Hello

Next month I'll be travelling to the USA to study for a year
(Columbia, SC) and need some advice regarding my phone arrangements.
Currently Im have a Nokia 5210 & PAYT Orange. As my handset is
not triband and I dont think Orange support PAYT customers abroad I
will need a new setup. My brother says he will give me his unlocked
Orange SVP which I like & want to to take with me to use. My questions
are as follows.

1) What network offer the best tarrifs for mostly incoming & some
outgoing calls? Would a 'sim only' deal be my best bet as I don't need
a handset.
3) If I am on a UK network will I pay to recieve incoming calls from
abroad or indeed from within the USA
3) As I'm going to be a whole year would it make more sense to put an
American simcard in my phone (I presume it will work if my phone is
triband & unlocked)? What will tarrifs be like for incoming/outgoing
calls both internal & to the UK?
4) I believe if I take a SVP with me I'll only be covered on the GSM
network which is not so great in the US. Would it make more sense to
buy a US phone while out there? What sort of prices would I have to
pay to get a decent phone... i.e. 'color' screen, tri band and camera.
5) Can a USA mobile recieve SMS sent from the UK?


I realise this is a lot of question but if anyone can help me or point
me in the direction of some useful information I would be very happy.

Thanks for your time

Tim Addison

> Next month I'll be travelling to the USA to study for a year
> (Columbia, SC) and need some advice regarding my phone arrangements.
> Currently Im have a Nokia 5210 & PAYT Orange. As my handset is
> not triband and I dont think Orange support PAYT customers abroad I
> will need a new setup. My brother says he will give me his unlocked
> Orange SVP which I like & want to to take with me to use. My questions
> are as follows.
>
> 1) What network offer the best tarrifs for mostly incoming & some
> outgoing calls? Would a 'sim only' deal be my best bet as I don't need
> a handset.
>2) If I am on a UK network will I pay to recieve incoming calls from
> abroad or indeed from within the USA
> 3) As I'm going to be a whole year would it make more sense to put an
> American simcard in my phone (I presume it will work if my phone is
> triband & unlocked)? What will tarrifs be like for incoming/outgoing
> calls both internal & to the UK?

It makes more sense to come here and get a 1-year contract. You can also get
a free phone on the deal. You don't have to go GSM only, you can go CDMA or
TDMA as well with the free phone you get.

check out Verizon, ATTWS (they do both GSM and TDMA), T-Mobile, Cingular,
Sprint.
I got a free SE T300 with camera for 1 cent on a 1-year T-Mobile contract
from Amazon.

> 4) I believe if I take a SVP with me I'll only be covered on the GSM
> network which is not so great in the US. Would it make more sense to
> buy a US phone while out there? What sort of prices would I have to
> pay to get a decent phone... i.e. 'color' screen, tri band and camera.
> 5) Can a USA mobile recieve SMS sent from the UK?
>
Yes you can.

> I realise this is a lot of question but if anyone can help me or point
> me in the direction of some useful information I would be very happy.
>
> Thanks for your time
>
> Tim Addison
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

<snip>

> You probably won't be able to get a contract phone in the US, they
> insist you have a Social Security number ie a Tax ID.

You can get a social security card over the counter with no hassle; it
will be endorsed to the effect that it is not to be used for employment;
but is a useful thing to have in these situations.

--

Mark²
Now Playing: Stone Temple Pilots - No Memory

> You can get a social security card over the counter with no hassle; it
> will be endorsed to the effect that it is not to be used for employment;
> but is a useful thing to have in these situations.

if u r going to USA to study... i presume u going to clemson univ. in
columbia, SC?

then the intl students dept there will give u a temporary SSN and u'll have
to go the the nearest SS office and apply for a real SSN. Its no hassle...

so chill and welcome to the laid-back USA lifestyle... while u is here,
enjoy some southern-style cooking...

Andy M - Tampa Bay.

"root" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:be663e$1llf8$1@ID-193745.news.dfncis.de...
> "Andy M --Tampa Bay--" <nospamandym@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:j8pNa.12853$bK5.327852@twister.tampabay.rr.co m...
> > so chill and welcome to the laid-back USA lifestyle... while u is here,
> > enjoy some southern-style cooking...
>
> LOL, You really like to rub it in for the rest of us, don't you Andy?
>
sorry for getting off-topic... but yeah, i like to tempt u folks in UK.
Have been to Engalnd, Scotland, ireland quite a bit lately over the last
year... its nice in the summer and winter. can't beat sunshine and cold air
in edinburgh.

but, the food in england is terrible... i guess i stick to the indian curry
food coz it kicks ass... and makes u breathe fire. i guess i don't have a
taste for the regular british food such as fisn n chips... etc.

i guess u can't beat southern cooking... and also the mexican and latin
american foods down in south florida...

adios amigos.

