The iPhone is a quad-band GSM phone, which is a fancy way of saying it also
works in any of the 200 countries of the world (including all of Europe) that
have GSM phone networks. Cool!
But AT&T’s international roaming charges will cost you anywhere from 60
cents to $5 per minute. Not so cool!
If you, a person in Oprah’s tax bracket, are fine with that, then all you have to
do is remember to call AT&T before you travel. Ask that they turn on the international
roaming feature. (They can do that remotely. It’s a security step.)
Then off you go. Now you can dial local numbers in the countries you visit,
and receive calls from the U.S. from people who dialed your regular number,
with the greatest of ease. You can even specify which overseas cell carrier you
want to carry your calls, since there may be more than one that’s made roaming
agreements with AT&T.
On specifying the overseas carrier. And see www.wireless.
att.com/learn/international/long-distance for details on this roaming stuff.
If you’re not interested in paying those massive roaming charges, however,
you might want to consider simply renting a cellphone when you get to the
country you’re visiting.
The iPhone can even add the proper country codes automatically when you dial
u.S. numbers;
As for calling overseas numbers from the U.S., the scheme is simple:
North America (Canada, Puerto Rico, Caribbean). Dial 1, the area
code, and the number, just like any other long-distance call.
Other countries. Dial 011, the country code, the city or area code, and
the local number. How do you know the country code? Let Google be
your friend.
instead of dialing 011, you can just hold down the 0 key. That produces the +
symbol, which means 011 to the aT&T switchboard.
These calls, too, will cost you. If you do much overseas calling, therefore, consider
cutting the overseas-calling rates down to the bone by using Jajah.com.
It’s a Web service that cleverly uses the Internet to conduct your call—for 3
cents a minute to most countries, vs. 11 cents from the phone company.
You don’t have to sign up for anything. Just go to www.jajah.com on your
iPhone. Fill in your phone number and your overseas friend’s, and then click
Call.
In a moment, your phone will ring—and you’ll hear your friend saying hello.
Neither of you actually placed the call—Jajah called both of you and connected
the calls—so you save all kinds of money. Happy chatting!
