Mobile Phone Advice for a UK resident spending one year in Arizona, US

phil.b89

Hi all,

I come to these forums looking for a simple enough bit of advice:

I am currently a UK student who is soon to be going on a placement year to work in Phoenix, Arizona.

I currently have a dilemma as to what to do about a mobile phone for the year. I have looked into contracts but they tend to be 24months long ( I am only out there for just over 11), so they seem a no go.

Other option is a pay as you go phone- had a little look into these too- however, being a bit of a gadget lover, I wasn't overly impressed with the selection of phones available.

Therefore...

I am currently thinking of buying an unlocked tri-band or quad-band over in the UK before travelling out, and then getting a SIM only deal out in the states. However I am yet to find any such deals that really jump out at me. Does anyone think this is a good plan? Or have any suggestions on the matter?

I had a small read about sims and would I be right in thinking I need something like a T-Mobile USA Prepaid To Go Sim Kit? Any other suggestions?

I would be planning on sending and receiving texts to/from the UK, making the odd call to the UK, but also making texts and calls within the USA itself. Any help would be much appreciated!! :beer:

carmen_blue

I live in the UK but I'm from AZ originally - I hope you like it!

Whenever I visit for long periods of time, I use my UK unlocked phone and just do pay as you go. I don't use it too much, so I got good value out of it. The one thing that's different over there though is that you use credit when other people call you! So that's the down side. There's a good AT&T shop on Scottsdale Road: http://www.att.com/storelocator/store-details.jsp?_requestid=1150044

You could try talking to them - they've helped me out in the past.

phil.b89

Thank you for your reply, much appreciated.

I've had a brief look at AT&T but they seem on the expensive side as far as I can see. If I haven't found anything before I get out there I will go and speak to them- thank you!

Any other suggestions? Or just other names of networks that I can have a look on... so far I have AT&T, T-Mobile and Cricket.

Cheers

phil.b89

flyingscotno1

phil.b89 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply, much appreciated.

I've had a brief look at AT&T but they seem on the expensive side as far as I can see. If I haven't found anything before I get out there I will go and speak to them- thank you!

Any other suggestions? Or just other names of networks that I can have a look on... so far I have AT&T, T-Mobile and Cricket.

Cheers

phil.b89

Virgin Mobile was meant to be good for visitors to the US.

carmen_blue

Try Cingular

mrcamp

Cingular is the same thing as AT&T.

If you want to use your phone your choices are AT&T and Tmobile, or one of the several MVNO's that use both of them. Such as Tuyo mobile. You certainly will not be able to get a contract due to lack of credit history, SS#, etc. Tmobile has very good rates for international text. They actually charge the same ($0.10) for all text, international or not. As for calling UK, you do not want to use any of them directly (except Tuyo because of their excellent international rates). Get a calling card for that. If you go with AT&T make sure you have a quadband phone because they use both 850/1900 bands extensively. If it's tmobile a phone with just the 1900 band is good enough. Since that is their primary band. They do roam on AT&T in some remote areas though. So, a quadband can come in handy. You can get these sim cards in walmart, radioshack, bestbuy, etc.

Here is Tuyo : http://www.tuyo.com/

carmen_blue wrote: »

Try Cingular

phil.b89

Thank you for your help mrcamp, much appreciated. Do you know if this is the kind of sim that I would need if I were to go on to t-mobile for example:

[REPLACE]cgi.ebay.co.uk/TMOBILE-USA-US-America-PAY-YOU-GO-SIM-CARD-/360147093615?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Mobile_Home_Phones_Sim_Cards_CV&hash=item53da70886f#ht_4629wt_1137

(replace [REPLACE] with http:// )

(sorry I don't think I'm supposed to post links)

I'm only looking beforehand so that I am prepared and send a relatively cheap text home when I arrive etc, rather than waiting a few days before managing to sort everything out.


phil.b89

OneADay

In US you have to check the zip code against a network to see if there is coverage in that particular area. I would not be getting a t-mobile sim without checking out the t-mobile.com web site to see if the area you are going is covered by t-mobile.

Rather than doing all that why not get one of these GeoSim (call and text prices can be determined here http://www.globalsimcard.co.uk/calls_and_coverage.php)

To buy it
http://www.globalsimcard.co.uk/which_sim.php

And if you were clever there is another way to cut the cost down if you have data allowance, you can make voip calls and texts which work out a lot cheaper.

gjchester

phil.b89 wrote: »

I'm only looking beforehand so that I am prepared and send a relatively cheap text home when I arrive etc, rather than waiting a few days before managing to sort everything out.


phil.b89

For a one off "I'm here" keep your current phone / SIM. Unlike the the UK the US has different mobile systems in different places. Buy the wrong one and you'll get no service.

You'd be better waiting till you get there and see what the locals use, and also who will you be calling, US mobiles are charged for incoming calls as well so it makes sense to be on a network that does not charge / reduces the charges for people on the same network.

phil.b89

OneADay wrote: »

In US you have to check the zip code against a network to see if there is coverage in that particular area. I would not be getting a t-mobile sim without checking out the t-mobile.com web site to see if the area you are going is covered by t-mobile.


And if you were clever there is another way to cut the cost down if you have data allowance, you can make voip calls and texts which work out a lot cheaper.

From what I can see the calls side of it all looks good, however I am probably more likely going to be going to be texting internationally, but thank you, I shall take it into consideration!

sparkeytec

Hi all,

i was wondering if anyone could help with the confusing situation of calling and receiving calls from the USA.
My girlfriend is in the USA for a few months. She has her UK mobile with her but i am going to get her a T-Mobile US sim to cut down costs.
I am going to get it from this site - icallabroad.com


unless anyone has any better alternatives??

Now i will be calling and receiving calls to and from her using this sim to my vodafone mobile so no landline calls will be made, just mobiles only. I don't have regular internet access so Skype isn't an option.
Now my questions are:
1. If she calls me from her US T-mobile using an international calling card will i be charging for reciving this call on my vodafone mobile?
2. If i call her from my mobile using an international calling card will she be charged for receiving the call. If so does anyone have any idea how much?
3. If shes call me from a landline in the US using a international calling card to my uk mobile do i incur any costs for receiving the call?
4. Is there any other costs that i should take into account

Many thanks in advance for any replies