Will my Verizon cell phone work...

[Jay Honeck]

...in Germany?

I've been told yes, and no, but people who have been there. We're going to Oktoberfest on Wednesday...

Thanks!

 

[silver-eagle]

Depends on the phone and whether you have GSM. The usual verizon phones are CDMA. Verizon does have a few GSM phones but I believe you have to contact them to activate it.
You could get a disposable through Virgin. Or rent an international from verizon. AMEX also rents international phones.
Google "Germany cellphones". Lots of answers.

 

[ScottM]

If your phone is CDMA, no. I am unaware of any Verizon phones being anything other than CDMA[edit=apparently they are selling some multi-mode units, see later posts]. There are some PCMCIA cards that Verizon sells that are 1xEV-DO for data only and those will not work in Germany too.

 

[woodstock]

If you ever wanted a blackberry, get one now. You can get the world edition, set it up, and you're good to go on phone calls and emails.

 

[Keith Lane]

My Verizon phone did not work in Germany, the UK or Estonia. Those are the only places "over there" I've tried. It does pretty well in Ontario or Quebec (the Rogers® system). CDMA pretty much sucks compared to GSM. It's a shame the good 'ol US of A doesn't have the GSM infrastructure that CDMA enjoys. I've found that other countries have much better cellphone systems than we do.

 

[AdamZ]

Jay, I don't know about Eruope but I know my verizon phone would not work in Israel. I think only ATT goes everywhere. I used a company called Travel Cell that made it very easy to rent a phone here in the US to use in Israel. The will rent you a phone and program for any country out there.

I only wanted my phone for emergencys and to contact Alon when I was there ( Armegeddon Aviator) So I wasn't going to be on it like I am here. They send you the phone via Fed Ex and give you a prepaid return envelope. Check out thier site

http://www.travelcell.com/rates/europe/germany.asp

 

[SkyHog]

I enjoy pointing this out....

Below are the coverage maps for the US for T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. Sprint and Verizon being CDMA, AT&T and T-Mobile being GSM.

T-Mobile and AT&T have very strong roaming partnerships, and while I can't speak to AT&T, T-Mobile allows unlimited domestic roaming without additional cost or per minute usage. Combining the two coverage maps comes pretty damn close to Verizon. Sprint just sucks. So GSM, while not QUITE as covered as CDMA, is not far behind.

1) Verizon
2) T-Mobile
3) AT&T
4) Sprint

 

[ScottM]

Jay, I don't know about Eruope but I know my verizon phone would not work in Israel. I think only ATT goes everywhere.

Close, Verizon does not work because they chose CDMA. AT&T and T-Mobile both use GSM and it's evolutions. They will work every place in the world. The exceptions are Japan unless you have a 3G phone as they only have UMTS and CDMA (but banded different than the US)

 

[ScottM]

I enjoy pointing this out....

Below are the coverage maps for the US for T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. Sprint and Verizon being CDMA, AT&T and T-Mobile being GSM.

T-Mobile and AT&T have very strong roaming partnerships, and while I can't speak to AT&T, T-Mobile allows unlimited domestic roaming without additional cost or per minute usage. Combining the two coverage maps comes pretty damn close to Verizon. Sprint just sucks. So GSM, while not QUITE as covered as CDMA, is not far behind.

1) Verizon
2) T-Mobile
3) AT&T
4) Sprint

Sprint also has iDen technology, the old Nextel company. That technology is a SIM based authentication and provision service that uses the same network as GSM. So while the air interface is different from GSM everything is similiar. This made it real easy to build dual mode, GSM/iDen. phones. So if you have Sprint/Nextel you may be able to roam or at least plastic roam (remove SIM card and put in GSM phone).

It is possible to also plastic roam with CDMA technology but alas Verizon choose not to use the R-UIM (CDMA version of the SIM) like China did.

