How-to: stay connected while traveling internationally
By Darren Murph 
posted June 9th 2010 12:02PM
posted June 9th 2010 12:02PM
Obviously, staying connected primarily consists of two things: having access to voice communication (we'll bundle SMS into this) and having access to the internet at large (WiFi, mobile broadband, WWAN, you catch our drift). We'll start with a few basics on keeping a lock on voice communications while heading overseas, and while every situation has their own nuances, we're hoping to hit the high points here that'll at least aid everyone in some way or another.
First, a factoid: America and Canada are just two of an extremely small group of nations that support CDMA. For those unaware, Sprint (and it's MVNOs Boost Mobile, Assurance Wireless, Common Cents Mobile and Virgin Mobile), Verizon Wireless, US Cellular and pretty much every other regional carrier not named AT&T, T-Mobile USA or Suncom uses CDMA. Frankly, it works great, and VZW / Sprint have the subscribers to prove it. Unfortunately for those headed far, far away from North America, there's an overwhelming chance that your CDMA phone won't even get a signal in the nation you're landing in.
When it comes to global communications, GSM / W-CDMA is the surefire winner; there's not a semi-developed nation on the planet that doesn't support GSM (or iterations of it), so if you're looking to talk on your mobile while in a foreign land, we'd highly recommend toting an AT&T or T-Mobile handset with 3G support. We say "with 3G support" because a great many nations (Japan comes to mind) have moved well beyond EDGE, and their mobile towers won't support any technology that's older than what we know as 3G. To make a long story longer, if your device has a SIM card (which looks like this), and you can get a 3G signal in America, you're good to go.
Not an AT&T or T-Mobile subscriber? Not all hope is lost... yet. Select phones on Sprint and Verizon Wireless can be used internationally, even in GSM-only nations. If you've got a "worldphone" (enterprise BlackBerry customers would know best), there's a good chance that your CDMA handset has a SIM card in there as well specifically for times when you head somewhere that requires a jaunt through immigration. We'd suggest calling your carrier and having them double check to see if your handset is suited for international usage, and if so, you can continue right along reading. If not, we'll toss you a bone in just a few paragraphs.
Let's assume that your current mobile is equipped for voice communication overseas. Great. One hurdle crossed. If you think it's absolutely imperative that you be able to make and receive calls on your exact mobile number, you're going to be paying dearly for the privilege, no matter how you slice it. International voice minutes on a cellphone are absurdly expensive, even with prepaid global minute packs from your carrier. Here's a quick breakdown of what it'll cost you to make a minute-long call in France and Canda, just to give you a general idea of how bad an idea it is to use your existing mobile number to make / receive calls outside of the country. We also threw texting and pay-per-use data rates in as well. Mind you, all of these values can shrink (oftentimes dramatically so) if you purchase a monthly global calling plan or pre-pay for global data, but it's never "cheap" to roam.
AT&T |
Sprint |
T-Mobile |
Verizon |
| 1 min. call from France |
$1.29 | $1.29 | $1.29 | $1.29 |
| 1 min. call from Canada |
$0.79 | $0.59 | $0.49 to $0.69 | $0.69 |
| 1 SMS to French carrier |
$0.50 (sent); $0.50 (received) |
$0.50 (sent); $0.05 (received) |
$0.35 (sent); $0.20 (received) |
$0.25 (sent); $0.20 (received) |
| 1 MMS to French carrier |
$1.30 (sent); $1.30 (received) |
$0.50 (sent); $0.05 (received) |
$0.35 (sent); $0.20 (received) |
$0.25 (sent); $0.20 (received) |
| 1 SMS to Canadian carrier |
$0.50 (sent); $0.50 (received) |
Same as US plan rates | $0.20 (sent); $0.20 (received) |
$0.20 (sent); $0.20 (received) |
| 1 MMS to Canadian carrier |
$1.30 (sent); $1.30 (received) |
Same as US plan rates | $0.20 (sent); $0.20 (received) |
$0.20 (sent); $0.20 (received) |
| Data price in France |
$19.97 per MB | $16.38 per MB | $15 per MB | $20.48 per MB |
| Data price in Canada |
$15.36 per MB | $2.05 per MB | $10 per MB | $2.05 per MB |
So, you're essentially hosed if you need to make voice calls from your mobile while outside of the country, right? Hold up a second, vaquero -- don't go killing that Kayak.com window just yet. Thanks to a magnificent invention by the name of Skype, there's an infinitely more affordable way to make and receive calls when you're away from home soil. If you fully expect to be making and taking a slew of calls to your mobile, we'd buy up a pool of discounted global minutes before leaving the States (or your homeland, wherever that may be), and using those only as informational minutes. Allow us to explain.
