How ironic. I'm packing for a brief trip to London, and I'd like to use my iPhone 5 while I'm there. T-Mobile offers terrific deals on sim cards in the UK. For about 15GBP or so, I could easily get a sim card with more talk minutes, texts, and data than I could possibly use during my short trip. It's so simple, I could get it from a vending machine at Heathrow.
Perfect. The only bad news is that AT&T won't allow it. I talked to them. My phone is locked until later this year. No, they won't unlock it yet, even briefly. Despite the fact that I'll still be paying the full monthly contract fee I agreed to, the fee that is paying in full for my subsidized phone, any additional service I might want to add must also be purchased from AT&T.
"Sir, I'm afraid your only option is to choose one of our Global Plans, beginning at $1.50 per minute...."
I obviously need to do more research so that the moment my phone is unshackled, I'll know where to run with it.
Of course I'm dreaming of the day when all the lumpiness will smooth out and in most countries you'll just use whatever devices you like to connect to the ubiquitous Internet. Just an international data subscription that you use for everything, everywhere. Talk, text, TV, Web...are all just your favorite apps (plus subscriptions to content from millions of competing producers.)
<sigh> While waiting for utopia, I guess I'll have to figure out the wifi situation in downtown London.
There's a reasonable amount of free WiFi in London, but it's not everywhere. In some places, you might need to ask for a password etc.
If you just need data, you can get a mifi for about £50 for the device and 1G of data. Before you get one, check if they will support VoIP - then you can use Skype etc.
Terrible. I recently switched to T-Mobile and was pleasantly surprised to find out I'd have free data and text while on vacation in Holland. Wifi is pretty ubiquitous though so hopefully you'll be able to get by.
You should buy a cheap android, e.g. N5 or the Moto X. If you travel a lot, you'll quickly recoup the money via saved roaming costs. I learned this the hard way.
Can't you pay some sort of penalty and switch to one of AT&T's new, cheaper T-Mobile-like value plans?
That might not pencil out on its own terms because you're relatively close to the end of your contract, but I think that would take your phone out of subsidy so you can unlock it. The added flexibility while traveling might make the switch worth it.
I don't know what would be required to "crack" my iPhone (hardward? software only? can it be trusted? etc.), but I think this is the only time I'll need it internationally before AT&T will unlock it for me (and if they damage it, they replace it).
More important is for me to figure out how to buy mobile hardware / service from now on. Will it be easier if I switch to Android? If I pay full price for the hardware up front? If I use something like Google Voice or something newer and better? Or what?
I don't know, but one way or another I need to figure it out.
Perfect. The only bad news is that AT&T won't allow it. I talked to them. My phone is locked until later this year. No, they won't unlock it yet, even briefly. Despite the fact that I'll still be paying the full monthly contract fee I agreed to, the fee that is paying in full for my subsidized phone, any additional service I might want to add must also be purchased from AT&T.
"Sir, I'm afraid your only option is to choose one of our Global Plans, beginning at $1.50 per minute...."
I obviously need to do more research so that the moment my phone is unshackled, I'll know where to run with it.
Of course I'm dreaming of the day when all the lumpiness will smooth out and in most countries you'll just use whatever devices you like to connect to the ubiquitous Internet. Just an international data subscription that you use for everything, everywhere. Talk, text, TV, Web...are all just your favorite apps (plus subscriptions to content from millions of competing producers.)
<sigh> While waiting for utopia, I guess I'll have to figure out the wifi situation in downtown London.