GSM Archive

  • At this point I'm only looking at the Pay As You Go (PAYG) plans becuase those are typically easier to use for visitors. In some places carriers offer 1 month contracts that are better but the websites often hide minimum terms or other gotchas in fine print so I'll enquire about those when I get to London.

    London Prepaid GSM and Mobile Data Options

    Posted on June 23, 2011 | 1 Comment
    At this point I'm only looking at the Pay As You Go (PAYG) plans becuase those are typically easier to use for visitors. In some places carriers offer 1 month contracts that are better but the websites often hide minimum terms or other gotchas in fine print so I'll enquire about those when I get to London.

    Continue Reading...

  • According to the great wiki, (UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+) service by T-Mobile exclusively uses the AWS 1700/2100 MHz frequency-band. That explains why I was stuck with Edge. The good news for travelling in the states is that AT&T uses the same bands as Rogers. The bad news is that they don't have reasonable prepaid data plan available for use with smartphones.

    Mobile 3G Data and Travelling with the Bell HTC Desire Z

    Posted on January 21, 2011 | No Comments
    According to the great wiki, (UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+) service by T-Mobile exclusively uses the AWS 1700/2100 MHz frequency-band. That explains why I was stuck with Edge. The good news for travelling in the states is that AT&T uses the same bands as Rogers. The bad news is that they don't have reasonable prepaid data plan available for use with smartphones.

    Continue Reading...

  • So if you're going to be picking up a sim card for voice anyways, why not look into whether or not you can use it for data? You can quickly access information on your smartphone while you are exploring, and if you have the right phone you might even be able to tether your notebook to your phone at the hotel.

    Italy Prepaid SIM Cards Part III: Mobile Data

    Posted on May 7, 2010 | No Comments
    So if you're going to be picking up a sim card for voice anyways, why not look into whether or not you can use it for data? You can quickly access information on your smartphone while you are exploring, and if you have the right phone you might even be able to tether your notebook to your phone at the hotel.

    Continue Reading...

  • There are 4 primary GSM providers in Italy: Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), Vodafone, Wind Telecomunicazioni, and Hutchison 3G Italia (H3G, 3 ITA, or 3). PrepaidGSM.net has a great page describing the operators and their plans. Also be sure to read through their Europe forums. Prepaid sim cards seem to be common for use by locals as well as tourists, and the websites of each carrier seem geared towards local users and have little or no English available. From what I can gather you can typically pick up these cards at dedicated storefronts for around 10 Euros. Rates for calls within Italy range from about 9 to 20 cents per minute and per-call fees of 0-16 cents, depending on which prepaid package you choose.

    Italy Prepaid SIM Cards Part II: Carriers

    Posted on April 9, 2010 | 2 Comments
    There are 4 primary GSM providers in Italy: Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), Vodafone, Wind Telecomunicazioni, and Hutchison 3G Italia (H3G, 3 ITA, or 3). PrepaidGSM.net has a great page describing the operators and their plans. Also be sure to read through their Europe forums. Prepaid sim cards seem to be common for use by locals as well as tourists, and the websites of each carrier seem geared towards local users and have little or no English available. From what I can gather you can typically pick up these cards at dedicated storefronts for around 10 Euros. Rates for calls within Italy range from about 9 to 20 cents per minute and per-call fees of 0-16 cents, depending on which prepaid package you choose.

    Continue Reading...

  • Having a cel phone while on the other side of the world is important when you are travelling. Unfortunately, Canadian wireless providers are not keeping up with the rest of the world when it comes to cel phone rates. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development found that Canada has the third-highest wireless rates among developed countries. Rogers Wireless currently charges $2 per minute for voice roaming and $0.75 per text in Italy. If two of us call each other while in Italy that doubles, plus 2x long distance. This makes finding and using pre-paid SIM cards a necessity.

    Italy Prepaid SIM Card Basics and Codice Fiscale

    Posted on January 13, 2010 | 1 Comment
    Having a cel phone while on the other side of the world is important when you are travelling. Unfortunately, Canadian wireless providers are not keeping up with the rest of the world when it comes to cel phone rates. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development found that Canada has the third-highest wireless rates among developed countries. Rogers Wireless currently charges $2 per minute for voice roaming and $0.75 per text in Italy. If two of us call each other while in Italy that doubles, plus 2x long distance. This makes finding and using pre-paid SIM cards a necessity.

    Continue Reading...