International roaming on a cell phone

[TechnoPro]

Assume I am in Italy with my GSM phone and US-based SIM card (not a local Italian one).

If I place a call to a local Italian number, it is my understanding that I am billed or debited 3 times for the call, as follows:

* standard per-minute airtime
* international roaming (country specific rates)
* long distance surcharge (calling Italy from a US number)

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[AgentEL]

not sure about italy, but I am in Germany. My U.S. cell phone does not work.

 

[TechnoPro]

Originally posted by: AgentEL
not sure about italy, but I am in Germany. My U.S. cell phone does not work.

US based GSM phones work throughout Europe, provided that international roaming is activated and other factors like being unlocked if a local SIM card is used. Germany is no exception.

My question revolves upon the billing aspects.

 

[drinkmorejava]

If I were you, I'd just call your phone company

 

[mrSHEiK124]

You know what's cheaper? Unlock it and buy a prepaid SIM there. That's what I did in Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I travel with two phones in Europe. One is my T-Mobile USA phone with American SIM card. I use it for Europe to USA calls. It also makes it easy to people in the US to contact me while I'm on business in Europe. The second phone is an unlocked Sony Ericsson. I use to install local SIM cards for local calling.

 

[chcarnage]

You need a GSM 900 or 1800 compatible phone for Italy.

You'll have to pay the standard per-minute airtime plus a tarif that depends on the country (and sometimes on the contractor in whose net you use your phone). The overall cost should be somewhere on the website of your phone provider.

Don't forget that you also pay if somebody calls you abroad, although the tarif is usually lower.