Using a U.S.-issued iPhone in Europe?

[StingMe]

A colleague has a 3GS and is planning a trip to Europe this summer (Brussels, I believe) - what steps need to be taken to be able to use the iPhone in Europe (phone and data - mostly email as far as data goes) without incurring a huge AT&T bill?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated - thanks!

[Ken Sp.]

JailBreak and unlock.

Then use a SIM from one of these
http://www.cellularabroad.com/

http://www.lebara-mobile.com.au/

Lebara operates in seven countries: "By the start of 2010 we had over 2.5 million customers in: the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, Australia and Germany."

Whenever possible, it's more economical to deal directly with Lebara, although cellularabroad sells their cards as well and provides some value added service.

If he gets Data only there are some "Call to US" over data solutions like WhistlePhone

[Chakravartin]

If your friend never upgraded the firmware, s/he can *probably* jailbreak and unlock it. If your friend is running iOS 4.2 or higher, forget this option.

If your friend has the talent to schmooze someone at AT&T (which is incredibly hard) and begs hard enough then they *might* unlock the phone even though their policy is to NOT unlock iPhones for travelers because they make a fortune off of international roaming.

If your friend has the cash for a "professional" unlock ($180) with the caveat that the unlock may be revoked at any time, here's info on that service:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/224968/ho..._work.html

Once it's unlocked, your friend should be able to use a SIM purchased locally in Europe and save the expensive international roaming fees or the expensive international phone-plan.

...

But the cheapest thing to do is to put the phone into flight mode and never use it as a phone through the whole trip, instead buying a local phone at the destination and refer to the contact list on the iPhone when necessary.

[josntme]

Has he asked AT&T about their roaming plan?

Before my trip to Germany I signed for the international roaming plan (or something like it) with AT&T and the bill wasn't that much.

Without the plan then the bill would have been a lot more.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

Don't you mean iEurope?

[IronMac]

Remember, micro-SIM.

[Lux Interior]

IronMac wrote:
Remember, micro-SIM.

Not useful in a 3GS without an adapter.

[Winston]

I don't think the iPhone 3gs can do 3G data in Europe, so it will probably be limited to 2G speeds for cellular data. While I'd follow josntme's advice and check with AT&T on roaming plans, my guess is it will be expensive. (Without an international roaming plan it will be ridiculously expensive.)

If he/she wants to keep their US number, my advice is to just use WiFi for data. International data roaming is off by default - you have to request it be turned on with AT&T. Check with AT&T about voice plans, but it will still likely be expensive (think $1.50/minute even with a plan). Also, check on text plans, as international texts are probably $0.50 each, incoming or outgoing.

One option is to put Skype on the phone, put the phone into Airplane mode (which turns off all the radios) then turn WiFi back on. This disables the mobile phone so you can't make or receive regular calls or texts, or get data over the mobile network. But when you have WiFi access you can make and receive Skype calls. They need to sign up for Skype Out to be able to make calls to phones. I think there is even an option to get a phone number with Skype. Skype provides a very cheap way to make calls to and from the US when abroad.

Lots of hotels in Europe offer free WiFi, and there are many other hotspots. In addition, if they have AT&T DSL internet they can use a bunch of paid hotspots courtesy of AT&T's purchase of Waypoint. (I don't think AT&T includes this with the iPhone subscription, but it does with DSL). There are similar services like Boingo which offer paid WiFi coverage.

If using the phone, or having people from the US be able to call them, anytime is important, I'd recommend getting a separate quad-band phone and then getting a local pre-paid SIM card when they get to Brussels. They need to make sure they have an unlocked phone so it can use any carrier's SIM, and that it is quad-band so it can handle both frequencies used in Europe (as well as the two US frequencies).

As mentioned above, if you get the iPhone unlocked you should be able to use it with another SIM card, but check data rates before using it for data. But if that's not practical, having a second phone is a workable solution.


Good luck.

- Winston