Need cell phone service while traveling internationally? Even for the infrequent traveler, getting international wireless service is easier and cheaper than ever before. To avoid overpaying for international cell phone service, find out how different global roaming services work.
The easiest option in the U.S. is available to T-Mobile and Cingular Wireless customers who currently use tri-band or quad-band cell phones (sometimes marketed as “world phones”). Because the technology standard used by certain wireless companies is similar to the one used by the rest of the world, GSM cell phone users can more than likely just take their current phones abroad with them.
If you already have a GSM world phone, all that’s required is making sure your wireless service plan allows for international roaming. If it doesn’t, simply call your cell phone carrier and ask for this feature to be activated on your existing cell phone.
But the easiest option is not necessarily the most cost effective, so you’ll want to consider how, and how often, you’ll be using your cell phone internationally and see if you can find a more cost-effective cellular plan based on your calling needs.(more…)
The Yackie World Travellers are hitting the open road. This time they’ve landed in Eugene, Oregon. Here’s a brief profile of the traveling duo.
OWEN BOWLING
AGE: 24
SEX: MALE
NATIONALITY: AUSTRALIAN
DATE OF BIRTH: 20/03/1984
OCCUPATION: PERSONAL TRAINER
INTERESTS: SURFING, SOCCER, TRAVEL, FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY
ABOUT OWEN:
Owen was born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania. At the age of 6, his parents packed the family into a station wagon and roll-up caravan and drove around Australia for 16 months. This early adventure instilled in him the “travel bug” and he has since traveled extensively.
In 2002, Owen traveled to Italy and spent time playing soccer in the semi-professional “Serie D” league.
Owen has spent the past 5 years working as a Personal Trainer in Brisbane Australia.
JAIME KOHLEIS
AGE: 29
SEX: FEMALE
NATIONALITY: AUSTRALIAN
DATE OF BIRTH: 06/12/1978
OCCUPATION: PERSONAL TRAINER
INTERESTS: TRAVEL, RUNNING, WATER SPORTS, FOREIGN LANGUAGE, ANIMAL RIGHTS
ABOUT JAIME:
Jaime was born in Perth, WA and was already traveling before she could talk – moving to New Zealand for the first 9 years of her life.
Moving back to Australia, she focused her talents in the sporting arena. By 18 she was rowing for the Australian Under 22 squad.
This took her to Italy, Greece and Switzerland. This international travel was enough to open her eyes to a bigger world and she has not looked back, having traveled to over 15 countries.
Jaime has also spent the past 3 years working as a Personal Trainer in Brisbane.
How it started:
The Idea began in December 2006.
Springing from the revelation that although fulltime RVing was a style of travel previously exclusive to the retired generation, now it could also be an option for us!
Through much discussion and online research, coupled with a desire to do something different, we discovered that it was not only achievable, but possibly the best way to travel!
Over the next 9 months, whilst each working up to 3 jobs at once, we planned a skeleton of a trip that involved spending 3 months trekking around India, 2 weeks seeing the sights in London, Flying to Canada, Buying an RV in the USA and then driving down to the bottom of Panama and beyond! The possibilities were then expanded with the introduction of the new Canadian Working Holiday Program visa, allowing us to spend up to 2 years in Canada working, thus opening up the doors to Alaska!
If you’re heading overseas, be prepared to defend being an American. International travelers face a growing global anti-American attitude. A Forbes.com article discusses the unfavorable image of Americans abroad.
“European and world views of the United States and President George Bush have dramatically worsened since 2000; the trend has intensified since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. There has been a decline in perceptions of the United States throughout the European Union, including in such traditional U.S. allies as the United Kingdom and Poland, and in Muslim and Latin American countries, according to annual polls undertaken by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Pew Research Center and the BBC World Service.”
Concerned about being a magnet for anti-Americanism during your next trip abroad? Bruce McIndoe, CEO of iJet Travel Intelligence, offers his tips for staying under the radar:
Avoid American fast-food restaurants and chains.
Keep discussions of politics to private places, not rowdy bars.
Take a rain check on wearing clothes featuring American flags or sports team logos.
Keep your passport out of sight.
Keep cameras, video equipment and maps tucked away.
Soften your speech; Americans typically overshadow their hosts in the volume department.
In cellular service there are two main competing network technologies: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). Understanding the difference between GSM and CDMA will allow you to choose a carrier that uses the preferable network technology for your needs.
