EarthRoam

International Roaming on the Six U.S. National Cellular Carriers
& Prepaid International GSM Roaming Services

Last update: 5 March 2004

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Table of Contents

Introduction

I created this web site as the result of numerous e-mail inquiries for advice as to the best carrier to choose for international roaming. There is no simple answer to this question. There are pros and cons to the five of the top six carriers, only cons to one of them (Nextel).  Choosing the best carrier depends on the countries you need coverage in, the  per minute costs, and the number of minutes you expect to use. You do not need to subscribe to a U.S. GSM carrier in order to have worldwide GSM coverage. Even the CDMA carriers and the iDEN carrier have worldwide GSM roaming available (you need a separate GSM handset), and in fact the leading CDMA carrier, Verizon, has the most extensive worldwide GSM coverage (but not the best rates).  T-Mobile has the best international roaming rates in Europe, but has less worldwide coverage than AT&T. AT&T and Cingular allow roaming in TDMA countries that lack GSM networks. Sprint PCS allows roaming in many CDMA countries, while Verizon's only CDMA roaming is in Canada, Mexico, and South Korea. In addition to the international roaming of the six national carriers there is also the option of a prepaid SIM card that works worldwide.

Worldwide roaming coverage and rates are constantly changing. If you see an error in the coverage and/or rates please e-mail me and I will correct it.

Table of Coverage and Roaming

Excel Spreadsheet 
This spreadsheet can be sorted by country, network, and price. You must have Microsoft Excel (or Excel Viewer) to open this file. It is advisable to download the free Excel Viewer (click on the icon below, Windows only) if you do not have the actual Excel program, rather than using the PDF version of the table. Macintosh users can purchase a third party Excel viewer, icExcel, for $20.

Please e-mail me if you find any errors in this table. There are locations that may have coverage that the carrier did not explicitly list because they are territories of another country and they did not think to list them separately.

If you are using a U.S. GSM carrier then you need to contact them prior to traveling as they may need to enable international roaming on your account. 

On-Line International Rate Information

AT&T: Country List & Rate Chart  (rates range from $1.29 to 4.99 per minute). This chart includes both GSM roaming and TDMA roaming countries.
AT&T has good rates in commonly visited countries, but in some less commonly visited countries their rates are high. AT&T also still has a lot of TDMA roaming coverage so be sure to get a GAIT handset if you expect to visit both TDMA and GSM countries. Fortunately, AT&T now sells a GAIT handset which will permit roaming on both GSM and TDMA systems (Cingular also sells GAIT handsets but not in all regions). Contact AT&T prior to traveling as they may need to enable international roaming on your account. 

Cingular:  After entering your zip code click on Roaming then Find Your Country (rates range from $1.29 to $2.49 per minute)
Cingular has rates that are the same or slightly higher than AT&T in commonly visited countries, but often has better rates in the less commonly visited countries where they have coverage. Cingular's coverage is not as extensive as AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. Cingular also still has a lot of TDMA roaming coverage so be sure to get a GAIT handset if you expect to visit both TDMA and GSM countries (unfortunately, Cingular does not sell GAIT handsets in California though they do sell them in other GSM only areas like New York City). No CDMA roaming is available. The available roaming on Cingular varies by Cingular region. I.e., since the western region of Cingular is GSM-only, and since GAIT is not available in the western region, they omit all TDMA roaming when you select a zip code in the western region. Cingular's TDMA roaming list can be found at: http://onlinestore.cingular.com/html/Roaming/TDMA/countries_tdma.htm. It is quite unfortunate that Cingular does not allow international roaming in TDMA countries by their western region subscribers. Contact Cingular prior to traveling as they may need to enable international roaming on your account. 
Note: It now is possible for Cingular's Western Region Customers to obtain GAIT handsets, though the coverage is unknown. E-mail me for details as these handsets are not sold on-line or in stores; you must directly contact the proper individual at Cingular and present your case as to why you need a GAIT handset.  I have the contact information but I cannot publicize it.

