If you are taking your cell phone abroad there are a few things you need to know. I recently took my Nokia 6591i phone to Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Thailand thinking I could use it....well, I was wrong. Here's the scoop. The Nokia 6591i phone is billed as an "international, dual band phone" which operates at both 850 Mhz and 1900Mhz...it will not work in Cambodia (or much of Asia), because their GSM networks operate at 900Mhz and 1800Mhz. The good news is that since it works at 850 Mhz and 1900Mhz it will work in South America, the Carribean and Europe.
One caveat is that most cell phones are "locked" and only work on the networks of the cell phone provider from whom you purchased the phone. There is a solution....you can pay to get your phone "unlocked" so that it will work on other networks ! After a short Google search I found a helpful site on the Internet, I obtained an unlock code for my Nokia 6591i phone...I followed the instructions and successfully unlocked it...that's the good news.
Here are
my sources of info regarding the phones and GSM networks, these links may
be helpful to you http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=115
and http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml
http://www.onesimcard.com/?idmenu=8
I just ordered a Motorola Razr V3 in the hopes that I will be able to use this "quad band phone" in Asia and Southeast Asia as well as the rest of the world during my upcoming travels...I'll let you know how it works out !
Here's a list of GSM (Mhz) by country:
Afghanistan (GSM 900/1800) Albania (GSM 900/1800) Algeria (GSM 900/1800) American Samoa (GSM 1900) Andorra (GSM 900) Angola (GSM 900) Antigua & Barbuda (GSM 1900) Argentina (GSM 900/1900) Armenia (GSM 900) Aruba (GSM 900/1800/1900) Australia (GSM 900/1800/3G) Azerbaijan (GSM 900) Bahrain (GSM 900) Bangladesh (GSM 900) Belarus (GSM 900) Belgium (GSM 900/1800) Belize (GSM 1900) Benin (GSM 900) Bermuda (GSM 1900) Bolivia (GSM 1900) Bosnia Herzegovina (GSM 900) Botswana (GSM 900) Brazil(GSM 1800) Brunei Darussalam (GSM 900) Bulgaria (GSM 900/1800) Burkina Faso (GSM 900) Burundi (GSM 900) Cambodia (GSM 900) Cameroon (GSM 900) Canada (GSM 850/1900) Cape Verde (GSM 900) Central African Republic (GSM 900) Chad (GSM 900) Chile (GSM 1900) China (GSM 900) Congo (GSM 900) Congo (GSM 900/1800) Costa Rica (GSM 1800/3G) Cote d'Ivoire (GSM 900) Croatia (GSM 900) Cuba (GSM 900) Cyprus (GSM 900) Malta (GSM 900/1800) Czech Republic (GSM 900/1800) Denmark (GSM 900/1800) Dominican Republic (GSM 1900) Egypt (GSM 900) El Salvador (GSM 900/1900) Equatorial Guinea (GSM 900/1800) Estonia (GSM 900/1800) Ethiopia (GSM 900) Faroe Islands (GSM 900) Fiji (GSM 900) Finland (GSM 900/1800) France (GSM 900/1800) French Polynesia (GSM 900) French West Indies (GSM 900/1800) Gabon, Republic of (GSM 900) Gambia (GSM 900) Georgia (GSM 900/1800) Germany (GSM 900/1800/3G) Ghana (GSM 900) Gibraltar (GSM 900) Greece (GSM 900/1800) Greenland (GSM 900) Grenada (GSM 900/1900) Guam (USA) (GSM 1900) Guernsey (GSM 900) Guinea (GSM 900) Hong Kong (GSM 900/1800) Hungary (GSM 900/1800) Iceland (GSM 900/1800) India (GSM 900/1800) Indonesia (GSM 900/1800) Iran (GSM 900) Ireland (GSM 900/1800) Isle of Man (GSM 900/1800) Israel (GSM 900/1800/3G) Italy (GSM 900/1800/3G) Jamaica (GSM 900) Japan(GSM 3G) Jersey (GSM 900) Jordan (GSM 900) Kazakhstan (GSM 900) Kenya (GSM 900) Kuwait (GSM 900/1800) Kyrgyz Republic (GSM 900) Lao (GSM 900) Latvia (GSM 900/1800) Lebanon (GSM 900/1800) Lesoth (GSM 900) Liberia Sudan (GSM 900) Libya (GSM 900) Liechtenstein (GSM 900/1800) Lithuania (GSM 900/1800) Luxembourg (GSM 900/1800) Macau (GSM 900/1800) Macedonia (GSM 900) Madagascar (GSM 900/1800) Malawi (GSM 900) Malaysia (GSM 900/1800) Maldives (GSM 900/1800) Mali (GSM 900) Malta (GSM 900/1800) Mauritania (GSM 900) Mauritius (GSM 900) Mexico (GSM 1900) Micronesia (GSM 900) Republic (GSM 900) Monaco (GSM 900) Mongolia (GSM 900/1800) Morocco (GSM 900) Mozambique (GSM 900/1800) Myanmar (GSM 900) Namibia (GSM 900/1800) Nepal (GSM 900) Netherlands (GSM 9001800) Netherlands Antilles (GSM 900/1900) New Caledonia (GSM 900) New Zealand (GSM 900) Niger (GSM 900) Nigeria (GSM 900/1800) Norway (GSM 900/1800) Oman, Sultanate of (GSM 900) Pakistan (GSM 900) Palestinian Authority (GSM 900) Panama, Republic of (GSM 900) Papua New Guinea (GSM 900) Paraguay (GSM 1900) Peru (GSM 1900) Philippines (GSM 900/1800) Poland (GSM 900/1800) Portugal (GSM 900/1800/3G) Qatar (GSM 900) Reunion (La) (GSM 900/1800) Romania (GSM 900/1800) Russia (GSM 900/1800) Rwanda (GSM 900) Sao Tome and Principe (GSM 900) Satellite(GSM Satellite) Saudi Arabia (GSM 900) Senegal (GSM 900) Seychelles (GSM 900) Sierra Leone (GSM 900) Singapore (GSM 900/1800) Slovak Republic (GSM 900/1800) Slovenia (GSM 900/1800) Somalia (GSM 900/1800) South Africa (GSM 900/1800) South Korea (GSM 3G) Spain (GSM 900/1800) Sri Lanka (GSM 900) Sudan (GSM 900) Suriname (GSM 900) Swaziland (GSM 900) Sweden (GSM 900/1800/3G) Switzerland (GSM 900/1800) Syria (GSM 900/1800) Taiwan (GSM 900/1800) Tajikistan (GSM 900/1800) Tanzania (GSM 900/1800/400) Thailand (GSM 900/1800/1900/3G) Togo (GSM 900) Tonga (GSM 900) Trinidad and Tobago (GSM 1800) Tunisia (GSM 900) Turkey (GSM 900/1800) Turkmenistan (GSM 900) Uganda (GSM 900/1800) Ukraine (GSM 900/1800) United Arab Emirates (GSM 900) United Kingdom (GSM 900/1800/3G) USA (GSM 850/1900) Uzbekistan (GSM 900/1800) Vanuatu (GSM 900) Venezuela (GSM 900/1800) Vietnam (GSM 900) Virgin Islands (USA) (GSM 900/1800) Yemen (GSM 900) Yugoslavia (GSM 900/1800) Zambia (GSM 900) Zimbabwe (GSM 900)
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