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Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

Hello All,

I have SprintPCS with three phones. My son in college is going to England
for a quarter this fall. Needless to say he won't be able to use his Sprint
phone.

What is the best solution for me to hook him up with a phone service for a
few months while in England?

Thanks in advance,
Steve Banks


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Steve Banks <msftman_MyFinger_@comcast.net> wrote:

> What is the best solution for me to hook him up with a phone service for a
> few months while in England?

Rent or buy him a phone there - try to find him one with cheap calling to the
US, or find a phonecard with cheap calling to the US

Sprint uses CDMA on 1900 MHz. Europe uses GSM on 900 and 1800 MHz. Incompatible
technology - wrong frequencies - so Sprint phones won't work in Europe.

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Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net
PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED)
Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.
 
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"Steven J Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
news:h_ednVCMy-Z90b3cRVn-vg@lmi.net...
> Steve Banks <msftman_MyFinger_@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > What is the best solution for me to hook him up with a phone service for
a
> > few months while in England?
>
> Rent or buy him a phone there - try to find him one with cheap calling to
the
> US, or find a phonecard with cheap calling to the US
>
> Sprint uses CDMA on 1900 MHz. Europe uses GSM on 900 and 1800 MHz.
Incompatible
> technology - wrong frequencies - so Sprint phones won't work in Europe.

Thanks Steven,

I knew the CDMA would not work... a buddy of mine had ATT for service and
when he went to Europe for vacations, he'd buy a local GSM phone and slip
his "Chip" into the new phone, thus keeping all of his phone numbers etc.

I think for the short period of time an inexpensive phonecard might be the
best bet.

Thanks,
Steve Banks


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"Steve Banks" <msftman_MyFinger_@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:DsednYm_ssShx73cRVn-iA@comcast.com...
> I knew the CDMA would not work... a buddy of mine had ATT for service and
> when he went to Europe for vacations, he'd buy a local GSM phone and slip
> his "Chip" into the new phone, thus keeping all of his phone numbers etc.
> I think for the short period of time an inexpensive phonecard might be the
> best bet.

A quarter (3 months)? Buy a local Vodafone, Orange, or Virgin (or more)
prepaid SIM card and a tri/quad band unlocked (SIM free) GSM phone. Incoming
call is free locally.

A phonecard requires a phone (fixed phone, pay phone, etc) to work, and
incoming call is not possible.
 
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"P T Wang" <news1003@paultwang.com> wrote in message
news:Q53Uc.1020$233.721@newssvr23.news.prodigy.com...
>
> "Steve Banks" <msftman_MyFinger_@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:DsednYm_ssShx73cRVn-iA@comcast.com...
> > I knew the CDMA would not work... a buddy of mine had ATT for service
and
> > when he went to Europe for vacations, he'd buy a local GSM phone and
slip
> > his "Chip" into the new phone, thus keeping all of his phone numbers
etc.
> > I think for the short period of time an inexpensive phonecard might be
the
> > best bet.
>
> A quarter (3 months)? Buy a local Vodafone, Orange, or Virgin (or more)
> prepaid SIM card and a tri/quad band unlocked (SIM free) GSM phone.
Incoming
> call is free locally.
>
> A phonecard requires a phone (fixed phone, pay phone, etc) to work, and
> incoming call is not possible.


Thanks PT, appreciate it!

Steve


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P T Wang <news1003@paultwang.com> wrote:

> A quarter (3 months)? Buy a local Vodafone, Orange, or Virgin (or more)
> prepaid SIM card and a tri/quad band unlocked (SIM free) GSM phone. Incoming
> call is free locally.
>
> A phonecard requires a phone (fixed phone, pay phone, etc) to work, and
> incoming call is not possible.

Hey, PT. :)

I suggested the phone card only for cheap international calling.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net
PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED)
Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.
 
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Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

"Steven J Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
news:zYWdnUDCX5sp07zcRVn-sA@lmi.net...
> P T Wang <news1003@paultwang.com> wrote:
> > A phonecard requires a phone (fixed phone, pay phone, etc) to work, and
> > incoming call is not possible.
>
> Hey, PT. :)
>
> I suggested the phone card only for cheap international calling.

You are right.

A combination of phone card (or callback service) and a cell phone can be
the best solution. International rates on cell phones are still many times
above the phone card competition.
 

Sprout

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Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 03:23:42 GMT, "P T Wang" <news1003@paultwang.com>
wrote:

>
>"Steven J Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
>news:zYWdnUDCX5sp07zcRVn-sA@lmi.net...
>> P T Wang <news1003@paultwang.com> wrote:
>> > A phonecard requires a phone (fixed phone, pay phone, etc) to work, and
>> > incoming call is not possible.
>>
>> Hey, PT. :)
>>
>> I suggested the phone card only for cheap international calling.
>
>You are right.
>
>A combination of phone card (or callback service) and a cell phone can be
>the best solution. International rates on cell phones are still many times
>above the phone card competition.
>
>

You can order a phone with UK SIM from Mobal Communications.
http://www.mobalworldphone.com