One of the first things you think of when you decide to travel abroad is, how will I communicate with people that I need to get in touch with? Most likely here in the United States you either use a landline telephone in your home, or use your cell phone. You wonder about being able to use your cell phone if you travel to another country, if it will work, how it will work, how much it will cost, etc.
First of all, you are probably looking at your cell phone wondering if it is capable of working where you are going. Depending on how your phone operates, it may or may not. If you have a Verizon wireless phone, it operates on a CDMA band. This is a type of technology that allows the cell phone towers handle all the calls it picks up, and directs them to the right location. Other countries use a GSM band, which also relays your call, but in a slightly different way. What is important to you is that some countries only use CDMA bands, others GSM bands, and some both.
If you are traveling in North America with your Verizon wireless cell phone, it has the capability to make and receive calls, depending of course on the number of towers in your area. If you are traveling to say, San Juan, Puerto Rico, you will be in a populated area with numerous cell towers running a CDMA frequency — the same kind as yours. If you are going to the mountains in Panteon Nuevo, Mexico, you might have the correct type of phone, but due to the sparseness of towers, no signal. It is important to call customer service before you leave to verify your coverage in your exact intended destination.
Another reason you would want to call in to customer service is to add the I-Dial, or International Dial feature to your phone. This is a free feature that simply tells your phone it can use cell towers outside of the United States and U.S. territories such as P.R.
And if you are to the British Isles, for example, you may need a different phone entirely. If you have a Blackberry 8830 World Edition, a Tour, or Storm, the Samsung Renown, or one of many HTC models, your phone is already GSM capable. For phones that require separate data packages like the Blackberries and smartphones, you may need to upgrade your email/web package for international use. It is a bit more expensive, but allows free data access which can be great when traveling.
If you don’t have one of these types of phones, you can buy one or rent one through the Global Rental Program. This program lets you borrow a capable phone for three weeks or less (at the time of this article), and return to their regular phone at the end of the trip. You may find yourself eligible to upgrade, or foresee traveling abroad more often, and decide to purchase a “quad band” capable phone for your permanent use.
Lastly, your customer service representative you read you or email you all your calling detail information, such as rate per minute and text for incoming and outgoing calls, and what your friends and family members will pay when they need to call you. They can also giving you all the dialing instructions, including the international customer service hotline, should you need assistance with your phone while away.
Comparing rates and services between calling cards, your Verizon phone, and local prepaid cell phones can help balance your need between how much money you are going to spend, what you will use your phone for (just talking? Picture messages?), and the level of service you would expect should something go wrong with your phone in another country. Don’t be afraid to call in and ask questions or pop into a store. One of the reps will help you efficiently choose just the service you need.
