Can he??

[hmmm... 0]

Hi Guys..

I'd like to ask anyone from here brought cellphone overseas and used it in USA. I was thinking to buy cellphone for my fiance as his birthday present but am not sure if he will able to used it there in USA. Id like to ask if he can make it line in one of the phone or telphone company there. would the be possible??

Thanks People

[SqdnGuns 21]

If your buying it in the PI, they are all unlocked. I brought a few back with me from the Philippines and didn't have any issues. Nokia N73, SE 850i and some other Nokia........

[hmmm... 0]

If your buying it in the PI, they are all unlocked. I brought a few back with me from the Philippines and didn't have any issues. Nokia N73, SE 850i and some other Nokia........

thanks for the info what u mean?? Am thinking to send him openline cellphone. is that possible?

[ryza 0]

If your buying it in the PI, they are all unlocked. I brought a few back with me from the Philippines and didn't have any issues. Nokia N73, SE 850i and some other Nokia........

thanks for the info what u mean?? Am thinking to send him openline cellphone. is that possible?

yes it is posible for you to send him opneline cellphone

[David-and-Mae 15]

Hi Guys..

I'd like to ask anyone from here brought cellphone overseas and used it in USA. I was thinking to buy cellphone for my fiance as his birthday present but am not sure if he will able to used it there in USA. Id like to ask if he can make it line in one of the phone or telphone company there. would the be possible??

Thanks People

Make sure it's a tri-band model of a cellphone so that she can use it there in US. Your fiancee will need to roam her SIM card 30 minutes before she leaves the Philippines to be able to use that same Philippine number once there. It will cost her relatives and friends Php1.00 to send her a text message but will cost her a lot to reply to them.

--Mae

[RonMay 1]

are you planning to buy and have that phone on roaming (meaning in a globe/smart line)? or have it open line and use a cingular/AT&T line here in the US?... coz i think its better to have a regular line here in the US than pre-paid... although, if he got a phone line that has a sim on it (coz some phone line dont use any sim) like cingular/AT&T, then it would be cool to send him some cool phone there from phil.

i noticed though that its way cheaper to buy a phone in the US than in phil.

[jj119 0]

I just ran into this situation with my wife as she lost her phone and needed a new one. She of course wanted a nicer one, but I insisted one of the cheapest possible there. Yes phones are much more expensive there in Phil. Most phones here are FREE with a two you contract. Even the Free phones here, that are "bottom of the line", are about a year or two ahead in technology then the most expensive phones there. I think she paid 3,100 peso, for a phone with plain screen, not much for sound, and no camera. It is ok, it is just temporary, as I plan to have her here within the next six months if CSC wakes back up from the dead soon.

[jom 4]

are you planning to buy and have that phone on roaming (meaning in a globe/smart line)? or have it open line and use a cingular/AT&T line here in the US?... coz i think its better to have a regular line here in the US than pre-paid... although, if he got a phone line that has a sim on it (coz some phone line dont use any sim) like cingular/AT&T, then it would be cool to send him some cool phone there from phil.

i noticed though that its way cheaper to buy a phone in the US than in phil.

I am glad I found this thread. I am on GLOBE plan and contract will end November next year yet and planning to bring my cellphone ( N71) to the US when i finally get there. Any ideas with the differences in rate compared to a prepaid and anything on the phone (contents) that I should be careful of when i bring it there? Thanks

Myla

[hmmm... 0]

Thanks for all ur info guys.. I guess some of u dont understand me hehehe but its ok .. Appreciated all info.. What am planning to do is send him a Phone from Philippines so he could used it there. And used one of the line there like at&t or any available... But am not sure if thats possible. I want to make it sure first.. I have no plan to roam the phone i will send . Sorry for askin u this guys.. It just that i cant ask him directly regarding this issue coz he will have clue of what am planning to do. want him to be suprise.. hhehehe Thanks again and Godspeed to everyone here

[RonMay 1]

are you planning to buy and have that phone on roaming (meaning in a globe/smart line)? or have it open line and use a cingular/AT&T line here in the US?... coz i think its better to have a regular line here in the US than pre-paid... although, if he got a phone line that has a sim on it (coz some phone line dont use any sim) like cingular/AT&T, then it would be cool to send him some cool phone there from phil.

i noticed though that its way cheaper to buy a phone in the US than in phil.

I am glad I found this thread. I am on GLOBE plan and contract will end November next year yet and planning to bring my cellphone ( N71) to the US when i finally get there. Any ideas with the differences in rate compared to a prepaid and anything on the phone (contents) that I should be careful of when i bring it there? Thanks

Myla

i was on roaming b4 using globe prepaid... the thing is, you'll have at least P300 in your balance and that would last 30 days... P100 would last 15 days... P500 same 30 days... what i did was just load P300 and then you can receive any text coming from phil. but i replied to my US number (that way my 300 balance wont be touch since its just the same cost or you could even go cheaper if you're using your US number/line cause it P25/text in your globe)... your family could load it for you if you think your balance will expire soon...

