US Mobile phones

Krusty_Clown

I have a friend travelling to the US next week, who is considering purchasing a mobile phone over there, to use on her return to Ireland (i.e. natively, not roaming)..

I'm thinking that the phone ain't gonna work over here, with our service providers (e.g. Vodaphone, O2 etc.), given different network types etc..

Can someone confirm or deny this?

Wouldn't this also be the case with mobile phones purchased in the UK?

dahamsta

Can someone confirm or deny this?

The US is tricky, because they have a broad array of different networks, very few of them GSM, which is the standard in Europe. You can get multiple band phones, but getting the right one may be risky. She would be better off renting a phone while she's over there.

Wouldn't this also be the case with mobile phones purchased in the UK?

No, the UK uses GSM, just like over here. That said, she'll have the same problems over there that she has here - she won't be able to buy one with a contract (without a UK address), and a contract-free phone won't be subsided. It should be a little cheaper though.

Oddly though, I notice on Amazon the other day that if you add a SIM-free mobile to your wish list, it says they won't ship it outside the UK (same for PDA's). So it might be best to check my facts.

adam

seamus

Depends on what she buys.

There are still numerous analogue networks in the US (they're very backward), so phones bought for those networks wouldn't work over here. GSM is gaining in popularity, but only tri-band phones over here will work over there, (if I was in work I'd have all the info). Vodafone's network over here supports GSM 900 and 1800 (and so do O2 and Meteor probably), but afaik there is a third one, GSM 1900, that is used in the US. So if you have a tri-band phone over here, you can roam in the US, but you can't if you only have a dual-band.

Reverse the situation. In the US, most of the phones supplied are probably only single band, so in order for her phone to work over here, she'd have to make sure she knows what GSM bands it supports. Defo buy at her own risk.
http://www.nokia.com/phones/6310i/specifications.html
This phone is tri-band and will work pretty much anywhere. Note the bands -
900 & 1800 - Europe and Asia
1900 - USA

Other than that, the phone should work fine. She'll just have to remember that it will take a different power supply, and that the phone should be *completely* unlocked.

flamegrill

originall by damasta

You can get multiple band phones, but getting the right one may be risky

The term is Tri Band AFAIK. So if your friend looks for Tri Band phone either here or over in the US it will work over there.

have a look here. http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/industry/background/0,1083,,00.html

they do some, im sure other mobile companys do too.

A friend in work has A motorola phone and he visits the us regularly and it works perfect over there.

Regards,

Paul

bkehoe

Yes, there are still a lot of analogue networks in the us, but as said before if you buy a triband over there, it will work here. Most phone chargers support 100 - 240 or so volts, so all you need is a thing so you can plug in the US plugs here. You'd find them in stores like wallmart over there, or in the airports..

Some Ericsson phones, like the T39, T68, are tri band as well; just check the specs, and it will say if it is or not.

Ruu_Old

get a Motorola Timeport i know numerous ppl who got one..and they actually work properly over there..tho depends on what part of the US ur going to also..some providers over there dont support 1900 that well