"Andy M --Tampa Bay--" <nospamandym@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:6tENa.31528$ic1.536917@twister.tampabay.rr.co m...
> "root" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:be663e$1llf8$1@ID-193745.news.dfncis.de...
> > "Andy M --Tampa Bay--" <nospamandym@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> > news:j8pNa.12853$bK5.327852@twister.tampabay.rr.co m...
> > > so chill and welcome to the laid-back USA lifestyle... while u is
here,
> > > enjoy some southern-style cooking...
> >
> > LOL, You really like to rub it in for the rest of us, don't you Andy?
> >
> sorry for getting off-topic... but yeah, i like to tempt u folks in UK.
> Have been to Engalnd, Scotland, ireland quite a bit lately over the last
> year... its nice in the summer and winter. can't beat sunshine and cold
air
> in edinburgh.
>
> but, the food in england is terrible... i guess i stick to the indian
curry
> food coz it kicks ass... and makes u breathe fire. i guess i don't have a
> taste for the regular british food such as fisn n chips... etc.
>
> i guess u can't beat southern cooking... and also the mexican and latin
> american foods down in south florida...
>
> adios amigos.

Wouldn't know for myself about southern US foods - never been there. But I
know for sure that a New York burger is about 15x the size of any large size
UK one.

To be honest, I doubt that even fish and chips is even British - some
experts I know think it may have originated from China! We really don't
have any foods that are traditionally local, except maybe Chicken Tikka
(err... which has a very Indian/Asian side to it anyway!).

How will he pass a US credit check? He'll probably have to go prepaid. If
he wants to use the SPV, I'd look to see if the ATT Go service is active in
his area.


"Andy M --Tampa Bay--" <nospamandym@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MliNa.8410$bK5.257597@twister.tampabay.rr.com ...
> > Next month I'll be travelling to the USA to study for a year
> > (Columbia, SC) and need some advice regarding my phone arrangements.
> > Currently Im have a Nokia 5210 & PAYT Orange. As my handset is
> > not triband and I dont think Orange support PAYT customers abroad I
> > will need a new setup. My brother says he will give me his unlocked
> > Orange SVP which I like & want to to take with me to use. My questions
> > are as follows.
> >
> > 1) What network offer the best tarrifs for mostly incoming & some
> > outgoing calls? Would a 'sim only' deal be my best bet as I don't need
> > a handset.
> >2) If I am on a UK network will I pay to recieve incoming calls from
> > abroad or indeed from within the USA
> > 3) As I'm going to be a whole year would it make more sense to put an
> > American simcard in my phone (I presume it will work if my phone is
> > triband & unlocked)? What will tarrifs be like for incoming/outgoing
> > calls both internal & to the UK?
>
> It makes more sense to come here and get a 1-year contract. You can also
get
> a free phone on the deal. You don't have to go GSM only, you can go CDMA
or
> TDMA as well with the free phone you get.
>
> check out Verizon, ATTWS (they do both GSM and TDMA), T-Mobile, Cingular,
> Sprint.
> I got a free SE T300 with camera for 1 cent on a 1-year T-Mobile contract
> from Amazon.
>
> > 4) I believe if I take a SVP with me I'll only be covered on the GSM
> > network which is not so great in the US. Would it make more sense to
> > buy a US phone while out there? What sort of prices would I have to
> > pay to get a decent phone... i.e. 'color' screen, tri band and camera.
> > 5) Can a USA mobile recieve SMS sent from the UK?
> >
> Yes you can.
>
> > I realise this is a lot of question but if anyone can help me or point
> > me in the direction of some useful information I would be very happy.
> >
> > Thanks for your time
> >
> > Tim Addison
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

"Andy M --Tampa Bay--" <nospamandym@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:j8pNa.12853$bK5.327852@twister.tampabay.rr.co m...
> > You can get a social security card over the counter with no hassle; it
> > will be endorsed to the effect that it is not to be used for employment;
> > but is a useful thing to have in these situations.
>
> if u r going to USA to study... i presume u going to clemson univ. in
> columbia, SC?
>
> then the intl students dept there will give u a temporary SSN and u'll
have
> to go the the nearest SS office and apply for a real SSN. Its no hassle...

Things have changed a little post 9/11 - it doesn't work like that anymore
to get a SSN. You will need a letter from the university to show that you
NEED a SSN - eg they have given you an offer of employment on campus for
less than 20 hours a week (saying you need it (the SSN) to get a drivers
license doesn't work anymore either). You will need to take this together
with your I-20, passport, etc to the Social Security office where (assuming
the computer is up-to-date) they will enter your entry number (written on
your I-20) and the computer will state whether you are eligible for a SSN.
If it doesn't come up they will take copies and send them off to INS to
determine whether you are eligible for a SSN. This took me about 4 weeks.

However as someone else stated you will have no credit history so the
chances of you getting a contract phone are very slim (you may get offered
the opportunity to pay a very large deposit).
Virgin (on Sprint) don't have activation coverage in the area - your best
bet for Pay-as-you-go is probably going to be Cingular. To be honest you
will find that GSM coverage is fine most of the time - SC has good
coverage - and most major highways and towns are covered. Cingular's website
has a
list of coverage and tariffs available - select the KIC Prepaid menu on
their website.

Best wishes
Mark