How do I use my iPhone's data/voice internationally cheap (no roaming etc) help!

[tnisatard]

Im making this post for my cousin


My cousin is a Dentist, and he gets many calls from patients about appointments and problems about their teeth. This month he is leaving for Europe for 1 month, and he's on the AT&T network in the US currently. He wants to be able to use his iPhone in Europe for data and voice. He wants to use the iPhone's data for certain translations when he's in Europe, such as French to English or Spanish to English. Also he wants to use the voice because many patients call him frequently, but he needs to keep his number for patients to contact. So how can he use his iPhone's data and voice from AT&T without crazy charges from AT&T?


cliff notes
-dentist heading to Europe, currently leaving to the US
-needs to keep his number so patients can call him
-needs iPhone's data to get important work email and apps for translations etc in Europe
-HOW DOES HE AVOID AT&T INTERNATIONAL CHARGES WITH KEEPING THE SAME NUMBER, or what's the cheapest route?

thanks in advance

 

[cualexander]

Well I don't know that you could easily do what all you are wanting to do.

If you wanted to use the iPhone abroad, the cheapest thing would be to get an international SIM. BUT, that would require you to unlock your iPhone. Which I won't get into here, because its complicated depending on your version.

Alternatively, you could buy a cheap unlocked GSM phone off ebay for voice and just use the iPhone for data when you had wifi.

The major snag is keeping the US number abroad because US cell carriers won't allow you to forward a cell to an international number, if you got an international SIM for instance.

Can he not just have someone else handling his calls while he is in Europe, email him who he needs to call back to and then just get back to his patients on an as needed basis with Skype or something when he has wifi? I mean its not as if he will be able to handle emergencies from Europe. It would think it would frankly be easier to pay someone than to go the route you are trying to go.

I tried to come up with a solution but I just don't know. If you find something please let me know as I'm interested in this myself.

 

[darngooddesign]

ATT offers an international travel plan.

If he gets an international SIM he could have his calls forwarded to that number.

 

[OlgaJ]

When it comes to international travel, cell phones are not exactly cheap.

AT&T's guides are here:

http://forums.wireless.att.com/cng/board/message?board.id=international&thread.id=7310

When traveling internationally even calls that go to voice mail get charged. Sometimes even if you don't answer the phone, you will get charged.

Unless he purchases an international data plan, any data use outside of wifi will cost him an arm and a leg. So he should be looking at getting one of the international data plans along with a voice plan that may give him a lower per minute rate other than the max.

 

[ttw27]

International roaming charges are too high

I go to Europe at least twice a year and only use WiFi on my iPhone due to the high costs (both data and voice) for international roaming. I use Skype on both my laptop and my iPhone. I pay for a Skype-In number that is local to my home area code in California. This allows me to give my friends and family a local number that will ring through to wherever I happen to be located (or to a voice mail system that allows me to easily retrieve messages).

I also use Skype to call back to the US at a ridiculously minimal cost. This does require WiFi access however many locations and most hotels have WiFi access. Even factoring in charges for WiFi access it is still less expensive than roaming charges - particularly roaming data charges. It can be quite a shock when you see amounts charged for data downloads.