[RonMay 1]

Thanks for all ur info guys.. I guess some of u dont understand me hehehe but its ok .. Appreciated all info.. What am planning to do is send him a Phone from Philippines so he could used it there. And used one of the line there like at&t or any available... But am not sure if thats possible. I want to make it sure first.. I have no plan to roam the phone i will send . Sorry for askin u this guys.. It just that i cant ask him directly regarding this issue coz he will have clue of what am planning to do. want him to be suprise.. hhehehe Thanks again and Godspeed to everyone here

the thing is, its not really that easy as what we can do in phil... at&t could hold a sim (as long as its an open line and a quad band etc)... but what if his phone plan is different? try to ask his phone line then go to some cellphone store and ask if that phone you like could be use in the US... here if your phone is broken you can just change it with no payment since phone plan is under warranty you could replace it a hundred times if you think there's some defect whatsoever... i hope you can find the right answer or could find the right gift

[doug & angel 0]

Finally a thread I can contribute.. The following is going to be a firehose, but I will try to keep it as simple.

The short answer is yes, but there is a catch, possibly several.

There are four networks which operate in the US today. AMPs (American Mobile Phone System, sometimes called Advanced Mobile Phone system) ref is the original cellular network started by western electric (bell labs) for analog cellular telephones in the US and a few countries we could politically bully into using it. It operated in the 800 MHZ "Cellular band" It is under FCC orders to be phased out as that band and the 450 & 700 mhz bands are being reclaimed for other uses. Americans who had first generation on-star systems in their cars know this well as they all got letters saying "So long and thanks for all the fish" [ref]as a result of this. So on February 18, 2008 amps equipment will slowly stop functioning in the US as the great shutdown begins. Philippines phones which work in the 800 mhz will continue to operate in this band until then.

Verizon Wireless, Bell Mobility, Telus Mobility, Alltel, Coastel Offshore Cellular and AT&T Mobility are the last remaining AMPS networks in the US.

Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) ref Sprint/Nextel and SouthernLINC Wireless are the two carriers operating iDEN systems today. Philippines phones will not work with an iDEN system generally speaking. The Nokia E90 (as an example) has the software in it, but must be altered ref. to operate on an iDEN network.

Personal Communications Service or PCS refis the name for the 1900-MHz radio band used for digital mobile phone services in Canada and the United States. Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM, and D-AMPS systems can be used on PCS frequencies. However, the original PCS systems like the sprint PCS system were originally closed system. Through software upgrades they evolved into the GMS systems of today. If there are any PCS closed systems still in operation I don't know them and neither does the few seconds of research I did on the internet (I know where on the FCC site to look and they don't show anymore)

GSM Global System for Mobile communications ref is the primary system in operation (outside of AMPS) today in the US. Anything you buy today brand new in the Philippines will work just fine here. The older phones first produced there lacked the 850 mhz band as it was never in use in the Philippines. The original GSM system in the US was Voicestream which is now T-Mobile. Sprint and Cingular (among many others) operate GSM systems in the US now and it has become pretty ubiquitous.

With all the background, here are the issues

Issue #1

Getting a US SIM will be challenging depending on the carrier. In the US you won't be able to run down to the Sari-Sari store refand pick up a sim. Even the telephone stores will have trouble with this request as most of them are geared to push equipment with new contracts. I've had very good luck with T-Mobile as have others, mixed luck with Cingular and blank stares from sprint.

Issue #2

Data service is a joke in the US. We are 2-3 years behind the rest of the world in wireless data deployments. If you are bringing a 3G enabled phone and expecting it to provide any level of service like what you are expecting. In the US, your choices for wide area wireless are EVDO EGPRS EGPRS and GPRS Of these. EDGE is the only widely deployed "high-speed" system in the US, and its limited to tier 1 and 2 markets. GPRS works everywhere GSM does, but its data rate is so slow its usefulness is questionable. EVDO is catching up in deployment, but it has no Philippines equivalent and thus the systems are incompatible. While we americans deploy a functional but closed system, the rest of the world is deploying HSDPA (including the Philippines) HSDPA deployment in the US is not expected until 2010.

Roaming in the US (using a Philippines GSM phone and sim, connected to smart or globe and using their international roaming systems will work) make sure you have enough load to cover the expense as it goes quickly and its a real issue to reload in from the US (you can't buy load here, much less dial or text in load)

Getting a *PHONE* to work if you recently purchased it will not be much technological issue. Getting someone to sell a sim card without a phone will be amusing if not frustrating experience. If he has an existing GSM phone he may be able to just pop the sim out of that and use it. GSM SIM cards work in all GSM phones. If he has an iDEN phone that sim card will not work (the easiest way to tell if its an iDEN phone is if it is a Sprint/Nextel or just Nextel phone, as thats the only IDEN network still operational (other than some private ones)

Hope this helps.. Feel free to ask other questions if you want.

