Verizon may offer a vast network in the United States, but because it's a CDMA carrier, its coverage abroad is much less extensive than that of Cingular or T-Mobile. Using a Verizon CDMA handset, you can roam to China and Taiwan, Israel, India, New Zealand, Thailand, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, South Korea, and a few Caribbean islands, though a software upgrade may be required for some countries. Coverage is available on some cruise ships as well. You'll pay a standard per-minute roaming charge plus any other costs set by the national carrier that handles your call. Also, you'll need to activate international dialing before you leave.
If you're a Verizon customer hoping to travel beyond the aforementioned countries, you have a couple of options. You can rent a GSM phone (calls will be forwarded from your normal Verizon handset), but a specific phone is required for Japan. Alternatively, you can buy a Verizon dual-mode phone. The RIM BlackBerry 8830 operates on both GSM and CDMA networks. Stateside calls operate on Verizon's CDMA network and count toward your normal calling plan, while calls made overseas switch to GSM using the included SIM card. Either way, you'll pay for roaming costs.
Service in: 17 countries and four U.S. territories with a CDMA phone; more than 140 countries with a CDMA/GSM phone
International roaming activation fee: None
Standard roaming rate: 69 cents to $4.99 per minute *
Long-distance charges: None
Internet usage: See Verizon for details
Text messages: 50 cents per sent message; 5 cents per received message*
Multimedia messages: Not available
Green areas indicate where you can use a Verizon world phone abroad (CDMA-only handsets have a much smaller roaming area). For a complete list of rates and coverage, visit Verizon's Web site.
World phones include:
RIM BlackBerry 8830
If you're a Verizon customer hoping to travel beyond the aforementioned countries, you have a couple of options. You can rent a GSM phone (calls will be forwarded from your normal Verizon handset), but a specific phone is required for Japan. Alternatively, you can buy a Verizon dual-mode phone. The RIM BlackBerry 8830 operates on both GSM and CDMA networks. Stateside calls operate on Verizon's CDMA network and count toward your normal calling plan, while calls made overseas switch to GSM using the included SIM card. Either way, you'll pay for roaming costs.
Service in: 17 countries and four U.S. territories with a CDMA phone; more than 140 countries with a CDMA/GSM phone
International roaming activation fee: None
Standard roaming rate: 69 cents to $4.99 per minute *
Long-distance charges: None
Internet usage: See Verizon for details
Text messages: 50 cents per sent message; 5 cents per received message*
Multimedia messages: Not available
Green areas indicate where you can use a Verizon world phone abroad (CDMA-only handsets have a much smaller roaming area). For a complete list of rates and coverage, visit Verizon's Web site.
World phones include:
RIM BlackBerry 8830
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