Going wireless in Europe: what you need to know about cell phones
Monday, February 18th, 2008Part 1 of 2 articles: the second covers cellular data in Europe
Last updated: 18 February 2008
To many Americans, staying in touch with a cell phone while in Europe can seem difficult and expensive. But savvy travelers know it doesn’t have to be. Having a phone while you’re there can be a major time saver and convenience. Friends and family can reach you easily. You can spontaneously pull out the guidebook, pick a restaurant and call to see if they can accommodate you before jumping into a car or taxi. This article tells you how to stay in touch and save money.
 Advanced mobile wireless use in Lucca, Italy |
Why don’t US cell phones “just work” in Europe? For various reasons, the United States developed and deployed wireless technologies that were incompatible with those deployed in the Rest Of the World, which went with a single standard called GSM (”Global System for Mobiles” - this is one of the reasons why Europeans use the term “mobile” and not “cell phone”).
This meant that for many years, the only option for US travelers to Europe was to rent a GSM phone, which was expensive and inconvenient. No one could reach you on your US cell phone number; you had the hassle and expense of receiving and returning the phone, and both handset rental and calls were astonishingly expensive.
GSM comes to America
Today, you can buy US mobile phones that use the GSM system from AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile. So why don’t these phones “just work” in Europe? Although they use GSM, they work on different radio frequencies. To function in Europe, a GSM phone must operate (at the very least) on the 1800MHz frequency; to get the best European coverage it must operate on both 900MHz and 1800MHz.
The first GSM “world phones” supported three bands: 900/1800MHz (for
Europe) and 1900MHz (for the USA). However, US GSM carriers are now expanding their wireless coverage using the 850MHz frequency band. So you won’t get the best coverage in the USA with a 900/1800/1900 tri-band phone.
Thus you now need a quad-band GSM phone in order to get good coverage world-wide (850/900/1800/1900Mhz). There are more and more quad-band GSM phones coming on to the market every month, though they tend to be high-end models. To plug the gap, US GSM carriers are offering new tri-band “world phones” that operate on 850/1800/1900MHz. These offer the best coverage in the US, but limited coverage in Europe. The Sony-Ericsson Z310-A offered by AT&T is one example. (more…)
