by Maxwell Payne

Created on: June 12, 2009

Preparing to Use Your Cell Phone While Traveling.

Your cell phone may be able to be used when you travel abroad. Since cell phones have become a part of our daily lives, leaving the cell phone at home when traveling may not be an option.

With roaming agreements between cell phone service providers, quad-band phones and cell phone network access nearly everywhere, your cell phone can be used nearly everywhere you travel.

An important thing to consider when using a cell phone abroad is cost. Although costs per minute are generally higher when using your cell phone outside your home country, there are ways to ensure that your cell phone bill stays relatively reasonable when traveling.

Ensure that your cell phone is a quad-band cell phone. There are four primary cell phone service signals used in the world, and a quad-band phone will work on each of them. Many cell phone makers produce quad-band phones and any cell phone service provider that offers international cell phone service access will sell at least one quad-band phone.

If are preparing to purchase a cell phone, ask the service provider which phone models are quad-band or if buying online, look at the cell phone specifications to see if the phone is dual-band, tri-band, or quad-band.

Place your SIM card into a quad-band phone. If your current phone is not able to function in the country you will be in, ask friends and family who use the same cell phone provider if you can swap cell phones for the travel period by placing your SIM card in their cell phone to take with you. They would take your cell phone and place their SIM card in it to use it while you are gone.

This ensures that when someone attempts to call you on your number, they will reach you and not the other person. The SIM card holds the user account information and the cell phone number connected to your account.

You may also be able to purchase or rent an inexpensive quad-band phone to use with your SIM card. Most phones are locked to one service provider, so you may need to locate a quad-band phone from your service provider.

Countries such as Japan and South Korea, according to an article on CNN.com, use 3G networks (that differ from GSM and other 3G networks) and many cell phones from other countries will not function there.

Check to see whether your cell phone service provider has roaming agreements in the countries to which you will be traveling. Companies such as AT&T and T-Mobile have
extensive roaming agreements. According to CNN, T-Mobile

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