Other Will my UK mobile phone work in the USA?

i dont know enough about mobile phones...

i have a Sumsung Galaxy with an O2 pay and go 3G sim. I live in the UK but am wondering if I will be able to use this in the USA when I go on holiday. Can I simply take this with me and it will magically work - or are UK & USA telephony networks incompatible or something?


Thanks in advance

 

If it's this model, then yes, it will.

 

It will work, but the roaming fees will be huge!

unless you mean buying a US SIM when you get there and using that, which should work as long as your phone isn't locked to a particular network.

 

If it has Quad Band then yes it should work, but as mentioned above, using a UK network in the states gets ridiculously expensive. Your best bet is to just either buy a phone card to use in the US payphones, or to just buy a cheap PAYG mobile out there native to a US network. You should be able to pick up a basic one for about $10 which in comparison to how much it would cost to use a UK mobile out there is considerably cheaper

 

yep expect a big bill tbh

 

Most phones these days are quad-band (I think) so they work in any area (worldwide) that has phone signal (I think).

But yes, international usage fees are massive.

 

Didn't the laws regarding roaming/international fee's change only recently? I thought they could only charge up to a set rate per minute now that wasn't ridiculously extortionate....

 

Yes your phone will work, but you should call O2 before you go.

There are two things you need to ask about. First is roaming call charges. Sometimes you can pre-purchase an international bolt-on, you pay a one-off fee and call/sms charges are much lower.

The second thing you need to ask is about data. Your Galaxy is an Android smartphone, so I'm assuming you use a lot of data. Overseas data can cost a *lot*, way more than calls. You can either get O2 to cut off your data while overseas or you should be able to pay a one-off charge for unlimited data while away.

I just came back from New York and T-Mobile charged me a one-off £15 fee that covered unlimited data while I travelled. I tethered my phone to my laptop and never needed to worry about an internet connection. Was awesome.

Not sure if O2 will have the exact same deal, but it should be something very similar.

 

Double post - delete please.

 

Android phones have a setting where you can turn data off if they are roaming - it's under Wireless & Networks --> Mobile Networks in the settings.

Otherwise you'll be paying through the nose for your data.

Edit: at least, the setting is there on my Milestone (when it had 2.0, and now 2.1 as well).

 

Dependant on the version of Android running, I've found that option to be sketchy at best. Occasionally some apps that run in the background can either get past it or even turn it back on.

Not saying it happens to all Android phones, but it's just something I've noticed and could potentially cause a nasty bill.

 

You could always make a new APN entry in the Mobile Networks field, one that doesn't have any info, and set it as the active APN. Then no data would get through.