[SqdnGuns 21]

Finally a thread I can contribute.. The following is going to be a firehose, but I will try to keep it as simple.

The short answer is yes, but there is a catch, possibly several.

There are four networks which operate in the US today. AMPs (American Mobile Phone System, sometimes called Advanced Mobile Phone system) ref is the original cellular network started by western electric (bell labs) for analog cellular telephones in the US and a few countries we could politically bully into using it. It operated in the 800 MHZ "Cellular band" It is under FCC orders to be phased out as that band and the 450 & 700 mhz bands are being reclaimed for other uses. Americans who had first generation on-star systems in their cars know this well as they all got letters saying "So long and thanks for all the fish" [ref]as a result of this. So on February 18, 2008 amps equipment will slowly stop functioning in the US as the great shutdown begins. Philippines phones which work in the 800 mhz will continue to operate in this band until then.

Verizon Wireless, Bell Mobility, Telus Mobility, Alltel, Coastel Offshore Cellular and AT&T Mobility are the last remaining AMPS networks in the US.

Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) ref Sprint/Nextel and SouthernLINC Wireless are the two carriers operating iDEN systems today. Philippines phones will not work with an iDEN system generally speaking. The Nokia E90 (as an example) has the software in it, but must be altered ref. to operate on an iDEN network.

Personal Communications Service or PCS refis the name for the 1900-MHz radio band used for digital mobile phone services in Canada and the United States. Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM, and D-AMPS systems can be used on PCS frequencies. However, the original PCS systems like the sprint PCS system were originally closed system. Through software upgrades they evolved into the GMS systems of today. If there are any PCS closed systems still in operation I don't know them and neither does the few seconds of research I did on the internet (I know where on the FCC site to look and they don't show anymore)

GSM Global System for Mobile communications ref is the primary system in operation (outside of AMPS) today in the US. Anything you buy today brand new in the Philippines will work just fine here. The older phones first produced there lacked the 850 mhz band as it was never in use in the Philippines. The original GSM system in the US was Voicestream which is now T-Mobile. Sprint and Cingular (among many others) operate GSM systems in the US now and it has become pretty ubiquitous.

With all the background, here are the issues

Issue #1

Getting a US SIM will be challenging depending on the carrier. In the US you won't be able to run down to the Sari-Sari store refand pick up a sim. Even the telephone stores will have trouble with this request as most of them are geared to push equipment with new contracts. I've had very good luck with T-Mobile as have others, mixed luck with Cingular and blank stares from sprint.

Issue #2

Data service is a joke in the US. We are 2-3 years behind the rest of the world in wireless data deployments. If you are bringing a 3G enabled phone and expecting it to provide any level of service like what you are expecting. In the US, your choices for wide area wireless are EVDO EGPRS EGPRS and GPRS Of these. EDGE is the only widely deployed "high-speed" system in the US, and its limited to tier 1 and 2 markets. GPRS works everywhere GSM does, but its data rate is so slow its usefulness is questionable. EVDO is catching up in deployment, but it has no Philippines equivalent and thus the systems are incompatible. While we americans deploy a functional but closed system, the rest of the world is deploying HSDPA (including the Philippines) HSDPA deployment in the US is not expected until 2010.

Roaming in the US (using a Philippines GSM phone and sim, connected to smart or globe and using their international roaming systems will work) make sure you have enough load to cover the expense as it goes quickly and its a real issue to reload in from the US (you can't buy load here, much less dial or text in load)

Getting a *PHONE* to work if you recently purchased it will not be much technological issue. Getting someone to sell a sim card without a phone will be amusing if not frustrating experience. If he has an existing GSM phone he may be able to just pop the sim out of that and use it. GSM SIM cards work in all GSM phones. If he has an iDEN phone that sim card will not work (the easiest way to tell if its an iDEN phone is if it is a Sprint/Nextel or just Nextel phone, as thats the only IDEN network still operational (other than some private ones)

Hope this helps.. Feel free to ask other questions if you want.

You're a GEEK............ j/k

[doug & angel 0]

You're a GEEK............ j/k

Who me?

[turtle74 0]

Another issue is the tri-band vs quad band issue. Just because a phone is tri-band it may not be the same tri-band. The US still has a lot of towers using 850 mhz while the rest of the world uses a 900. The 1800 and 1900 bands are almost not an problem since they are in general rare, but a noticable difference is seen with the 900/850 difference. You'll notice you don't get a signal in rural areas with 950. A quad band is the safest route to go which covers 850/900/1800/1900. Another problem is internet use or GPRS. the phone has to be "configured" to use certain systems though the phone people tech help can try to walk you through the set-up most of the time if it's not a phone which they carry they don't know how to do it or they just don't want to. This becomes a problem with MMS. All the above responses have pretty much covered all of your other concerns. IF you really love him, you'll get him an iphone which is only available here.