Nextel: Country List & Rate Chart (rates range from $1.29 to $5.99 per minute)
Generally very high rates. With Nextel you need to buy a GSM handset, Nextel will sell you one for as little as $50, but it is locked and can only be used with a Nextel SIM card. Nextel lacks coverage in many countries, but is still better than Cingular. It is not clear if Nextel will sell you a SIM card to use in an unlocked GSM phone, but of course you can always just remove the SIM card from the locked phone that they sell you, and use it an unlocked phone. Nextel does have two phones that combine iDEN and GSM 900 Mhz, the Motorola i2000 and i2000+. While it is preferable to have a GSM phone that covers both the 900 Mhz and 1800 Mhz spectrum, for most of Europe and Asia 900 Mhz is sufficient. TDMA and CDMA roaming are not available.

T- Mobile:  Country List & Rate Chart (rates range from $0.99 to $4.99 per minute)
T-Mobile is the best deal for commonly visited countries. They have coverage in many of the less commonly visited countries, though not as extensive as AT&T or Verizon. TDMA and CDMA roaming are not available. Contact T-Mobile prior to traveling as they may need to enable international roaming on your account. 

Sprint PCS: Go to View service plans and coverage areas then click on International Roaming  then Search for Coverage (rates range for1.29 to 5.99 per minute).
Sprint has okay rates within the countries they cover, but high rates for long distance calls. They lack coverage in many countries covered by the other carriers (except Nextel). With Sprint you need an unlocked GSM phone (available for as little as $80 though Sprint will sell you one for between $165 and $395)). No TDMA roaming is available. A SIM card costs $30, there is a $35 activation fee, plus there is a $6 per month charge for international service. 

Verizon: Country List & Rate Chart (rates range from $1.49 to 4.99 per minute)
Verizon is the best deal for less commonly visited countries, i.e. Russia is $2.49 per minute on Verizon, $4.99 on AT&T. With Verizon you need an unlocked GSM phone (available for as little as $80 though to get it from Verizon you pay $150). A SIM card costs $10, plus there is a $10 per month charge for international service. Ironically, Verizon has the most extensive worldwide GSM coverage. No TDMA roaming is available. CDMA roaming is limited to Canada, Mexico, and South Korea.

International Prepaid SIM Cards

Hop Abroad

Hop Abroad sells a SIM card that allows roaming in eighty GSM countries, including the United States. You will have a phone number in Monaco (cool, but a bit inconvenient since everyone will have to call your Monaco number to get you). You can use almost any unlocked GSM phone (http://www.hopmobile.com/explore_works.html) that supports the frequency bands in the countries you will be visiting.

The per minute rates are good ($0.95 in all countries) and there is no minimum other than the requirement to add money to the account at least once a year. They charge a comparatively low price for incoming calls, only $0.35. The initial cost for a SIM card and activation is $70 with a $15 credit. This is a better deal than any of the national carriers except T-Mobile (in their $0.99 countries)  if you can amortize the initial cost of the SIM card.

Hop Abroad has a limited list of countries where their system works. It is a bit confusing looking at the U.S. reseller Telestial's web site, which shows less coverage for the same product. Also Telestial has much higher prices.

United Mobile

United Mobile sells a SIM card that allows roaming in more than eighty GSM countries, including the United States. You will have a phone number in Liechtenstein. You'll really impress people (or annoy them) when you tell them to call you on your Liechtenstein number. Only a limited number of handsets work with this service, you cannot simply use any unlocked GSM handset (see below).

The per minute rates are good (€0.80 in the U.S., most of Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore, €1.25  in all other countries (except Cuba which is €5.50)). They charge lower prices for incoming calls (except for Cuba), only €0.50 in the €0.80 countries, €0.80 in the €1.25 countries. There is no connection fee on any calls. Initial SIM card with activation is €50 and includes €50 of credit. Additional time is face value in €20, €50, €100 and €200 denominations. You must use the phone at least once every nine months, but it isn't clear if you need to top off every nine months or not.

