Cell Phone Question - Not about the Cost

[2 rednecks]

all I know is that when I am home, central newyork i have to dial 1 area code and number, when I was in San Juan, St Thomas, and Tortolla, it worked the same way and the rates were the same everywhere, free, plus texting worked so I was definately happy I had my cell with me.

[Amlee]

001 is what I have been told in the past is the calling code to access the states via Verizon wireless. I have used my verizon phone in all the places I have traveled (see list below) with no problem.

 

Verizon does in fact have a large calling area through out the world, including Europe.

http://mobileoptions.vzw.com/international/country/North_America/Mexico.html

[Fam_Cruise]

Verizon does in fact have a large calling area through out the world, including Europe.

http://mobileoptions.vzw.com/international/country/North_America/Mexico.html

The link you provided lists the countries you can call to using your Verizon Wireless phone and the rates for those calls.

 

The countries from which you can roam using a Verizon phone is provided at the link contained in my previous post. And I am sorry to say you cannot use your Verizon CDMA phone when in Europe. A more concise list of countries from where you can use your Verizon phone to make calls is provided here: http://aboutus.vzw.com/internationalsvcs/cdmaroaming.html

[Amlee]

The link you provided lists the countries you can call to using your Verizon Wireless phone and the rates for those calls.

 

The countries from which you can roam using a Verizon phone is provided at the link contained in my previous post. And I am sorry to say you cannot use your Verizon CDMA phone when in Europe. A more concise list of countries from where you can use your Verizon phone to make calls is provided here: http://aboutus.vzw.com/internationalsvcs/cdmaroaming.html

 

I don't believe I have said I have a CDMA phone in any of my post. My phone is a Verizon Global phone that is both CDMA and GSM.

 

I did post the wrong link and you are correct in that, but the Global coverage is much larger than what you think. Here is the correct link for the coverage that Verizon offers in their Global services.

 

http://mobileoptions.vzw.com/international/global/region/all_regions.html

[EastTexans2]

Boy, I can't believe I started this!

[Amlee]

Boy, I can't believe I started this!

 

Don't worry about it. It shows that the system is different from company to company.

[Fam_Cruise]

I don't believe I have said I have a CDMA phone in any of my post. My phone is a Verizon Global phone that is both CDMA and GSM.

 

I did post the wrong link and you are correct in that, but the Global coverage is much larger than what you think. Here is the correct link for the coverage that Verizon offers in their Global services.

 

http://mobileoptions.vzw.com/international/global/coverage.html

That is one reason I speciifcally said Verizon CDMA phones. The vast majority of Verizon users use one of the 50+ CDMA phones/PDAs available from Verizon, not one of the 4 CDMA/GSM global phones so I was directing my comments to the majority and I qualified it as such by specifically referencing Verizon CDMA phones. Had you not qualified your previous post as having a CDMA/GSM phone then one of the many Verizon CDMA users might go away from reading your post thinking their CDMA phone could be used throughout the world and would be very disappointed when they found out differently. Thank you for clarifying that for them.

 

Yes folks you can buy a CDMA and GSM phone from Verizon that works in all the places the AT&T and T-Mobile phones do. But unless you intentionally purchased a CDMA/GSM Gobal phone from Verizon, then your Verizon phone is in all likelihood a CDMA model and its use would be restricted to the 25 US territories, islands and countries listed here: http://aboutus.vzw.com/internationalsvcs/cdmaroaming.html

 

 

EastTexans2 - the nice thing about discussions like this is that it weeds out the details. Someone asks a general question and many times the answer given is in fact true for the person that is posting, but for someone else depending on the circumstances it may not be. This Verizon International Roaming CMDA vs CMDA/GSM is a good example. And sometimes the answers are just plain wrong, and in those cases the record should be set straight. Cases in point: My saying dialing 011 1 + areacode + phone number which was wrong and I was corrected by another poster. Someone else saying 1 was not the US country code, which was wrong and I corrected. A lot of people take this way too personally. It is not a personal issue, it is getting it right so people reading these posts have good info. Anyway, everyone have a good day.

 

This is also the reason poeple should refer to their mobile phone provider and web site as there is detailed information there that is probably a lot more accurate than second hand information found here on CC. That is one reason almost everyone of my posts have links to the detailed information at the various mobile providers web sites. Sprint is the only web site where I find their info to be a bit lacking. The other 3 majors, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all have excellent resources IMO.

[Amlee]

It's also good to call your provider directly or search their website for such information.

 

To be honest I didn't even know that Verizon's CDMA phone worked outside the US at all. So when I made my first post, I assumed we were talking GSM from the start.

[Fam_Cruise]

Yes, CDMA coverage is available throughout NA, and major US tourist destinations in CA and the Caribbean. Most of the world has standardized on GSM, although as you can tell from Verizon's list of CDMA countries there are still areas where it is used.

 

The mobile services provided to Verizon and Sprint users on board the cruise lines is CDMA service. It has to be as the single largest area for cruises is the Caribbean and the largest customer base are US tourists, many of whom use CDMA mobile technology. Now since both CDMA and GSM service is available on cruise ships, I don't know which one your dual network phone would use. My guess is since Verizon's proprietary system is CDMA it would be biased in favor of the CDMA system first, but that is just a guess.

 

I know that AT&T teamed up with Maritime Telecommunications Network back in 2004 to develop both the GSM and CDMA technology implementation for the cruise lines. By the time it was finally implemented AT&T had been acquired by Cingular and the service was originally called Cingular at Sea, and that is what would be displayed on your phone when your phone was turned on at sea. Now, since Cingular has reverted to the name of the company it purchased - AT&T, it displays as Cellular at Sea. At least that is the case for AT&T mobile phones.

 

Article from 2004:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/travel/21prac.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&position=&oref=slogin

 

In May 2006 Maritime Telecommunications Network was acquired by SeaMobile. http://www.seamobile.com/

[Amlee]

On my last cruise (British Isles/Western Europe) while I was in port, I had to switch my phone to GSM to use it. But to use my phone on the ship it had to be on CDMA. For whatever reason and I couldn't get an answer from Verizon as to why my email and internet wouldn't work on the CDMA aboard the ship. I had to wait until I got into port and switched to GSM before I could access my emails and the internet. I have no problem at home in CDMA accessing my emails and internet.

 

I have now purchased an AT&T Option GT Max 3.6 express card for my laptop with unlimited national and international kilobytes. I'm very interested in seeing how it does while in Bermuda week after next. I can't find on At&T's website were all it will work, but tech support and customer service has assured me that it will work anywhere their phones will. We will see!

[Fam_Cruise]

I have now purchased an AT&T Option GT Max 3.6 express card for my laptop with unlimited national and international kilobytes. I'm very interested in seeing how it does while in Bermuda week after next. I can't find on At&T's website were all it will work, but tech support and customer service has assured me that it will work anywhere their phones will. We will see!

Wow, what's the monthly fee for that? I have been waiting for a reasonable international data plan to come out, but have not been looking to hard recently. TIA for the info.

[Amlee]

Wow, what's the monthly fee for that? I have been waiting for a reasonable international data plan to come out, but have not been looking to hard recently. TIA for the info.

 

Your welcome! I have also been looking for a few months, but all the cards and plans just seemed way to much. For some reason out of the blue I called At&t. Are you sitting down?! As I had to double check the price by calling them back!

 

The card cost me $54 and the service is $59 a month. I had to pay a one time fee of $30 something to get it activated.