Let's say you get a call while trekking through Kenya on your standard mobile number -- the one that all 1,842 of your clients has embedded in their contact list. There's a smart way and a dumb way to handle this situation. The latter would involve you yakking away for an hour, while the former would be for you to take the call, inform him / her of your whereabouts and then tell them when you'll be able to return their call. Unless it's a dire emergency, the other caller can afford to wait an hour or two to chat, during which time you'll be finding yourself a WiFi hotspot.
At this point, we're going to assume you've equipped yourself with a smartphone capable of running Skype; the app is currently available for Android, iPhone OS, BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile (this one's janky, though), so the vast majority of existing smartphone owners should be taken care of (webOS users notwithstanding). Before heading out on your journey, we'd suggest throwing a $10 or $20 (or more, if you're a heavy talker) credit onto your Skype account, which will allow you to make calls back to your homeland from $0.021 per minute (full rates are here). Notice how much cheaper that is than calling on a foreign cellular network? Oh, and just because some carriers will allow you to make a Skype call over 3G, doesn't mean you should. You don't want to pay Skype and data roaming charges for a single call, now do you?
Where this really gets useful is when you bring Google Voice into the equation. Skype users can already assign a dedicated number to their account so that their WiFi-connected smartphone will ring should someone dial in, but Google Voice enables calls to be accurately routed and voicemails left in a centralized location. Simply direct your Google Voice number to forward onto your Skype account, and your clients back home may never know you've stepped away from the office. We will say, however, that you'll want to think this over and get it sorted one way or another before leaving home.
If you've got yourself a CDMA phone that won't roam on a GSM network (hint: most won't), at least your options are narrowed to one. You'll be renting a phone once your reach your destination airport, but thankfully, most major airports in foreign lands make this surprisingly easy. Obviously, every airport is different, but most have a number of phone rental shops just before you head outside and hail a taxi. Aside from running into language barriers (though if you speak English, chances are there will be instructions there for you), the biggest pain here is communicating your temporary phone number to your loved ones back home, while simultaneously telling them that it'll cost them dearly if they need to dial up that international number. But hey, that's the price you pay for having the ability to make mobile calls on a whim while visiting somewhat far, far away from Kansas. One thing to be mindful of here, however, is that some nations do not allow for inter-carrier texting; for example, an NTT DoCoMo phone in Japan cannot text someone on SoftBank. If you and your buds are heading over someplace, it's smart to all rent mobiles / SIM cards from the same carrier. Here's an video explanation of how to rent a SIM card overseas from our good pal Nicole Scott at Netbook News.
Wrap-up
We know, that's a lot to digest, and most of it may seem like common sense to the technophile. If you're looking for the quick and dirty recommendation list for getting connected overseas, you've landed in the right section.
- Almost always, it's cheapest to simply rent a SIM card or entire cellphone from the country you're landing in. It's not hard. In most cases, you don't even have to leave the airport. It's uncommon to pay more than $200 per week for unlimited local calls, text and data.
- If you must use your own phone internationally, buy a global roaming plan before leaving, and attempt to use Skype whenever possible. Just ring your carrier and ask about global roaming packs -- they'll be happy to oblige.
- Do not ever, under any circumstance, roam with your American mobile broadband card. You'll never pay off the roaming bill. Just rent an unlimited MiFi, SIM card, or entire WWAN card for around $20 to $30 per day in most places. Proactive users can rent one ahead of time to avoid the hassle post-landing.
- Don't be shocked if your CDMA phone won't work overseas. Consider it a blessing in disguise and follow the steps above.
- Stay in a hotel, hostel, resort or tent with gratis internet access, preferably WiFi so your Skype-enabled mobile can connect easily.
- Believe it or not, an old school calling card is also a great way to phone home so long as your hotel doesn't ding you for calling out to a toll-free number.
AT&T international roaming details: click here
Sprint international roaming details: click here
T-Mobile USA international roaming details: click here
Verizon Wireless international roaming details: click here
Some important information that the somewhat brief original article missed.