United Mobile uses a technology called "callback." You dial your number, but in reality you connect to United Mobile's landline which then calls both you and the party you are calling and connects you together. You will be disconnected for a moment, then you will get a call back. Not all handsets will work with the United Mobile callback system which apparently requires a Java enabled handset. They have a list of supported handsets at: http://www.united-mobile.com/handsets.asp. This will add to the initial cost. The only tri-band that is supported is the Siemens S55 which costs about $300. However there are dual band handsets that will work only in Europe that are available for about $146. Unfortunately there are no quad-band GSM handsets that will work with this service so think very carefully about using United Mobile for U.S. use. I have e-mailed them to suggest that they test the NEC 515 quad band GSM handset with their system, though I have not seen it for sale unlocked. Siemens is also coming out with quad-band handsets, but they have not announced availability.

United Mobile coverage is not as good as that provided by Road Post, see United Mobile coverage.

United Mobile provides coverage in Cuba (not that U.S. residents can can go there!). However they have no coverage in China or Taiwan.

The United Mobile SIM card is the lowest minimum yearly cost for GSM prepaid, at about  €27. If you want a GSM phone only for emergencies then it's the cheapest option, but you will have a Liechtenstein phone number and you may be unable to reach 911, which kind of negates the value of it as an emergency phone.

Note that all charges are in Euros. At this time $1=€0.88. Unfortunately, the rate will likely get worse as the U.S. deficits continue to rise.

Road Post

Road Post offers several plans. For occasional users, there is the oneRoam™ World Subscription costing $79 per year and with rates of as low as $0.99/minute for both incoming and outgoing calls (their web site has an error on the World Subscription, it says airtime as low as $0.49/minute, but this is the rate for their country-specific service for France, Italy, Switzerland, or the U.K.). They also have plans that include airtime, i.e. $79/month for 50 roll-over minutes per month.

You can use any unlocked GSM phone that supports the frequency bands in the countries you will be visiting. You can choose from a U.K. or a Switzerland phone number (this information is not on their web site, I called them).

Road Post has a very large list of covered countries.

Orange

Orange offers a prepaid international SIM card, but it is very expensive. See: http://www.planet3000.com/SIM_INTL_orange_DTL.shtml

Comparison of Hop Abroad, United Mobile, and Road Post

Conclusion

Hop Abroad has the best incoming rate and a good outgoing rates. A more limited list of countries than Road Post, but more countries than United Mobile. Beware of the contradictions in coverage (see their reseller's site, http://telestial.com, but don't buy from them, buy direct). I.e. The Telestial site talks about a per call connection fee, but Hop Abroad's site doesn't mention this. I'm pretty sure that there is a $0.26 per call connection fee.

United Mobile Highest initial cost due to the need for a specific handset, but the lowest on-going cost per year. They have a very limited list of countries, i.e., no coverage in Taiwan or China.

Road Post has the highest yearly cost ($79 which includes no airtime). They have the highest rate for incoming calls, and are about the same as United Mobile for outgoing calls. However Road Post has the most coverage, by far, of the three providers.

Analysis

1. Verizon has the most extensive worldwide GSM coverage (it seems ironic that a CDMA carrier would have such extensive GSM international roaming coverage but this is due to Verizon's 45% ownership by Vodafone). To roam in GSM countries with Verizon you have to purchase a GSM handset; these cost a minimum of about $85. You also have to buy a SIM card for $10 and pay $10 per month for international service. Not a great deal, but for business travelers I guess it's not too bad and you have the benefit of not having to use GSM in the U.S..

2. It is ironic that Verizon's worldwide CDMA coverage is lacking; Sprint covers many more CDMA countries. However only Verizon covers South Korea (South Korea does offer CDMA phone rentals that will accept a GSM SIM card, but no U.S. GSM carriers have signed up with the South Korean carrier for international roaming; this may have changed, check with your carrier).

3. T-Mobile and AT&T have the best rates in Europe and pretty good worldwide coverage aside from the less commonly visited countries.

4. Sprint has very high international roaming prices for GSM. Sprint has good prices for CDMA roaming. Sprint has much more CDMA roaming than Verizon, in fact the only CDMA country that Verizon covers that Sprint doesn't, is South Korea. A GSM handset is required for GSM roaming. You also have to buy a SIM card for $30, pay a $35 activation fee, and pay $6 per month for international service. Not a great deal, but for business travelers I guess it's not too bad and you have the benefit of not having to use GSM in the U.S..

