hop or (less likely) Bee Line.
In the UK and Europe it worked reliably and
easily, with good coverage.
A Helpful Advantage
One of the amazing features of this service is
that you can typically choose between multiple GSM providers in each country
that you visit. If you find you're in a bad coverage area from one provider,
just tell your phone to find a stronger signal from another provider. For
example, here in the US, my phone switches automatically between AT&T and
T-Mobile, depending on which service gives the best coverage.
This is an invaluable service, particularly if
your travels are going to take you away from the major cities (where all service
providers usually give good coverage).
Missing Features
Hop suffers by not offering SMS service and not
offering voicemail. SMS is very widely used in most other countries, and the
benefit of voicemail goes without saying. For this reason alone, you might be
well advised to consider the newer
Riiing
product, which is generally better in all key respects.
A Permanent Number
As long as you buy a $65 'recharge' card once
every twelve months, you can keep your phone number active for as long as you
wish. This recharge card includes $50 worth of airtime, so the actual line
rental cost is only $1.25 a month (assuming you can use the airtime).
For a cost of little more than $5/month - which
you'll almost certainly get value from when you use the airtime, anyway - you
have a permanent international contact number that your business contacts and
personal friends can keep and refer to any time you're out of the country.
Summary
This is a good concept and well - but
incompletely - implemented. The service is easy to set up and use, and is an
affordable and practical solution to the problem of keeping conveniently in
touch while traveling internationally.
On the other hand, the new
Riiing
service is comparable or better than Hop, and generally less expensive, too.
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