Cell Phones and International Calling

[Floppyman]

Hi all,

I'm curious whether any of you had heard of this company before:

http://www.mobalrental.com/

What to you guys think of their offer compared to international calling plans offered by the cellular giants like Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, etc.? Would it be worth checking into further, or are their rates not competitive? TIA.

[David M]

Don't know if you specifically need a cellphone for calling internationally but I switched to Vonage for calling a country in Europe on a frequent basis and their rates are WAY lower than AT&T's. Perhaps there is a way to get your cellphone to call into Vonage for a local call, which then goes to its final destination at Vonage's international rates? It would not hurt to call Vonage.

[Floppyman]

Thanks Dave. I guess I should have been more specific: I'm mainly curious how what Mobal offers compares to what Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, etc. offer when using your cell phone overseas (i.e. calling from a different in country to the U.S. or from a different country to a country other than the U.S.).

I have always been on the lookout for a cell phone that works in the majority of countries in the world, but with reasonable call rates.

[SonicVanguard]

In terms of using a cell phone over seas it would depend on that county's mobile technology - most of Europe for example is GSM (as is much of Asia). So Sprint and Verizon - unless their phones specifically say they are world phones - won't work because their networks are CDMA based. AT&T and T-Mobile on the otherhand are both GSM networks and their phones will generally work over seas - although that's not a give.

[novie]

I've used that service and found it worked quite well, it picks up whatever network has the strongest signal wherever you might land(something i wish i could see all the time domestically lol). Depending on your purpose there are pros and cons. Good things include: no cost except when used and number is yours permanently (after getting the free SIM card to swap into the quad band GSM phone you hopefully have). Works pretty much everywhere but Korea/Japan. Good as well is that you won't get calls from people that don't know you're not stateside. Because you will be using a UK number, it may be a cost for someone stateside to call you unless they are using voip or something. But it can be nice for calling home and especially for making in country calls. You'd have to check the rates for your domestic carrier to see how it compares where you are going - typically you must let them know you will travel overseas and may put you on a service for it, but they may be cheaper for calling home to the US, though perhaps not for calling in country or to a third country. Also receive text messages for free which is nice as you will want to turn off voice mail rather than be charged for the time.