Travel Tech

Have Cell Phone, Will Travel to Europe
The Washington Post – April 6, 2003

The following information was gathered from a recent article in the Washington Post regarding cell phone options for those who travel overseas.

Most US cell phones do not work overseas because US companies use different forms of technology which don’t often conform to the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) used by most of the international community (over one billion people in 190 countries).

Consider the following three options to stay connected while running your study abroad program:

1. Buy or rent a multi-band phone (including GSM) through your regular cell phone provider (for the occasional traveler who is looking for convenience over price).
    

2. Rent a multi-band phone through one of the many companies dedicated to providing this service (for the occasional travel who is concerned about price and will only use the phone occasionally).
    

3. Rent a phone once you get to your destination (for those who are going to talk for long periods of time to the US and also make frequent calls within the country they are visiting).

The major US providers of international cell phones are:

• AT&T  800-335-4685
   

• T-Mobile  877-666-4246
   

Rental companies in the US include:

• Intouch USA  703-222-7161
   

• TravelCell  877-cell-phone
   

• Cellular Abroad  800 287 3020
   

• Rent-a-Cellular  877 902 7368
   

• Telestial  858-274-2686
   

• Planetfone  888 988 4777
   

• Roadpost  888 622 7368
   

• WorldCell  888 967 5323
   

• Cellhire  866-ch-online
   

Rental Companies Outside the US:

• Call ‘Phone (France) 011-33-1-40-71-72-54
   

• Rent-a-Mobile (England)  011-44-870-011-9892
  Note: these are the two companies recommended in the article but there are many more companies overseas that rent cell phones offering varying packages – shop around.

For general information on what technology standard your phone uses, go to www.gsmworld.com