In a week we will be visiting central Europe and then Sicily. I
would like to take and use the cellular phone I have in Canada. Is
this possible? What is most economical way to make calls in Europe
and to Canada? Thanks for any advice you can provide. Cheers.
- gA

"gA" ualberta.net> wrote

Buy an international SIM card. I got mine from www.oneroam.co.uk but there
are plenty of providers.

gA wrote:

What phone do you have? North American GSM phones use the 850 and 1900
bands, while those in Europe use 900 and 1800. Your phone would need to
be either tri- or quad-band. If you want to roam on your home carrier,
make sure you arrange for this before leaving. If you want to use a
local SIM, make sure your phone is unlocked.

I'm currently using an unlocked Nokia triband, with an Orange PAYG SIMcard.

You might also consider buying a phone and SIM locally - this can be
cheaper than your roaming costs.

gA ualberta.net> wrote in news:9rfCi.111846$fJ5.111458@pd7urf1no:

the most economical way to make the calls is to use a calling card;
however, if your calls are incoming a card such as United Mobile will be
very economical as they have free incoming calls and reasonable roaming
rates. They also give a one number solution, You must have an unlocked
phone with european bands (900-1800) to use this or any European sim card.

gA ualberta.net> writes:

Either a calling card, or by making use of the shady-looking internet cafes
with voice-over-IP phone services that you'll see everywhere.

"gA" ualberta.net> wrote in message
news:9rfCi.111846$fJ5.111458@pd7urf1no...

You don't tell us which carrier you use in Canada. If it's Bell their CDMA
phones won't work in Europe. Rogers' GSM phones might work if you have the
right type phone.

You really need to make a quick study of this subject. Take a look at:
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/americans-going-europe-overseas-t1085.html
to get started.

Thanks, Donald. I have a Nokia (GSM) with Rogers. I will look at
your suggested site. Cheers.
- gA

"gA" ualberta.net> wrote in message
news:ezsCi.114548$fJ5.9422@pd7urf1no...

You may find that yours is an "American" tri-band with the 850, 1800 & 1900
MHz bands. If so, you should be able to activate international roaming with
Rogers but be warned: it will be expensive and only the 1800 MHz band will
work in Europe. Since this band is has shorter range than their 900 MHz band
your coverage will not be as complete as it would be if you also had 900.
This won't matter much in UK or NL but 1800 coverage can get kind of thin on
the west coast of Ireland and parts of Norway.

You might want to ask about international roaming on the Rogers forum on
www.howardforums.com.

On 1 Sep., 17:20, gA ualberta.net> wrote:

Check your service provider roaming conditions,
especially prices. If gsm and your service provider
has roaming partners for the countries you plan to travel
check your phones frequencies and coverage for the
countires/roaming partners you plan to travel.
Details on roaming and coverage at www.gsm.org
more specifically
http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/index.shtml and
http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml

Using cellular phones and paying for international
roaming is for sure not the least expensive way
for calling within Europe and from Europe to
Canada - but definitely depends on your contract
with your service provider.