I have a nokia 6200, which is a GSM phone and uses one of those chips to ID the phone, etc. I heard that you can install chips from foreign cell carriers while you are travelling so that you can be on their local system and not be charge long distance? I went to Europe last year and used my phone over there and man, I got ripped a new one because I was basically getting charged long distance and international roaming all at once. I heard though that you need hack the phone before it will accept local chips. anyone know how to go about this?

 

When you say 'chips' you mean the phone's SIM? You can just grab a pre-paid SIM in whatever country you'll be staying in and drop it into the phone. You've then got a new phone number and you'll be paying whatever the local rates are.

The only reason you'd need to hack the phone was if you got it as part of a deal that ties the phone to one carrier. I've never seen that here in Australia but I believe some carriers in other parts of the world do it. Swap SIMs with someone who's on another network and see if your phone will work. If so, no problem.

 

Who is your carrier?

Before you can use your phone with other SIMS you will need to have it unlocked.

A couple years ago VoiceStream, now T-Mobile would unlock your phone if you had been a customer for more than 6 months. The Email address to do that was simunlock@t-mobile.com

I have no idea if it is a service that is still provided.

 

Yes, I 'm talking about the SIMS. My carrier is AT&T. And to answer the other question, I had tried putting a friends SIMS into my phone and it did work, although, I'm not sure what carrier she was using. I guess using a foreign carrier SIMS would be the way to go, but I'd like to be able to still use my existing cell number so people at home can contact me.

 

If you're on AT&T, try loading a Cingular or T-Mobile SIM into your phone. If it works, then you're set to use it overseas. If not, then, like Steve said, you need to get it unlocked. Some stores will do it for a nominal charge ($10-$25) or you can order the subsidy code online as well.

Aren't the international roaming/long distance rates around $2 a minute? Get ported to Cingular if that's not what AT&T is charging.

http://onlinestore.cingular.com/webapp/wcs...1&svcAreaId=SBC

[QUOTE]Hassle-free
There are no hidden charges either

 

im in the uk now using my attws phone with a local sim card.. just to let you know, there is no way you can keep your local number at home if you get a different sim card.

each sim card stores your unique phone number. so my UK sim card has a UK number, my ATTWS sim card has my ATTWS phone number. if you want to continue to use your number, then you just have to suck up the rates that ATT charges you and use the ATT sim card.