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The Telecom Digest for April 25, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 114 : "text" Format

Messages in this Issue:
 Cell phones in Europe                                     (John Mayson)
 Re: Cell phones in Europe                                  (Mark Smith)
 Re: Cell phones in Europe                                 (John Levine)
 Re: Low-cost calling options for U.S. <> Iraq           (Robert Bonomi)


====== 28 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ====== Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer, and other stuff of interest.
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:55:04 -0500 From: John Mayson <john@mayson.us> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Cell phones in Europe Message-ID: <u2t6645152a1004232055odc1757bbz357296517b5c73e5@mail.gmail.com> I know this has been discussed before. I went through the archives and didn't get an exact answer, so I'll ask it again. Not complaining mind you. :-) My daughter wants to study abroad for a semester in The Netherlands. Her school requires she have a cell phone in case they need to get a hold of her. I think this is utter nonsense and there's no reason email couldn't be used. But I digress. She has an iPhone. I've heard too many horror stories of people taking their iPhones (and other smart phones) abroad and coming home to bills more expensive than their trips. My suggestion was to order a pre-paid cell phone from The Netherlands and have her carry that. AFAIK it's not possible to change the SIM in an iPhone (at least it's not very easy). Can anyone suggest something affordable? Thanks, John -- John Mayson <john@mayson.us> Austin, Texas, USA
Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2010 10:14:22 -0700 (PDT) From: Mark Smith <marklsmith@yahoo.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Cell phones in Europe Message-ID: <59462.81191.qm@web65709.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> On April 23, 2010 11:55:04 PM John Mayson <john@mayson.us> wrote: > I know this has been discussed before. I went through the archives > and didn't get an exact answer, so I'll ask it again. Not > complaining mind you. :-) > My daughter wants to study abroad for a semester in The Netherlands. > Her school requires she have a cell phone in case they need to get a > hold of her. I think this is utter nonsense and there's no reason > email couldn't be used. But I digress. > She has an iPhone. I've heard too many horror stories of people > taking their iPhones (and other smart phones) abroad and coming home > to bills more expensive than their trips. My suggestion was to > order a pre-paid cell phone from The Netherlands and have her carry > that. AFAIK it's not possible to change the SIM in an iPhone (at > least it's not very easy). > Can anyone suggest something affordable? One of the cheaper ways to go is a basic phone from Trackfone (or Virgin or any GSM pay as you go company.) I have heard that in Europe you can buy the GSM card by itself. Remove the pay as you go card and replace with the European card. I got a Nokia from Trackfone for $19.95. If the European company will only give service if you buy a phone, buy it there. You can then use it as a pay as you go phone when she returns. Mark L. Smith http://smith.freehosting.net ***** Moderator's Note ***** A. Because it distracts from the natural top-to-bottom flow of a writen communucation. Q. Why is top-posting bad? Bill Horne Moderator
Date: 24 Apr 2010 22:03:07 -0000 From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Cell phones in Europe Message-ID: <20100424220307.93684.qmail@joyce.lan> >One of the cheaper ways to go is a basic phone from Trackfone (or >Virgin or any GSM pay as you go company.) Don't do that. Tracfones are programemd only to work in the US; they don't even work in Canada which is technically compatible, there's no possibility of them working in Europe where the frequency bands are different. Ditto Virgin Mobile. The way you get a cheap phone in the Netherlands is simple. You walk into a phone store, of which there is one approximately every 10 meters from one end of the country to the other, and buy one. I've bought prepaid phones in the UK and France for under $20 and I expect the price in the Netherlands would be similar. A Netherlands phone will work all over Europe, at somewhat higher roaming rates, but not in North America due to different bands. But for $20, what do you want? R's, John
Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2010 17:09:02 -0500 From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Low-cost calling options for U.S. <> Iraq Message-ID: <tZednUoDsttj9k7WnZ2dnUVZ_huknZ2d@posted.nuvoxcommunications> In article <20100423004800.GA23920@billhorne.homelinux.org>, Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> wrote: >I've gotten a call from the wife of a U.S. serviceman in Iraq: she is >seeking low-cost calling options to keep in touch with him. > >Please submit any information you have, and I'll publish the results >here. TIA. Any MARS connections? ***** Moderator's Note ***** It's not used anymore: the services have combined their MARS systems and are focusing on disaster preparedness. Soldiers overseas have periodic access to email, and sometimes (although, in this case, I guess not) to voice circuits via the Internet. I don't know what the details are: as with any combat area, it's probably different from camp to camp. Bill Horne Moderator
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End of The Telecom Digest (4 messages)

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