Telecommunication
Obey the new security restrictions
Mobile telephones are among the top five most popular travelling items taken overseas, and are a convenient way of staying in touch.
The GSM standard originated in Europe, where mobile phones occupy two frequency bands: one in the
900 MHz range and one in the 1800 MHz range. When GSM technology crossed the Atlantic to the
Americas, it was impossible to reuse the same European frequency bands since those had already
been allocated to other devices by the FCC. Hence, a different pair of frequency bands were made
available for GSM use: the 850 and 1900 MHz bands.
So to travel to most parts of the world you will need a tri-band or quad-band mobile phone.
A tri-band can operate in the following GSM frequency bands:
900 MHz (Europe/Brazil/Africa/Australia/Asia (ex Japan and S. Korea))
1800 MHz (Europe/Australia/Asia/Brazil)
1900 MHz (U.S./Canada/Latin America)
And a quad-band adds 850 MHz (U.S./Canada/Latin America/Brazil)
Note that non-GSM countries include South Korea and Japan so your phone is unlikely to work there.
To ensure that you’ll be able to use your phone abroad you’ll first need to enable international roaming with your mobile phone operator. If your mobile phone is on a contract this won’t be a problem, but some pay-as-you-go mobile plans don’t allow this feature.
It’s a good idea to check what you’ll be charged for using your mobile abroad, for calls and texts. Some operators will also charge you to receive calls whilst you are out of your own country as well, so bills can add up without a call even being made!
It may work out cheaper to buy an international sim card or if you are planning a long stay in any particular country, a local sim card at your destination. Some operators don’t allow you to switch sim cards, and will lock your phone - your operator will be able to give you more information on this. Alternatively, some independent phone retailers will be able to unlock handsets for you.
Your mobile phone will pick up the strongest network while you are abroad. As this won’t necessarily be the cheapest network you may want to do some local research and look into changing your phone’s settings to pick up the cheapest network.
If you are using your own network provider's pre-paid mobile international roaming service, make sure you know how to use your credit card to top up your calling credit before you leave, or take extra vouchers, as they may be hard to obtain abroad.
Make a note of your mobile's serial number (also known as the IMEI number), your mobile telephone number and the telephone number of your operator's customer services (including dialling code). Keep them with you in a safe place, separate from your mobile. If your phone is stolen you will be able to contact the network operator and request that they block your phone and/or SIM card.
Take an electrical adaptor for the charger plug, to keep your mobile telephone fully charged while you are abroad.