peach

I am changing cell phone service and want to be able to use my phone in Italy, France and U.k. which works better there I know T-mobile doesn't work so well here.

peach

I can't get these answers why?

ssachida

Don't know about T-Mobil but AT&T, now Cingular, works fine atleast in the cities. Actually, my dad had T-Mobil and that worked fine too. I don't know what problems you had.

rkkwan

With either service, you'll still be using the local GSM networks in Italy. So, there should be no difference in reception and coverage.

I'd look into the pricing; and reception here in the U.S.

sfowler

Getting your phone "prepared" for use abroad is MUCH easier with t-mobile. They just have to do one thing. When I was trying to get my husband's cingular phone cleared for Europe they had to add stuff manually ... and it was never right. t-mobile is actually Deutsche Telecom, which might be why they are so savvy at this. At the time t-mobile's prices were also better per minute.

lisaindc

Hi Peach,

I have Cingular and am leaving for Paris in 2 weeks. I called yesterday and told them I wanted to have the phone set up to use there. They were able to do everything behind the scenes while I was on the phone. Their roaming rate in Western Europe is $1.29/minute, but for $5.99/month, you can get $.99/minute. They told me that the $5.99 plan can be cancelled upon my return and I will only be charged a prorated amount. I have been with Cingular since late last year and there may be a minimum amount of time you have to be with them before things get that easy.

Travelnut

I've been using T-Mobile for 3 years now, with no service or coverage issues (based in Florida, travel primarily to Texas and North Carolina).

Their per-minute rate in Europe is $0.99 and there is NO monthly fee to get that rate. It's a great deal if you don't need to use the phone a lot.

orval

Travelnut...that is different advice than we received on some of the recent and lengthy threads on T-Mobile and Cingular coverage. It is my understanding from quite a few people that have T-Mobile that reception is excellent within cities and along major highways, but not very good in the more rural areas off the highway. Your experience is not the same as many others...could you explain further and tell us if you were out of the cities and in the suburbs and rural areas of the east coast and other places?

orval

Ssachida...you say that you used Cingular in european cities and it worked fine...care to expand upon that advice and tell us which cities...were you out of the cities using Cingular, and did it work well in the countryside also? which countries?

Travelnut

My experience with T-Mobile is mostly urban. I think you will find that there will be 'skimpy' coverage areas regardless of the service provider, they just might not be the SAME skimpy area. For example, when staying in Cedar Key, a small island off the Gulf Coast, my Sprint did not reach but husband's Verizon did. Next trip, my T-Mobile did not reach - however someone gave me a tip to go stand by the edge of the water, and I did get one bar for a signal. You can check coverage maps on the websites of all the providers, I'm sure. I live in north Florida, sometimes work in Charlotte, have friends in Orlando, and family in large and small towns in Texas. Used the phone in Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and France with clear reception. So..it works for me.

Patty

I looked at Cingular and T-mobile's roaming partners in Italy, France and the UK, and the 2 lists are identical, so there should be no difference in service/coverage as you'll be using the roaming partner's network. You'll of course want to make sure that you purchase a phone with the correct frequencies for Europe (900/1800).

T-mobile's roaming rate is $0.99 per minute while Cingular's is $1.29 per minute on the no monthly charge plan.

I think coverage can be problematic in rural areas regardless of the provider. When I visited my in-laws in upstate NY last year, I couldn't get any service at all with ATT. I'm thinking of switching to T-mobile myself. I live in the LA area and assume that coverage isn't an issue here?

cls2paris

Just returned from Italy and used my phone from T-Mobile with no problems. I called TM before I left and they activated my account for Italy (I had to tell them which country but not sure if that made any difference). I was staying in a rural area on a small mountain above Lake Trasimeno and had no connectivity problems. It was $.99 a minute incoming or outgoing and I was able to call the US as well as make local calls.

orval

Patty,
Yes, the T-Mobile works well in Europe, no doubt. The problem with Cingular is that although they have excellent coverage in the U.S., the frequencies they use are 850 and 1900 in the U.S. and only 1800 in Europe, therefore the the triband phones they offer are 850/1800/1900 and the quad band phones they offer have the 900 frequency blocked. Even if you unblock it, you will only be able to eventually remove the sim chip and use another European company's system, not Cingular. I am concerned that only having 1800 for a frequency and not the 900 frequency will affect my reception/calling in France and Belgium. I have a real blank on the issue...the coverage maps for Cingular's partners in France and Belgium show 900/1800 in most of the country's geographical area. My issue is a lack of knowledge as to whether the 1800 frequency is adequate to access the entire network of Cingular's French and Belgium partners, or if some is 900 and some only 1800??? Perhaps I do not understand the basic concept of the network, that is, does accessing 1800 give access to the 900 portion of the networks. How the heck does it all work?

Patty

orval,
I looked on Cingular's website and it appears that they offer some 850/900/1900 tribands as well. Are you saying that you cannot use the 900 frequency on these phones? How do they block this? What would be the point of getting a triband then? I'm with Cingular now but purchased my phone when it used to be ATT, so am unfamiliar with this restriction.

My understanding is that 900 coverage is very extensive throughout Europe, with 1800 coverage slightly behind. I had no problems using a 900 only phone in Austria, Germany, UK and France, but don't have any experience the other way around (1800 only).