1/ the Virgin Mobile service in the UK is a GSM service; as far as I know there's no special roaming agreement with the VM in USA, so don't expect any favours - check first
2/ There are two kinds of Skype application on phones,
2.1/ one is a branding of iSkoot, used by Three in the UK and now I think Verizon in the USA, which is basically a gateway from cellular calls into Skype and the phone gets the operator's gateway to login to your skype account and route messages and calls over the normal cellular path as SMSs and voice calls
2.2/ the other is a true Skype client which thus needs a good data path and will run up a huge data charge on your phone when roaming, so be sure to use wifi
3/ Fring is a very useful cross-platform app, there's a series 60 version so you can do Skype on a wifi hotspot (see 2.2) with a Nokia phone
4/ roaming charges can vary throughout the year, so be sure to check your operator's website before you go and probably even take a printout, signed and dated, with you, in case of arguments! I'd recommend using a voucher/credit based service so that if the worst happens you run out of credit rather than running up a huge bill.
5/ the best way to save money is to buy a pay as you go service on arrival; you can pick up a phone *with* credit in the UK for much less than $50 in any supermarket, and in the UK you don't pay to receive calls or messages at all!
I use truphone VoIP service it works very well over wi-fi. For wifi access I get a boingo mobile connection for the duration of my trip. It costs only $7.95 per month to access wifi from mobile phones.
Sorry, the article incorrectly missed Symbian as one of the earliest supporters of the Skype application on both 3G and WiFi. But even before Skype offerred a mobile app there was also Fring and Nimbuzz on Symbian. Also, if you wish to avoid the need for continuous data connectivity to navigate, the Nokia Maps with turn by turn navigation is available. You can download and install the necessary maps beforehand and navigate offline or even SIM-less if necessary. Nokia Maps is free on many Nokia devices and useful WORLD-wide. The Nokia N8 is the worlds only PENTA band 3G phone...so it can run anywhere...except ANTARCTICA.
The Skype on my DROID won't let me make calls over WIFI. Does anyone know if there is a fix for this yet?
"Skype; the app is currently available for Android"
It is? What am I doing wrong that I can't find it?
Try www.xcomglobal.com and just rent a data plan. Much cheaper.
http://www.xcomglobal.com for rental data coverage in over 130 countries.
Canada no longer has any CDMA carriers. yeah, there are still a lot of people with old cdma phones but still.. don't lump us in with the US!
also.. what about unlocking your phone and buying a travel sim?
@the author
Good article with respect to voice calls, but you completely missed it on data. AT&T and verizon both offer unlimited data plans at very reasonable rates. I've used the data roaming in paris, london, and HK, and had great success with very little cost on my end.
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-mobile/skype-mobile/android/
The Offical SKYPE site says:
Here are the Android™ smartphones from Verizon Wireless that support Skype mobile™
Motorola DROID
HTC DROID Incredible
Motorola Devour™
HTC DROID ERIS™
LG Ally™
Don't forget you can SMS from Google Chat for free. Yes, even international SMS.
You can also let calls go to voicemail then check via WiFi (if you have visual VM or if they're available online) or from a local phone.
Blackberry Messenger works via WiFi too.
Also, when renting, pay attention to the rates. Some carriers offer the first incoming minute free allowing you to use tricks to avoid charges.
@yeahman Is this something new? As far as I knew gmail SMS was US only, same thing for Google Voice SMS.
@chochua I started sending international SMS last September with Google Voice and noticed it worked with Gmail earlier this year.
Free data - starbuck's (most any coffee shop), mc donalds, or about any 3-4 star hotel or above. voice purchase a local sim card, international roaming is terrible rate, last time I was in china got a sim card & 200 minutes for about $10. China unicom
Skype pulled support for Windows Mobile :(
No sign of when it will return either.
Ok, if you're coming to australia, theres no CDMA here. we phased it out a while ago.
T-Mobile will unlock your GSM phone for you if you've been a customer for three months. This will enable you to use a foreign SIM card in your GSM phone and avoid renting a different phone entirely.
@beersurfing
Anyone know if AT&T does this? I'm planning on traveling to Asia a few times over the next year or two. Right now I'm trying to figure out what my next phone will be (currently on Sprint which is obviously out unless I get a blackberry) and what carrier...
