International Phone Information/Help

[Teleku]

In case some of you didn't know, I've followed in Strazos wake and joined the Foreign Service.  However, while the lucky bastard got sent to scenic Benin for his first post, I'm being sent to Warsaw, Poland, for my first post.  Its a tough job but somebody has to do it.

What I would like is information on phone options, since I'm kind of clueless on what's available.  First, I want to figure out a way to keep my number in the US somehow.  Is it possible to get it transferred over to say, Google, so that when they call it, Google will forward it (or voip or whatever) to my phone overseas?  Or are there better options for something like that, and if so, what are your recommendations?  Again, I really don't know what's out there.  There seems to be a bazillion iphone apps for communicating with peoples phones globally in some way.

Second issue is what actual phone to use.  I'd like to keep using an iphone, but my current iphone is a Verizon CDMA only model.  Since I will be there for two years, I figured I'd just get an iphone 5 with a 2 year contract in Poland.  However, from what people have told me, and from what I can see attempting to dig through pricing online, iphones are fucking expensive even with contracts in Europe.  Looks like it might be better to buy the phone unlocked from apple at full price (over $700) and bring it over.  But again, if any Euro's here could chime in on what to expect from phone plans in Europe, I'd appreciate it.

[Chimpy]

You will not be able to transfer a US number directly to your phone overseas unless you get an international plan with an American carrier (really expensive).

If you want to keep a US number for receiving calls, the ObiOn + google voice account is a nice combo. They have an iPhone app that works pretty well (I used it to make a couple of calls including a phone interview while in Ireland) but it absolutely kills your battery life if you keep it running as it keeps the data connection/radios active constantly. But the device will let you get google voice calls anywhere in the world you have a wired Internet connection so you could have a home phone relatives can call cheap from the states.

http://m.newegg.com/Product?itemNumber=N82E16833617001

[calapine]

Well, for this I suppose you need a genuine polish F13er, as prices & contracts vary quite a bit from country to country. And there is the language barrier...
That said, I googled a bit for you. Of the major providers there are:


Orange (France Telekom) -  Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony etc + Nokia Windows Phones - no Apple

Plus - Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony etc + Nokia Windows Phones - no Apple

T-mobile (German Telekom) -  Iphone 5 on offer, probably one of the more expensive providers if they are anything like in Austria.

Play Mobile - iPhone 5 on offer



Flatrate for calling + SMS and 2GB bandwith per month for:
171€ for iPhone + 36€ per month, or
iPhone for free + 45€ per month

Doesn't seem that bad overall.*

Edit: *relativity. Something similar would be 150€ + 30€/month for Iphone 5 in Austria. What do you 'mericans pay?

[eldaec]

Given you (probably) don't know how long you're in country I suspect your best plan is to buy a phone off contract and get a sim for each country you are likely to visit, US included.

Skype or Google voice can give you a US number that will find your phone whichever country it is in through the interwebs.

[Yoru]

Given you (probably) don't know how long you're in country I suspect your best plan is to buy a phone off contract and get a sim for each country you are likely to visit, US included.

I travel like crazy, 5 countries in the past 6 weeks, and that's what I do.

I bought an S3 Mini off Amazon.de (330eur) and have SIM chips for each country I've visited. Whenever I go somewhere new, I ask the locals which prepaid carrier sucks least and grab a SIM. Keep the credit-card-sized bit of plastic the SIM came from and use a bit of tape to hold the SIM in there; I keep my SIMs in a little business-card wallet.

Ask the carrier how long the chip remains good without usage; some places it's 3 months (US), others can be a year or more. Note this down on the card in which you're storing the SIM, because you will forget it and it really blows to land somewhere, slot in your SIM, expect to be able to call the local office/contact and get a bunch of incomprehensible gibberish in the local tongue instead.

Most European prepaid carriers I've encountered will sell you 1-2GB of data per month for about 10eur, and flat-rate SMS/voice for 5-10eur each for a month of coverage. US, I go with T-Mobile for unlimited everything (including LTE) for 3usd/day.

[Strazos]

I can't offer any advice as I simply stick with the crappy Nokia the Embassy provided to me upon arrival. They also manage the plan, so I just pay a bill every now and then.

People do have iPhones here though, so I'll have to ask one of them.

[Teleku]

Thanks for the input everybody.  I'm going to make a real response here to everybody when I can sit down and think straight, but I've been in long classes this week, then promptly going out every night to various going away parties.  Just got back from another one, and I'm going to lay in bed and finish reading The Guns of August instead of trying to formulate a coherent post.  I'll reply in full as soon as I have some time and can think straight, I promise!

I can't offer any advice as I simply stick with the crappy Nokia the Embassy provided to me upon arrival. They also manage the plan, so I just pay a bill every now and then.

People do have iPhones here though, so I'll have to ask one of them.

They didn't give you a Blackberry?  Or is this an extra phone for your own personal usage on top of that?

[Strazos]

No, I have a Blackberry, but never EVER use the voice - it has unlimited global data...but I know someone who stupidly ran up $3000+ bill on the voice usage.

The phone I referred to is a local phone/sim.