 

[foka4]

Verizon has a phone rental program for international travellers who don't have one of their 2 or 3 "world phones". Most Verizon stor employees don't know about it, however, so you'll have to be persistent to get information about it. In general, Verizon's phones with international capability are 3 or more generations old, with prices inflated 3 or 4 times. The Blackberry worldphone is an exception. I think Verizon is finally getting the picture.

I use a spare Cingular Blackberry for overseas stuff and leave my Verizon phone at home.

M

 

[ScottM]

I think Verizon is finally getting the picture.

Indeed Verizon is. They recently were awarded some additional spectrum and have publicly announced that the technology in that new spectrum will be LTE. LTE is a technology that will be used in more places than jsut the US. Eventually Verizon will have better international roaming in a single device, but it is still a few years away. LTE starts commercial trials next year and offer capabilities similiar to the already deployed WiMAX.

In the technology areas we have:

GSM-EDGE-HSDPA-HSPA-UMTS-LTE for most of the world. All of these sorta work together with at least GSM being the common denomiator.

CDMA-1xEV-DO for the US, Canada, China, S Korea, Japan. The US and Canada have similiar frequency bads and easy CDMA roaming. There is some but very limited international roaming with CDMA

WiMAX: US, Canada in 2.5GHz and 3.5GHZ most everywhere else. This will be going commercial here in the US before the end of the year. There are not yet handset but PCMCIA cards and CPE. This right now is really a data service but it is fully mobile with user speeds over 1km/h and data rates up to 50kbps. Use of this eliminates the dependance on 802.11 hot spots.

Soon WiMAX 2.0 which uses the IEEE802.16m will become a standard and that along with LTE 2.0 will be a candidate for what we call 4G. 802.16m will handle voice much like LTE and will be a do it all air interface.

I have a white paper that I co-authored with some people that was published a few months ago that describes how all this stuf works that I can email people if they are interested in the details.

 

[rjsjayhawk]

In general, Verizon's phones with international capability are 3 or more generations old, with prices inflated 3 or 4 times. The Blackberry worldphone is an exception. I think Verizon is finally getting the picture.
M

I purchased a Motorola Z6C Worldphone from Verizon in December of last year. This is a cheaper alternative to their Blackberry offering. Works great in Europe. You need to get a SIM card from Verizon prior to international travel but it is a very nice phone and not 3+ generations old like the ones provided by the rental program.

 

[ScottM]

I purchased a Motorola Z6C Worldphone from Verizon in December of last year. This is a cheaper alternative to their Blackberry offering. Works great in Europe. You need to get a SIM card from Verizon prior to international travel but it is a very nice phone and not 3+ generations old like the ones provided by the rental program.

Indeed that phone is less than a year old and has CDMA, 1xEVDO, and GSM for two band operation.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

T-Mobile and AT&T have very strong roaming partnerships, and while I can't speak to AT&T, T-Mobile allows unlimited domestic roaming without additional cost or per minute usage. Combining the two coverage maps comes pretty damn close to Verizon.

FWIW, I found that on AT&T I got *better* nationwide (and I do/did truly travel nationwide, as many of you know!) coverage with AT&T than I did with Verizon. Dropped fewer calls, also. And, I was never charged any extra for "roaming" though there was never any indication on the phone that I was roaming.

Sprint just sucks.

Truer words were never spoken.

 

[Ghery]

I enjoy pointing this out....

Below are the coverage maps for the US for T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. Sprint and Verizon being CDMA, AT&T and T-Mobile being GSM.

T-Mobile and AT&T have very strong roaming partnerships, and while I can't speak to AT&T, T-Mobile allows unlimited domestic roaming without additional cost or per minute usage. Combining the two coverage maps comes pretty damn close to Verizon. Sprint just sucks. So GSM, while not QUITE as covered as CDMA, is not far behind.

1) Verizon
2) T-Mobile
3) AT&T
4) Sprint

Combine the T-Mobile and AT&T maps and you still have a big hole on my cross state drive that Verizon plugs quite nicely. And out in the hinterlands of eastern Washington I'm getting cell coverage in areas that used to be dead. I'll stick with Verizon on this one.