@clue They don't - one of the AT&T stores told me they never unlock any phone for any reason ever
@clue hey, I travel over to asia all the time. I use my iphone 3gs currently, and just pop in the sim card for whichever country I'm in. Then I just prepay for the service, and normally (normally for me is in China), its about $20/month for unlimited everything. Where will you be going/for how long?
That's the longest engadget article I've read. Woaaah my eyes are burning from reading this article on my iPhone quick I need my Retinal display to ease the pain.
Try out renting data.... http://www.xcomglobal.com
I buy a sim card in every foreign country that I go to. It takes about 30 minutes to buy it and get it setup. I buy a prepaid card and I'm set. Also, most countries have prepaid internet, so if you want to buy unlimited internet for a month – it's easy and fairly cheap. I've done this all throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South America.
Well, I have a question for you US guys. I'm from Europe and I have an factory unlocked iPhone 3GS. I will be in USA the next semester and my question is, can I buy a prepaid DATA (or Voice & data) sim card that I can use there in my iPhone? Without any contract?
In Austria, you can buy a SIM card with 2GB data for 20€, it will work in your iPhone (or any other phone) and it is up to you how long will it take you to use it all. Is there something like this in the US? I know there are those pre-paid AT&T cards, but it is like a 1$ for 100kb if you use data...
Skype for Blackberry isn't out yet. I am sad.
On Verizon, they don't charge an international fee on texting Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands...
For your many non-US readers: video skype works on symbian using fring. Nokia ovi maps works offline.
i'm surprised there has been no discussion about APNs. this is one of the little hurdles you have to overcome to use a smartphone on a foreign network. simply popping a prepaid SIM card into an unlocked smartphone isn't typically enough to get you online. most smartphones (android and iphone for sure) require you to enter the carrier's APN data in the phone's settings. the APN (Access Point Name) consists of the APN itself (example "internet" or "whatever.com" and sometimes a username and password as well. this information can usually be found by googling the carrier's name and "APN". you should have this info handy before you arrive in your destination country. don't expect to get this information from customer service representatives of your foreign carrier. most of them are not technical enough to even know what an APN is.
another important tip for smartphone users: some prepaid SIMs bill internet usage by the minute, not by the Kb. any minute within which your phone accesses the internet is billed to you. if your phone is constantly using background data for checking email, etc, your internet minutes will quickly evaporate. in this case, you will want a sure-fire way to turn off data usage when you're not using your phone. for android phones, this is easily accomplished using APNDroid, available in the marketplace for free.
1. Could be a lot shorter and simpler - rule of thumb?
Quad band GSM + UTMS 2100Mhz Band I phone.
That'll generally cover you in most of the popular travel destinations around the world w/o much trouble or worry.
(Of course, there are a few countries that insist on not following the pack.... - check before you leave.)
2. Make sure you have whatever international roaming turned on on your plan (eg. WorldClass on T-Mobile USA). OTherwise, carrier will block you even if you're phone+sim works abroad.
3. KILL any and ALL internet apps!
This is the easiest on 'nice' ol'school flip phones and the like where you don't have a live, always-on connection.
Most Nokias (N95, N79, etc), older Samsungs (Z540, etc), etc. which don't use the modern Android, etc. OS will be easiest to ensure this doesn't happen.
Modern OSs like Androids will constantly access the net, which only means $$$$ hundreds/thousands dollar bill later on. And it can be very hard for a simple user to make sure they're not using roaming cellular data at times.
4. Rental SIM cards/phones can be super-cheap.
eg. In Japan, just bring your WCDMA 2100Mhz Band I phone, drop in a rental Softbank SIM card at Narita airport, and you get 100% FREE incoming phone calls for a few dollars a day! yeah!! texting and calls are reasonable since you've got a local # and plan from the rental.
5. Any USA plan can be very expensive.
eg. expect to see $1-2/min phone calls, etc.
Thus, WiFi, Text, etc. are highly preferred alternatives if you don't rent a SIM/Phone.
6. If you have the $$$$, SAT phones rock. Seriously, off in the mountains where you don't see sign of life anywhere? No problem! Just whip out the Satellite phone and you can call anyone anywhere anytime - no local cell towers needed at all.
