Foreign sims in 3G iphone

[Josephineshort]

Hello,

My iphone is just about to be out of contract which means I will own it but not have to pay monthly fees. I leave the UK in 3 weeks for travel throughout Europe and US and then to Australia. I have been told to unlock the phone and then use foreign sim cards in each destination. I know I will loose my phone number once I end the o2 contract, but I wanted to ask:

- how do I unlock the phone myself without paying £30 in a shop?
- will the sim cards in Europe, US and Aust work in the iphone?
- will I still receive emails and be able to access the internet using foreign sim cards (I don't really understand how this works).

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks in advance

 

[steve10172]

Search for No Cut Sim Card on eBay.
I have used one before and sims from different countries worked fine.

 

[wackymacky]

Are you sure it will be cheaper to do it this way geting several short-term pre-pay sims rather than just keeping your current contract (with roaming added?) till you get home then cancelling your contract?

 

[steve10172]

Are you sure it will be cheaper to do it this way geting several short-term pre-pay sims rather than just keeping your current contract (with roaming added?) till you get home then cancelling your contract?

You are right.
OP has to find out about data plans in other countries he is going to visit, and see what is cheaper, home sim card with added data plan or foreign sims with local data plans.
I only replied to what he/she wanted.

 

[BrutalSpoon]

This is related, but not entirely the same. I wanted to ask a question like this but didn't want to start a new thread if a related one was already floating around:

AFAIK, the iPhone is sold in Australia to Telstra, Vodaphone and Optus, with each having their own contract and PAYG options. I want to buy the new iPhone in June if/when it comes out here in the UK, but I plan to move to Australia in Feb/March.

What would the deal be to do this? Obviously support is only given in the UK for a UK-bought iPhone, and I'd have to unlock it in order to use it in Australia, but would it be possible to get a sim with Telstra/Vodaphone/Optus that would give me full functionality again (as if I had bought the iPhone in Australia)? I may be wrong but I'm under the impression that there are disadvantages to unlocking your phone to use it on another network.

Any anecdotal experience or other help would be extremely useful.