Indeed Verizon is. They recently were awarded some additional spectrum and have publicly announced that the technology in that new spectrum will be LTE. LTE is a technology that will be used in more places than jsut the US. Eventually Verizon will have better international roaming in a single device, but it is still a few years away. LTE starts commercial trials next year and offer capabilities similiar to the already deployed WiMAX.

In the technology areas we have:

GSM-EDGE-HSDPA-HSPA-UMTS-LTE for most of the world. All of these sorta work together with at least GSM being the common denomiator.

CDMA-1xEV-DO for the US, Canada, China, S Korea, Japan. The US and Canada have similiar frequency bads and easy CDMA roaming. There is some but very limited international roaming with CDMA

WiMAX: US, Canada in 2.5GHz and 3.5GHZ most everywhere else. This will be going commercial here in the US before the end of the year. There are not yet handset but PCMCIA cards and CPE. This right now is really a data service but it is fully mobile with user speeds over 1km/h and data rates up to 50kbps. Use of this eliminates the dependance on 802.11 hot spots.

Soon WiMAX 2.0 which uses the IEEE802.16m will become a standard and that along with LTE 2.0 will be a candidate for what we call 4G. 802.16m will handle voice much like LTE and will be a do it all air interface.

I have a white paper that I co-authored with some people that was published a few months ago that describes how all this stuf works that I can email people if they are interested in the details.

I'd like a copy, please.

I purchased a Motorola Z6C Worldphone from Verizon in December of last year. This is a cheaper alternative to their Blackberry offering. Works great in Europe. You need to get a SIM card from Verizon prior to international travel but it is a very nice phone and not 3+ generations old like the ones provided by the rental program.

I'll have to look into that. Verizon is telling me that I'm eligible for a new phone (with a new 2 year agreement, naturally). I like my Motorola E815 (damn, I had to pop the battery to find the model number - good industrial design ), but it's useless outside NA or Hawaii. What do they charge for using the phone in Europe or elsewhere?

 

[astanley]

Close, Verizon does not work because they chose CDMA. AT&T and T-Mobile both use GSM and it's evolutions. They will work every place in the world. The exceptions are Japan unless you have a 3G phone as they only have UMTS and CDMA (but banded different than the US)

Woah. Wait.

I'm getting a BlackBerry Bold in a few weeks (my 8800 is dying as we speak). It's UMTS and GSM (EDGE and HSDPA). So, are you saying, for the first time in my life... I may be able to use my standard phone everywhere I go?

I hate renting phones and being without my blackberry. It just plain old sucks.

Cheers,

-Andrew

 

[ScottM]

Woah. Wait.

I'm getting a BlackBerry Bold in a few weeks (my 8800 is dying as we speak). It's UMTS and GSM (EDGE and HSDPA). So, are you saying, for the first time in my life... I may be able to use my standard phone everywhere I go?

I hate renting phones and being without my blackberry. It just plain old sucks.

Cheers,

-Andrew

Well it depends on where you go. But I too have upgraded to a GSM/EDGE/UMTS phone and for the first time I can use a phone in Japan as well as everywhere else I go!!!

 

[astanley]

Well it depends on where you go. But I too have upgraded to a GSM/EDGE/UMTS phone and for the first time I can use a phone in Japan as well as everywhere else I go!!!

Of course... but Japan is the only "rent a phone" place for me (I don't go to Korea and most everywhere else has decent GSM). One less thing to worry about.

Maybe I'll ditch my aircard, too, since UMTS should be pretty fast for browsing.

Cheers,

-Andrew

 

[astanley]

I'd like a copy, please.

Me too. I'm getting involved with setting some new global travelling policies and technology strategies, and this would be instrumental as we assess mobile providers in 2009...

Cheers,

-Andrew

 

[gprellwitz]

So far I've been able to use my Verizon phone in the Bahamas, Toronto, and New Zealand. Coincidentally, that's about all the foreign traveling I've done in the past few years. I really don't know how that worked out. It's also had pretty good coverage in many of the out-of-the way airports we tend to frequent!