International Cell Phone Services

SLAC Telephone Users' Guide | SLAC Phone Service Request System (SPRS) | SLAC Cellular Users' Guide

SLAC. Page created 14 January 1999, last update August 5, 2000.

Introduction

In response to requests for cell phones that will work world-wide,  or at least in the major areas visited (i.e. N. America, Europe,  Japan & China) by SLAC people, we  have been looking  at the capabilities of current cell phone offerings.  Here is a first draft on the matter.

The basic challenges are:

• Different areas of the world use different cell phone standards, e.g. Europe uses GSM 900, the US mainly  uses Analog, TDMA, CDMA, GSM 1900, and Japan uses PDC. Also note that each standard may have multiple frequencies. Some phones (e.g. Bosch) can work in countries that support  GSM and in the US (but only with GSM type service providers such as Pac Bell), since the phone can support multiple GSM frequencies.  Cell phones (apart from satellite cell phones covered below) don't currently appear to be available that work in the US,  Europe, Japan and China.
• There are lots of confusing service plans with differing built  in "free" number of call minutes included, they may include the cost of  the phone etc., there may be support for voice mail or paging (alpha or numeric)  and so on. In order to focus I will mainly limit the choices to what we get  through SLAC's CellularOne contract (see  SLAC Cellular Users' Guide for more information on the SLAC's normal Cellular services).
• There are many different options for the phones such as size, standard supported, and accessories.

Regular Cell Phones

One can get services in Europe and China from our local cell phone provider (CellularOne) by leasing (typically $49-75 for the first week and a bit less for subsequent weeks) or buying a suitable GSM type phone. In addition you need to rent a SIM card (about the size as a credit card) that is inserted into the GSM phone when you wish it to work  When you power off your regular (U.S.) cellular phone and activate a GSM phone, calls to your local mobile number with CellularOne will be rerouted to a supplier in the country you are visiting.  Such rerouting depends on the agreements CellularOne, or the vendor of choice, has set up with overseas carriers.

Such calls will appear on your regular CellularOne. They cost ~$2.50 / minute for outbound calls and $2.50 plus  the long-distance call-cost from the  US to wherever you are for incoming calls..

Japan appears to be a special case only handled by satellite phones (see below) or getting the service in Japan (e.g. at an airport car rental office).  InTouch USA, 1-800-872-7626, can provide phones that work in Japan.  Charges are approximately $99 per week for the phone, and $6.95 per minute for usage, with a five minute per day minimum.  There is also a $50 activation fee, $19 return shipping fee, and a $500 deposit that can be charged to an American Express travel card. Another, untried by SLAC, option may be the services advertised in Japan Cell Phone Rentals.

Leasing a locally capable cell phone at an airport or car rental agency is an option. This can be charged to the American Express travel card, but not to a PCARD since DOE rules prohibit leasing on their credit cards.

If it is critical to retain the same number in the US as used in Europe or China, then it is also possible to do this via AT&T or Pac Bell. For AT&T you carry a card with you that is inserted into a rented European cell phone. Prices are similar to the CellularOne prices mentioned above. Unfortunately,  for SLAC, AT&T is very hard to do business with. Alternatively Pac Bell uses GSM so one could use a GSM phone  that works in the US and Europe. However, Pac Bell coverage is still fairly   spotty in the US, they are only starting to set up the international agreements with overseas carriers (as recent as 1/13/98 they only have services to 15 countries compared to CellularOne's 80 countries), and customer service is poor. Also SLAC does not have any agreements/contracts with Pac Bell's wireless services.

Satellite phones

Recently (late 1998) cell phones services (see for example GlobalStar) have begun to be  available that provide wider coverage by means of satellites.  These use multiple (GlobalStar uses 48 satellites) Low Earth Orbiting Satellites   (LEOS) flying at about 780 km in space. Vendors such as Ericcson, QUALCOMM, and Telital are providing handsets and user terminals. The phones work in two modes:

1. As a mobile cellular phone it seeks out available service from existing land-based networks, i.e. it operates the same way as regular cellular systems. This is the way the coverage works in the US and Europe.
2. When cellular service is not available the phone can switch to satellite operation. The call is then relayed from satellite to satellite until it reaches its destination either through a local "gateway" and the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or directly to a receiving phone. This is the way the coverage works in China and Japan.

When  using the PSTN the phone has to be compatible with the  standards supported by the PSTN or local mobile service with whom GlobalStar has service agreements. Globalstar's system uses CDMA (code division multiple access) technology to connect calls to existing service providers. The phones are multi-mode and work with terrestrial AMPS, CDMA, or GSM networks, as well as the Globalstar satellite network.

This overcomes the problems of incompatible standards in use around the world, since one can always fall back to using the satellite mode. The phones can also receive alpha (up to 160 characters) and numeric pages.

Phones equipped with a satellite receiver tend to be relatively large and bulky. For example the Qualcomm cellular phone with the antenna stowed weighs about 370 gms and is 57mm (W) by  177 mm  (H) by 48 mm (D). Also there can be problems with satellite reception when indoors.

Recommendations

Given the rapid changes in technology and service offerings, it is  hard to make a long term recommendation. We also feel we need to understand the issues more and thus need to experiment and learn more about the services.

For travelers to Japan, renting a cell phone at the airport seems to be the best option. It would be useful for somebody to try this out to determine whether it is easy to do, what it costs, and how it works.

Renting at the airport may also make sense for other countries, especially for infrequent travelers. We do not recommend maintaining a pool of cell phones with international capability due to the rapid changes occurring, the  large number of options, and the problems with lost or stolen phones. For frequent travelers to Europe, we will experiment with using CellularOne's international service (Trans Global Rental package).  This requires you to use your American Express credit card to rent (from CellularOne), or buy a suitable GSM cellular phone (we recommend the Nokia 6110 for about $790 upwards depending on accessories, the Motorola 8700 for about $825, or one of the Motorola StarTAC packages for $990 to $1990) and get a CellularOne SIM card ($50/year) before leaving the U.S. Also before leaving the U.S. if you have a regular cellular phone then you need to power it off to stop it accepting calls, and check that CellularOne does have agreements with a provider in the country you are visiting.  Phones can be rented through an agreement CellularOne has with Eurotel.  Call 1-800-728-3007 for assistance.  Phones can be purchased directly from Eurotel, 1-800-387-6835.  Either CellularOne or Eurotel can provide pricing for renting or purchasing equipment.

In special cases where a single phone is critical, Pac Bell may be an option,  however this is likely to be administratively expensive for SLAC  and thus not scalable to more than one or two people, and so unlikely to be centrally supported.

Satellite technology is very new, the phones are bulky and the costs need to be determined. Some estimates show the costs are about 30-40% more than other  services. We (SCCS) will further investigate costs for the satellite services.