If you will be traveling internationally, you may be looking at high charges for cell phone use. One option is to get a GSM phone rental. GSM phones are phones which work in Europe and Asia on the 1800 MHz or 900 MHz range. In the United States, they operate at 1900 MHz. The nice part about getting a GSM rental is that you can buy a prepaid plan, and when you are done with the minutes, you can pop out your SIM smart card, which contains your user information, and put it into another telephone. GTE, AT&T, Cingular, and Voicestream all provide SIM cards for international roaming. GSM technology didn't really take off in the US until 2002, even though it had been around for decades before. Originally named Group Special Mobile, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) was started in 1991 by the CEPT (Conference of European Posts & Telegraphs) in order to replace the incompatible cellular systems in use in Europe. There is an organization, called The Memorandum of Understanding, comprised of 210 members from 150 countries which get together regularly to look at better implementations to the GSM system. GSM phones use encryption to make the telephone calls more secure. Digital cellular, PCS-based systems, and Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (IDEN) all use GSM as their basis. It is the international standard for Europe, Australia, and large parts of Asia and Africa. In these countries cell-phone users can get a cell phone that will work anywhere the standard is supported. For more information on renting a GSM phone, go to Planet 3000 at Planet3000.com. |
GSM Phone Rental