7. Print out a wallet sized country/city call code card or download them to the phone. You'll need it to figure out how to dial international numbers and all. (eg. + country code city code phone number) You'll be surprised how 'difficult' it can be at times dialing the correct digits even if you think you know it all.
8. There are CDMA coverage in countries which didn't have such earlier like Japan, but I'd SERIOUSLY consider renting/buying/owning a 2100Mhz BAND I WCDMA+GSM phone instead for Japan.
They've been popping in CDMA coverage here and there, but UTMS still rules and I wouldn't go with anything else for coverage around the country.
9. Expect SMS delays - use data bytes and MMS/Email instead if you don't get a quick response from the other party.
Yes, even with everything good to go, sometimes, you can expect 1-2 day delays with SMS from a foreign roaming number in places like modern Japan. If it's critical, do both SMS and Email/MMS to the other person if calling doesn't work.
@bloggingpig
For me the internet options are below. I'm pretty cheap but so it's ranked in order of cheapness :)
1. Tough it out. Look for free wifi. Download pre-loaded offline map apps on iphone. (when on budget holiday)
2. Get a local sim card. Unlock iphone. (this can be very tricky sometimes. for example when i was in the USA i couldn't find any payas you go sims that had data.)
3. Roam. I do this occassionally when you need to make that call to find your friend and coordinate. (when need to do stock trades and emails)
4. Use MifiClub, it's basically renting a local mifi unit so you can use your smartphone and laptop freely, anywhere. It's great if you need to get work done, and need a lot of internet. Much cheaper than roaming, and more convenient than wifi hotspots. Great for conferences. (they will start offering it in london hotels this month http://www.langhamhotels.com)
I will never go for a global sim because I won't have my number which is what makes a mobile so useful. It's data rates are horrible. Even the cheapest is £1.25/MB.
I will not rent a smartphone because I want my own apps and personal stuff on my phone to use.
In Japan there's no GSM towers, but that's because Japan chose PDC for 2G, not GSM, so there were NO towers for GSM from its beginnings. Though you can't sign up a new contract, there ARE 2G networks still operating in Japan.
when i go to israel i pay $44 a month and peopl in america can call me for free on an american number. what i do is bring my nokia n900 with me, get skype world plan plus an online american number then get a prepaid sim with a data plan of 5gb which is maximum there on prepaid. the prepaid plan is 20 every month plus for skype which is 12.95 for unlimited world calls plus 12.05 for an online american number so ppl can call me for free. N900 allows you to stay logged in to skype so u can receive calls just like any other phone but u must be connected to 3g interent whole time, not a big deal though.
oh forgot to add i can make and receive 3g video calls thru skype as well and if you want to sms ppl for free and receive just do it thru AIM just enter +1 and the number as the screen name. im actually posting this on my n900 right now in israel.
In my opinion the cheapest way is to buy local SIM, but better to check on internet beforehand the prices from all local carriers and chose most adequate. By the way there is even cheaper service then skype - raketu.
Awesome article... couple things.
1. Verizon offers unlimited international data... so instead of paying the $29.99 data plan, one just needs to switch to $64.99 plan. The best part is that they will activate and deactivate for occasional travelers... making the $64.99 pro rated per day.
2. Lastly, Skype on Verizon Wireless is limited to only work in the USA
There's one big problem with your suggestion to use Skype Mobile on your smartphone. In general the approach works but in the case of Verizon they have gotten smart and have impleemented an "always on" version of Skype that only works ono their 3G network, not on WiFi. I called Verizon tech support and asked why I can't use Skype over WiFi on my Moto Droid and they simple said it was designed for 3G and why would I want to use it with WiFi. I hung up after expressing my reason was to save money. While in Paris recently I did discover a great little option called Fring which allows IM chat with conacts on Skype, Live Messenger, Yahoo, AOL, IRQ. It also supports phoning over the Skype network as well as video chat. It saved my life while I was over there since it does all this over WiFi which is everywhere throughout Paris.
is that the dude in the yellow shirt holding the xpphone?? looks funny having something that big held up to your ear...lol
Have you heard of mificlub? It's really cool like fonmigo. It’s something I started so you’ll never never have to search for wifi hotspots again. Never pay for data roaming again. But have the convenience of wifi where ever you are in the UK.
http://mificlub.com
I recently wrote up something similar for travelers to Quito, Ecuador - http://bit.ly/94QrrE