5. Cingular has more limited international coverage than AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon, but they do cover the most commonly visited countries. Their web site for international coverage is very poor and some countries in the pull-down menu do not have valid links to rates. I don't know if this means that there is no coverage or just if the web site has bad links. Cingular's TDMA roaming is not available to its western region subscribers because Cingular does not sell or activate GAIT phones in the western region (actually you can get a GAIT handset in the western region, contact me for details).

6. AT&T and Cingular still have quite a bit of TDMA roaming. A GAIT handset is a good idea if you expect to visit both TDMA and GSM countries (and a good idea for the U.S. as well). You could also bring a deactivated TDMA handset with you to TDMA countries and sign up for prepaid service, if available.

7. Nextel has very high prices for most countries. You cannot roam in the CDMA countries with Nextel. A GSM handset is required for GSM roaming. It is not clear if Nextel will sell you a SIM card for use in an unlocked GSM phone. Apparently there is no extra monthly charge once you buy the GSM phone, but the high rates make up for this! Nextel has one phone that is iDEN/GSM 900 Mhz.

8. Even if you have GSM service in the U.S., you may want to consider bringing an inexpensive unlocked world-band (or just a 900 Mhz/1800 Mhz) GSM phone with you when traveling and purchase a pre-paid SIM for calls within the countries you are visiting. In this way you will not miss any incoming roaming calls, but you will be able to make inexpensive local calls with the prepaid SIM card (The charges for in-country calls are outrageous). You'll be swapping SIM cards quite a bit though, so it may make sense to bring two phones.

9. If you really want to be frugal you could just leave a voice-mail greeting on your regular cell phone with your  local prepaid SIM card GSM phone number.

10. Consider Hop Abroad, United Mobile, or Road Post, as an alternative to roaming with your regular carrier. The savings can be substantial. Remember that United Mobile only works with a limited number of unlocked GSM handsets.

11. If you plan on using your GSM phone in the U.S. as well as Europe or Asia, you may want to wait for the unlocked quad-band GSM phones to be available. The tri-band phones lack GSM 850 Mhz, which AT&T and Cingular are deploying as they reduce their 800 Mhz TDMA capacity.

Warning on International Roaming with Foreign Prepaid SIM Cards;
Remove Your Regular SIM Card Before You Arrive!

'If you go to another country and make the mistake of having your phone on when you arrive, the local carrier registers your number as active for roaming. Now even if you install a new SIM card any calls that someone form the US calls to your original number goes to your voicemail and you will be charged at the international roaming rate for that voicemail message whether you listen to the message or not. So if you want to use another SIM you have to make sure you remove your SIM BEFORE you arrive.'

Another e-mailer informed me that this should only occur up until midnight of any day the phone is turned on with the Cingular SIM card, and that if the phone is left off, or turned on with another SIM card, the Cingular system no longer tries to reach the phone in the foreign country.

There is no "World Phone" Forget it!

The elusive search for a true world phone continues. Technically, the NEC 515, NEC 525, and Motorola V400, are "World Phones" since they support 850 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz, and 1900 Mhz GSM. The problem is that in the U.S., there are still vast areas of the country without GSM coverage. In the U.S. you'll want either a GAIT phone (GSM/TDMA/AMPS), or a CDMA/AMPS phone. None of the GAIT phones (there are only two) support 900 Mhz and 1800 Mhz GSM. Even the upcoming GSM/CDMA phone from Samsung is hampered by its lack of AMPS capability.

Furthermore, it's not clear if the SIM from a GAIT phone, will work in an unlocked GSM phone (900/1800) to allow GSM roaming in Europe and Asia.

The bottom line is this:

If you're visiting the U.S., you're better off with a prepaid phone from Tracfone or eCallPlus than trying to roam on GSM (especially if you don't have a GSM phone that supports BOTH U.S. GSM frequencies (850 Mhz and 1900 Mhz).

If you live in the U.S., the GSM coverage is so lacking that you're better off on CDMA/AMPS and using prepaid GSM in GSM-only countries.

