Iphone sim card in Europe
When traveling in Europe, can a switch out my sim card in my Iphone and pop in one from the country I'm staying in, in particular France?
Donna
Winston-Salem 11/1/09
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Yes, if your iPhone is unlocked. I unlocked mine and use it all over Europe, popping in SIM cards as I cross borders and the old one is used up. You can still use the data portion as well, it just eats away at your card's balance. Have the store help you with phone settings.
They usually cost 5€ each and will work cross border (but they run down quicker roaming).
Check phone stores and buy one that looks good to you. I usually now get them from the non-major's like Virgin and A-Mobile, they operate on the regular carrier's systems, just cheaper. You can find a full list at Prepaidgsm.net.
Donna,
As Steve mentioned, you can use other SIM cards if your phone is unlocked.
You can either use SIM cards from networks in France or other countries, however be sure that you're clear on what the data roaming charges will be (if you plan on using that while you're in Europe).
You might also have a look at Call In Europe as I believe they offer a data roaming option with their SIM cards and the rates should be consistent in most of Western Europe.
Happy travels!
Also, depending on your iPhone contract with your mobile provider back home you may have to "jailbreak" the iPhone first. You can google "3GS jailbreak" or whatever version of iPhone you're using for more details and the actual crack software...
Andreas: "...depending on your iPhone contract...you may have to "jailbreak" the iPhone first..."
Just curious (and too lazy to research it myself, so I'll ask). Is this jailbreaking legal? And the "unlocking"?
Somehow, it all just sounds like something we're not supposed to do.
Since nobody answered my question about the legality of unlocking or "jailbreaking" iPhones, I guess my question is probably answered by the silence.
I just noticed this article on the PC World news site: Apple is looking for a sheriff to lock the smartphones back up again, permanently.
As others have said, if you have an unlocked or jailbroken iPhone than you should get an international SIM card from a U.S. company before you go overseas.
OneSimCard is a service I've used while traveling all over Europe. It covers 175 countries with rates in Europe about 50c/min. They also sell international cell phones if you need one. Good luck!
a word of caution. I bought (from Cellular Abroad) an Uno Mobile SIM card to use in my unlocked iPhone in Italy. It didn't work. It also didn't work in 2 different local Italian phones. A couple of mobile reps (Vodaphone, WIND) in Venice told me that Uno is not a recognized Italian carrier. Cellular Abroad assures me Uno is recognized, and the issue is with my phone. I've returned the (unused) SIM card to them and am hoping for a full refund. Next time I'll just wait and buy a SIM card while in Europe.