The GSM Association is an international organization founded in 1987, dedicated to providing, developing, and overseeing the worldwide wireless standard of GSM. CDMA, a proprietary standard designed by Qualcomm in the United States, has been the dominant network standard for North America and parts of Asia. However, GSM networks continue to make inroads in the United States, as CDMA networks make progress in other parts of the world.
Data Transfer Speed:
With the advent of cellular phones doing double and triple duty as streaming video devices, podcast receivers and email devices, speed is important to those who use the phone for more than making calls. CDMA has been traditionally faster than GSM, though both technologies continue to rapidly leapfrog along this path. Both boast “3G” standards, or 3rd generation technologies.
EVDO, also known as CDMA2000, is CDMA’s answer to the need for speed with a downstream rate of about 2 megabits per second, though some reports suggest real world speeds are closer to 300-700 kilobits per second (kbps). This is comparable to basic DSL.
GSM’s answer is EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), which boasts data rates of up to 384 kbps with real world speeds reported closer to 70-140 kbps. With added technologies still in the works that include UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone Standard) and HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), speeds reportedly increase to about 275—380 kbps. This technology is also known as W-CDMA, but is incompatible with CDMA networks. An EDGE-ready phone is required.
In the case of EVDO, theoretical high traffic can degrade speed and performance, while the EDGE network is more susceptible to interference. Both require being within close range of a cell to get the best speeds, while performance decreases with distance.
In the United States only GSM phones use SIM cards. The removable SIM card allows phones to be instantly activated, interchanged, swapped out and upgraded, all without carrier intervention. The SIM itself is tied to the network, rather than the actual phone. Phones that are card-enabled can be used with any GSM carrier.
The CDMA equivalent, a R-UIM card, is only available in parts of Asia but remains on the horizon for the U.S. market. CDMA carriers in the U.S. require proprietary handsets that are linked to one carrier only and are not card-enabled. To upgrade a CDMA phone, the carrier must deactivate the old phone then activate the new one. The old phone becomes useless.
Donate Your Cell Phones or Start a Donation Program
One in three Americans will replace their cell phones this year, adding to the 500 million unused phones currently waiting to be discarded or recycled. Cell phone recycling and wireless recycling programs keep valuable materials out of landfills, including an estimated $630,000 of precious metals from circuit boards, and enough copper from phone chargers to recover the Statue of Liberty, twice.
Apparently, throwing away your cellphone isn’t just environmentally hazardous, it’s downright wasteful. ReCellular, an electronics stability firm, is working on a going green campaign in anticipation of Earth Day. Hundreds of millions of used cell phones are taken out of service each year around the world as new innovations reach the marketplace. Worldwide, humans discard 40,000 cellphone a day, meaning 150 million per year. These cellphones are said to contain $94 million in precious metals. One in three Americans will replace their cell phones this year, adding to the 500 million unused phones currently waiting to be discarded or recycled.
Cell phone recycling and wireless recycling programs keep valuable materials out of landfills, including an estimated $630,000 of precious metals from circuit boards, and enough copper from phone chargers to recover the Statue of Liberty, twice.
They’re also offering five reasons to recycle your phone.
1. They likely still work. More than half of the phones ReCellular receives are still functional, and can be refurbished and reused - often in developing countries. The United Nations ranks access to communications as the second-most important contributor to quality of life, after health-care.
2. They contain valuable materials. Recycling cell phone circuit boards yields more gold per ton than the average ton of ore from gold mine operations, as well as other precious metals such as silver, platinum and palladium.
3. They can be environmentally damaging. Like all rechargeable batteries, cell phones contain heavy metals and chemicals that can be toxic in landfills, and should always be recycled.
4. They are of value. ReCellular offers businesses up to $150 per phone, and their charitable donate-a-phone programs raised more than $8 million per year for non-profit organizations.
5. They’re serving no purpose in the drawer. Really, what are you keeping those cell phones for? Send them in.
If after this you’re compelled to recycle your old phone, hit these guys up at ReCellular.com. Or feel free to check out www.CellPhonesForCash.com, they offer and provide responsible recycling and redistribution programs that not only keep cell phones from entering our landfills, but puts cash back into the pockets of those who have purchased or collected them.
This post was taken from Prepaidreviews.com - a top source of information on prepaid cell phones.
Avoid American fast-food restaurants and chains.
