Courtesy: NY Times
By MICHELLE HIGGINS
Published: August 3, 2011
IT’S hard not to feel ripped off when you get hit with unexpected roaming charges while traveling abroad — whether they come from making phone calls or checking e-mail. Take it from Jeff Gardner, who received an $11,000 bill from Verizon after spending four days in Jamaica.
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If you arrive with an unlocked phone, purchase a prepaid local SIM card (typically $20 or so) and pop that in the phone to make calls at lower local rates. Travelers who want the security of having a SIM card before they land can buy one at sites like Telestial.com or OneSimCard.com, whose prepaid local SIM cards offer rates lower than most American carriers. For example, Telestial’s $39 “TIM” SIM card for Italy comes with about $7 (5 euros) of airtime credit, free incoming calls and rates of about 14 cents per call and 21 cents per text for numbers within Italy. By contrast, Verizon’s calling rates in Italy range from 99 cents a minute (with a Value Plan) to $1.29 a minute (with a Standard Plan). Sending a text costs 50 cents. Telestial also offers regional SIM cards, which offer low calling rates for multiple countries.
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If you have access to Wi-Fi, use Skype (skype.com) or another Internet telephone service like Truphone (truphone.com), which allow users to make free calls over the Internet to anyone who also has downloaded the service. Both offer apps for calls on your smartphone, so you don’t have to be traveling with a laptop to use the service.
Buying a local SIM card for an unlocked phone is usually the best option for an average traveler.
Categories: Americas, Europe, Internet, Technology
I’m suprised this article didnt mention phone or internet cafe’s. Call me old school, but if you can get over the usually shady phone centers, they are a fantastic deal. I spent a couple summers in Sicily and relied on these call centers almost daily (for outgoing international calls)and was able to keep informed on a family crisis and check in frequently with my partner back in the U.S. – and I paid about a $1 Euro per ten minute call.