sprint in europe?
I have A question, i was just wondering, if i were to go to europe for some reason, would my sprint phone work there? I've heard that europe uses a differnt network, one that is even better then ours here in the united states? how is that possible? i thought we would be the ones except for japan or china that would have the better service?!
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Europe uses GSM - the same technology that Cingular & T-Mobile here in the US use. Sprint uses the Qualcomm CDMA standard which is more like what is used in South Korea. The cellular technology in Japan, Korea, and Europe is better than ours because it is very standardized and much more closely controlled by the government. Also, because the government is more involved in those countries, the development of their networks was much more heavily subsidized in its initial stages than ours. The result is cheap high-quality service. The downside is that the carriers do not generally subsidize the cost of phones and do not even always require a contract or commitment (i.e., no FREE phones - you have to buy it outright, but you get great servi...
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Actually, you should check out Tmobile's UK site, where you'll see that things are quite different from what you describe. In Europe, practically every non-pda phone is free w/ svc contract (even the v3 Razr). The PDA phones may not be free, but they are much more affordable there too.
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I do periodically check out the Tmo UK site as well as the Dutch and German ones. You're right - but that's a fairly recent development. Until recently, in the European and Asian markets, the consumer would usually pay full retail for an unlocked phone and then pick the carrier that they wanted. There's been a shift toward the American model of subsidizing phone prices with a contract. Since the market is already so competitive over there - the subsidies are just as competitive. Also, with our "entry level" phones - you not only get them for free, but get either cash back, or electronics (computer, DVD player, etc.)
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Ok, so i have sprint, will it work over the atlantic ocean if was to take a cruise? if not what service would i have to be on to do this?
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You would need a GSM provider such as Cingular or Tmobile, since GSM is all there is in Europe. There are also other smaller regional providers scattered around the country that use GSM. Tmo isn't in my area - we have Cingular & SunCom.
If you're planning on using your phone overseas, I would recommend that you either purchase an unlocked phone or see if your service provider will provide unlock codes (or pay a company online to unlock the phone you get from the service provider). With an unlocked phone, you could purchase a prepaid account with a european cellular provider & just put their sim chip in your phone. This would cost much less than paying Cingular or Tmobile's international roaming rates which are at least (if not more ...
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If you're planning on using your phone overseas, I would recommend that you either purchase an unlocked phone or see if your service provider will provide unlock codes (or pay a company online to unlock the phone you get from the service provider). With an unlocked phone, you could purchase a prepaid account with a european cellular provider & just put their sim chip in your phone. This would cost much less than paying Cingular or Tmobile's international roaming rates which are at least (if not more ...
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or since you already have sprint, and are under a contract i am assuming, you could call customer care and rent a GSM phone.
"With an unlocked phone, you could purchase a prepaid account with a european cellular provider & just put their sim chip in your phone"
Just to let you know, Sprint does not have a sim chip.
"With an unlocked phone, you could purchase a prepaid account with a european cellular provider & just put their sim chip in your phone"
Just to let you know, Sprint does not have a sim chip.
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scorpiogirl said:
or since you already have sprint, and are under a contract i am assuming, you could call customer care and rent a GSM phone.
"With an unlocked phone, you could purchase a prepaid account with a european cellular provider & just put their sim chip in your phone"
Just to let you know, Sprint does not have a sim chip.
I know that Sprint uses CDMA & does not have a sim chip. If you read all of my post, then you would have seen that what I was suggesting was that IF sportfan153 is going to be using his/her phone in Europe with much frequency, then getting svc with a GSM provider (as opposed to cdma) & getting an unlocked phone would be the way to go.
Does Sprint really RENT gsm phones ...
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Disciple247365 said:...scorpiogirl said:
or since you already have sprint, and are under a contract i am assuming, you could call customer care and rent a GSM phone.
"With an unlocked phone, you could purchase a prepaid account with a european cellular provider & just put their sim chip in your phone"
Just to let you know, Sprint does not have a sim chip.
I know that Sprint uses CDMA & does not have a sim chip. If you read all of my post, then you would have seen that what I was suggesting was that IF sportfan153 is going to be using his/her phone in Europe with much frequency, then getting svc with a GSM provider (as opposed to cdma) & getting an unlocked phone would be the way to g
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Phones and pricing for international service are at PCS website:
http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/coverage/internati ... »
http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/coverage/internati ... »
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sportfan153 said:
Ok, so i have sprint, will it work over the atlantic ocean if was to take a cruise? if not what service would i have to be on to do this?
un fortunately your sprint phone will not work on the cruse. sprint used to have towers out there but unfortunately all the whales ate them.
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lol, okay well thank you everyone for the info it really helped me out alot, you guy and ladies are great! now what to do with those damn whales.............
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No, most Sprint phones will not work at all in Europe, since, as everyone else has noted, they use GSM over there, and Sprint is CDMA.
Sprint does offer one CDMA+GSM phone that will work in Europe, though - the Samsung IP-A790:
https://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=406 »
Sprint does offer one CDMA+GSM phone that will work in Europe, though - the Samsung IP-A790:
https://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=406 »
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I know that this thread hasn't been active in a while, but I felt I had to reply to elihspeaks' post about the subsidisation of handsets in Europe.
Speaking for the UK, I can tell you that network subsidies have existed for years. Very few people ever pay the full cost of a handset and haven't done so for years.
Most handsets are free and even those, which aren't usually become so after a few months.
Speaking for the UK, I can tell you that network subsidies have existed for years. Very few people ever pay the full cost of a handset and haven't done so for years.
Most handsets are free and even those, which aren't usually become so after a few months.
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Disciple247365 said:
Actually, you should check out Tmobile's UK site, where you'll see that things are quite different from what you describe. In Europe, practically every non-pda phone is free w/ svc contract (even the v3 Razr). The PDA phones may not be free, but they are much more affordable there too.
Look at what you get for for service though there is no such thing as unlimited n&w and things like that at least not with British telecome or other British carriers. they pay their the nose for a few minutes of airtime. also consider the currency conversion as well.
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BlueHFX said:
Look at what you get for for service though there is no such thing as unlimited n&w and things like that at least not with British telecome or other British carriers. they pay their the nose for a few minutes of airtime. also consider the currency conversion as well.
British Telecom is a landline network, they don't offer unlimited options, but then no network offers true unlimited options here. The best is free unlimited calls to people on the same landline network. The other option, which is quite common, is that an hour of talktime, or some other defined period of time, will only cost a few pence.
Mobile networks are offering more free minutes for less money now that 3G has been imp...
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British Telecom also does wireless go to thier site. I been there. But I been in care people do seem to expect to have unlimited calling options here if you asked customers they never say no to it.
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sprint has an international department, if you call cust service they can give you the #. They have loaner phones for sprint cust. who travel overseas
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