as referenced in my other thread, i'm going to germany around nov for 2 years. my current at&t line is out of contract, so i'm holding off on upgrading....

think i'll end up putting it on military suspension after i gt there & start a new contract in germany. anybody know how it works for texting overseas (back to the US)??? the guy at the local at&t is a complete 'tard about rates, etc...might be going verizon (not sure yet)

anybody have any experience using a cell overseas long-term???

 

You can try using something like Skype mobile. This way, you're not charged by the minute ... your just dinging the dataplan.

 

My dad spent a few months in Russia and Australia for work, and his Verizon worked flawlessly.

 

yeah, like i said, if it was short-term, i'd just upgrade to a "world phone" but seeing as it's 2 years, the international rates on my US-based plan will tear me a new one LOL

 

With Skype you can get a separate US-based number. So while you're overseas, people in the US can call or text it like any other US number and not have to worry about overseas rates. It's $30/year for unlimited calling out, $30/year for the phone number, and then pretty cheap for SMS. That way you get some whatever regular plan in Germany and then use Skype for keeping in touch with the US. With pretty much any smartphone you can use the native Skype app, or Fring, to access your Skype account over your data plan.

 

Yeah I don understand why anyone would use their USA number overseas. Just get a local carrier prepaid is usually quite cheap. To reach p in the usa or recieve calls just use skype, fring or even prepaid calling cards. SMS usually is about 0.20-0.30 per txt.