Explanation of Unlocked GSM Handsets

"Unlocked" means that any SIM card from any carrier can be used in the phone. A locked phone works only with SIM cards from the carrier that sells the phone, it is "locked" to that carrier. They do this to keep you from switching carriers. The alleged reason is that they sold you the phone at a loss so they don't want you getting a low cost or free phone then switching carriers. This explanation makes no sense because the contract you sign requires that you pay a hefty termination fee if you cancel before the end of the contract period. The real reason is that they don't want to make it easy to use the phone on another carrier AFTER the contract ends.

You do not need to have GSM service in the U.S. in order to use GSM service elsewhere in the world. What I do now is to bring my unused tri-band phone with me to Asia, then I can buy pre-paid SIM cards. For example, in Taiwan you can buy them at 7-11, and the rate is very good, about 10 cents per minute (versus $2-3 per minute for international roaming). I lend this phone out to colleagues that are visiting Asia.

Some Unlocked GSM Handsets

Shop around on-line for best prices and merchant reliability. I have included links to one merchant that I have used, but shop around and be careful about ordering from a reliable merchant. Be especially careful if you plan to use United Mobile as only a limited number of GSM handsets will work with their service.

Motorola V400	Motorola T-250	Motorola T-280	Siemens S55	Siemens C45
GSM 850/900/1800/1900	GSM 900/1800/1900, No GPRS, Does not work with United Mobile	GSM 900/1800/1900, GPRS, Does not work with United Mobile	GSM 900/1800/1900, GPRS, with Camera included, works with United Mobile, will work in the U.S. on GSM 1900 Mhz (but not GSM 850 Mhz)	GSM 900/1800 (not for use in North America), works with United Mobile
$280*	$85	$120	$299	$146

* The cheapest way to get this handset is to sign up for Cingular GSM service with this handset ($200-$100 rebate) Then pay $30 to get it unlocked (click). Even if you cancel your Cingular service immediately, and pay the $150 termination fee, it's still cheaper than buying this handset retail (about $350). Beware that in some states Cingular has raised the termination fee to $240 (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, New York, parts of Indiana, parts of New Jersey), so this is not a good deal.

South Korea

Verizon offers the advantage of CDMA roaming in some countries with CDMA, i.e. South Korea. This service is not available from any of the GSM carriers or from Sprint or Nextel. Verizon has an agreement with SK Telecom to allow SK Telecom subscribers to roam in the U.S. and Verizon subscribers to roam in South Korea. You need to activate this roaming by calling Verizon.

You can rent a CDMA handset in South Korea that will accept GSM SIM cards for roaming, but it is not clear if this will work with any of the U.S. GSM carriers (this service was developed for FIFA World Cup Soccer in 2002). The web site for KT Freetel does not show any of the U.S. GSM carriers as roaming partners. You can rent a CDMA handset and buy prepaid service at Incheon airport but of course you will have a Korean phone number and will not be able to receive calls to your U.S. number. Apparently United Mobile does provide this service (they have South Korea on their list), but they are not listed on KT's partner list.

Note that prepaid phone rentals are very cheap in South Korea, so unless you absolutely must be able to roam with your U.S. number just rent a phone at the airport and be done with it. Don't rent from the first kiosk you see as the three providers have very different rates.

I travel a lot to South Korea so I've experienced all this personally.

Conclusion

For the most extensive GSM roaming coverage choose Verizon but be prepared to pay the price, including an onerous $10 monthly fee. For the best GSM prices in Europe, and no monthly fee, choose T-Mobile, followed by AT&T and Cingular. Avoid Sprint, and Nextel for GSM roaming, except for very light use, due to high prices. For CDMA roaming (except South Korea) Sprint is your only choice. AT&T and Cingular have TDMA roaming in several countries that lack CDMA or GSM. Consider prepaid SIM cards for in-country calls. Consider one of the services that provides international prepaid GSM.

For more information about prepaid GSM please visit:

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Disclaimer: The information provided is, in some cases, my own opinions and the opinions of others; the rates listed are the published rates of the providers.
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