Sprint Nextel World Phones

As mentioned previously, Sprint Nextel offers two distinct networks despite being part of the same company. Like Verizon, Sprint uses CDMA so its worldwide roaming coverage with the technology phone is limited. Using a CDMA handset, you can roam to many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean along with Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, China and Taiwan, South Korea, India, Israel, Thailand and a few U.S. territories. You'll pay roaming fees, and depending on the phone you use, you'll have to pay both a one-time activation fee and a monthly charge for the service.

Alternately, Sprint sells and leases GSM phones for travel to other countries, and it has a dual-mode GSM/CDMA phone with the Samsung IP-830w. Travelers to Japan, however, are restricted to renting a WCDMA phone. Sprint does some allow some data usage and all text and multimedia messaging are billed as data services.

As for Nextel users, iDEN roaming is limited to Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Israel. Alternatively, Nextel's Motorola i930 is a dual-mode iDEN/GSM for voice calling in about 100 countries. And with either of the above methods, you can use the carrier's Direct Connect push-to-talk service in Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and you'll only be charged for calls you initiate. Keep in mind that the i930 is a smart phone so if you'd rather not buy a new handsets you can to rent a GSM-only phone for the duration of your trip. With all phones you will need to activate international service. Messaging and data services and pricing will depend on the phone you choose so see Nextel for more information.

Service in: 26 countries and four U.S. territories with a CDMA phone; more than 100 countries with a CDMA/GSM phone. With an iDEN phone, service in 9 countries and one U.S. territory.
International roaming activation fee: $36 one-time fee; $6 per month *
Standard roaming rate: 50 cents to $1.50 per minute *
Long-distance charges: None
Internet usage: 2 cents per kilobyte
Text messages: Billed as data service
Multimedia messages: Billed as data service

Green areas indicate where you can use a Sprint world phone abroad (CDMA-only handsets have a much smaller roaming area). For a complete list of rates and coverage, visit Sprint's Web site.

World phones include:

Samsung IP-830w

Verizon Wireless World Phones

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

T-Mobile World Phone Info

T-Mobile brings a big ally to the world phone table. As a division of Germany's powerful Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile offers a solid international network with generally the cheapest roaming rates. And since versions of the carrier operate in seven other nations, including Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, you'll not only be using a bona fide T-Mobile network, but you'll also have the convenience of seeing the company's familiar pinkish-gray logo.

In addition to almost all of Europe, the carrier offers international service in Canada, Mexico, the Middle East, Australia, much of South America, a handful of countries in Africa, and virtually all of Asia. T-Mobile also provides coverage on a variety of cruise ships. As with AT&T, however, service in Japan and South Korea requires a special phone. You're liable for roaming but not long-distance costs when abroad, and you'll need to activate international service, though you can move throughout most of Europe for just 99 cents per minute. Phone selection is on a par with AT&T's, and again, if you manage to unlock your mobile, you can use a prepaid SIM card. T-Mobile has no frequent international calling plans, but you can access a variety of international data plans and T-Mobile Wi-Fi hot spots around the world.

Service in: More than 187 countries with a T-Mobile phone
International roaming activation fee: None
Standard roaming rate: 49 cents to $3.99 per minute *
Long-distance charges: For Canada only
Internet usage: 1 cent per kilobyte (or $10.24 per megabyte) in Canada; 2 cents per kilobyte (or $15.36 per megabyte) elsewhere.
Text messages: 35 cents per sent message; 10 cents per received message
Multimedia messages: 25 cents per message to send and receive (standard U.S. rates)

Green areas indicate where you can use a T-Mobile world phone abroad. For a complete list of rates and coverage, visit T-Mobile's Web site.

Motorola V195s

Nokia 6133

T-Mobile Sidekick 3

T-Mobile Dash

International Roaming Tips

Bringing along a mobile phone when traveling is a huge convenience. You can keep in touch with your family, friends, clients, send photos, make calls, send sms or call for emergency. But not all cell phones will work abroad, and not all carriers offer roaming in every country. Before you make or receive transborder calls, you'll need to find out if you can do it, where you can do it, and how much it will cost. In the pages that follow, we'll answer all those questions to help get you on your way.

The first step in understanding world phones is to know the difference between two main ingredients in the cell phone alphabet soup: GSM and CDMA (see our cell phone buying guide for more information). In short, GSM and CDMA are the main cell phone networks in use in the world today. GSM, or Global System for Mobile Communications, is the predominant global technology and is used in Europe (where it's the standard), Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as much of Asia and the Middle East. In the United States, AT&T (formerly Cingular Wireless) and T-Mobile operate GSM networks.

CDMA, which stands for Code Division Multiple Access, has less worldwide coverage than GSM, so your choices will be more limited. One of its biggest markets is the United States, where it used by Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and a number of smaller carriers like Alltel and US Cellular.

Outside of the States, you can find CDMA networks in Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, China, Taiwan, South Korea, parts of the Caribbean and Latin America, and a handful of other countries. The United States also has a third network called iDEN, but it's exclusive to Nextel and is present in very few nations.