[Brian]

I've been finding a lot of conflicting information about whether US movile phones will work in NZ. It looks like all that's needed is that it work on 900MHz. Is this right? Will all phones have the same type of sim card so I can just plug in one from NZ and use it?

Anyone on the board have experience doing this?

[clg]

A US GSM Triband, Quadband, or worldphone will work in NZ. GSM phones are used by Cingular and TMobile. So, if it is from either of these companies and billed as some sort of worldphone you will be fine with one additional key point to keep in mind. When you buy a phone in the US it is locked and will only work with the provider you signed up with (Cingular, Tmobile) you will need to unlock it to insert a sim from a different provider. In NZ the provider would be Vodafone. To find out how to unlock a phone type in the brand, model number and unlock into Google.

We have one phone that is new that we will unlock and bring with us. We will also buy a new one down there. You can get a no frils Nokia for around NZ 150 or less.

Hope that is clear.

Chris

[stevieboy]

Hi Brian,

I raised this concern through the vodafone website and their response was exactly as you suspect - It needs to operate on 900MHz, so whether its tri, Quad or Quint Band (sorry, I don't think the last one actually exists yet!!), as long as it operates on the 900MHz you will be ok. You should be able to find this info out from your phone manual.

Not sure on the different SIM cards issue, only that Telecom do not use them and vodafone do. I thought they were fairly standard among first generation mobiles but I'm probably wrong on that count.

Stevieboy

[Brian]

Thanks! I don't have a GSM phone at the moment but I'm seeing a lot of used ones for sale cheap here. The carriers are really aggressive about offering free or very cheap phones when you sign up or renew your agreement for 2 years, so there's a lot of slightly outdated but still functional phones available. It looks like it might be worth it if I can find a good one for around $50.

[xanctus]

Brian, what is your carrier here?
I believe T-mobiles and maybe Cingular's phone will be working fine in NZ, as long as u have the triple band kind of Cell phones. If you're not sure, you can always go the webiste of your cell phone's brand and check it over the spec. of the phone.

Say you have the triple band phone, all u have to do is call your carrier and ask them to unlock it for you. (supposed to be free), as soon as the phone being unlocked then you will be able to use it anywhere in the world pretty much.

Hope that will helps...

[Brian]

I currently have Sprint, which is PCS. I don't believe it will work on GSM. The phone I have is pretty crappy so I'm anxious to replace it anyway.

[DB]

Not sure on the different SIM cards issue, only that Telecom do not use them and vodafone do. I thought they were fairly standard

SIM cards are standard on GSM phones, but optional on CDMA phones. GSM is dominant is Europe (except for a few outposts of PCS, such as UK Orange and OneTel), and is used in NZ by Vodafone, CDMA is USA and a few other places, and used in NZ by Telecom.

Aren't mobile phone standards fun.

[xanctus]

Sprint eh? hmmm I am not sure if Sprint is using GSM. I remember when I was using sprint and brought my phone to Indonesia. The phone absolutely couldn't be used at all.

You can actually look around on ebay. Search any brand that u like and check the spec. and buy it from ebay. I am sure you can always go to those chinese stores and ask them to unlock it. Maybe cost around $10-20 maybe to unlock it, and it takes quite fast. :D