[bernie213]

I have a curve on At&t. I spoke to At&t about what I need to do to use my phone in London. They said nothing as my phone is already prepared for it. So I just landed, and now can't make out going calls.

At&t now says I have to add a $64 a month plan onto my bill to be able to use the phone internationally. Has anyone ever heard of this? It is extremely frustrating they wait to tell me once I am over here.

Are there any other options? Does Skype work via blackberry to call out? Or will I hit the same issues?

[sprintbbtech]

With AT&T and most other carriers you are required to pay an extra fee to be able to use it internationally. A little extra for calls and a lot extra for data. Call 1800 CINGULAR and it will connect you to AT&T and they will fix it for you no problem.

[Maximus_Prime]

Originally Posted by bernie213

I have a curve on At&t. I spoke to At&t about what I need to do to use my phone in London. They said nothing as my phone is already prepared for it. So I just landed, and now can't make out going calls.

At&t now says I have to add a $64 a month plan onto my bill to be able to use the phone internationally. Has anyone ever heard of this? It is extremely frustrating they wait to tell me once I am over here.

Are there any other options? Does Skype work via blackberry to call out? Or will I hit the same issues?

What you need to do is call AT&T and ask them to unlock the phone so that you coulu use a pre-paid SIM card.

If you don't do that, you will be billed using AT&T international rate ( which is EXPENSIVE )

[bernie213]

Originally Posted by sprintbbtech

With AT&T and most other carriers you are required to pay an extra fee to be able to use it internationally. A little extra for calls and a lot extra for data. Call 1800 CINGULAR and it will connect you to AT&T and they will fix it for you no problem.

Is this like a one time unlocking fee? Because they are asking for $64 a month with a one year minimum guarantee

[sprintbbtech]

Thats For Data Not For Phone Calls

[penpower]

For future reference, if you have to use your BB with data oversea, do the following:

1. (not sure it is optional or not, but always good to have it done before hand) Call ATT and have them verified that your account is noted to have international roaming capability. That's basically for voice part, and standard international rate applies.

2. Sign up for BB international unlimited plan for $64.99/mo. However, you have to keep it for one year or pay the penalty up to $200 when you cancel.

If you don't use BB data but email oversea only, I'd suggest you to do that following:

1 Unlock you BB.
2. Get a tmobile lowest flexpay plan (not sure whether tmobile allow flexpay plan for internation usage, see below; better check with tmobile; or use next option below)
OR
use your friends tmobile plan, preferrably the 9.99 family shared line
3. Add (regular + unlimited international email only addon) BB plan for additional $30/mo
4. when you return from your trip, keep the bb plan for up to 2 months to avoid data roaming charge that was reported late to tmobile. some of the oversea carriers doesn't report any usage that you have used oversea until after one or two billing cycles. tmobile's bb plan are all add on features which you can remove anytime you want. Doing what have mentioned above is just to cover your end.

[penpower]

double posted, sorry

[takeshi]

Originally Posted by bernie213

At&t now says I have to add a $64 a month plan onto my bill to be able to use the phone internationally. Has anyone ever heard of this? It is extremely frustrating they wait to tell me once I am over here.

As someone said, that's for international data and has nothing to do with your ability to make or receive calls while traveling internationally. Call again and try to get an at&t CSR with a clue (good luck, it's always like this with at&t).

[monkeypaw]

When I had AT&T I'm pretty sure I had international roaming (voice) enabled and there was no monthly charge. Although I did have a corporate discount so perhaps that was also included.

Here's what their website says, with a specific 800 number where they should hopefully be more knowledgeable about the voice related charges:

"Activating International Roaming or Long Distance

Before leaving the U.S. or Canada, please call 1-800-331-0500 or visit a retail store to activate international roaming or international long distance.

NOTE: Your payment history and the length of time you've been an AT&T customer will be factors which determine your eligibility for this service."

Also:

"Contact International Customer Care

* Activation: 1-800-331-0500
* Troubleshooting: 1-800-335-4685 or, when calling from overseas, +1-916-843-4685"

[NJBlackBerry]

Originally Posted by sprintbbtech

With AT&T and most other carriers you are required to pay an extra fee to be able to use it internationally. A little extra for calls and a lot extra for data. Call 1800 CINGULAR and it will connect you to AT&T and they will fix it for you no problem.

We've never paid a cent to either Verizon (8830), AT&T or T-Mobile to have our phones enabled to make calls from International locations. You pay roaming charges, of course.

They offer plans for unlimited voice and data from international locations, and that may be a cause of the confusion here.

[Sith_Apprentice]

with Sprint you have to have a service provisioned on your account but that is all. other than that you just pay a ridiculous per minute fee

[MERK350Z]

Originally Posted by bernie213

I have a curve on At&t. I spoke to At&t about what I need to do to use my phone in London. They said nothing as my phone is already prepared for it. So I just landed, and now can't make out going calls.

At&t now says I have to add a $64 a month plan onto my bill to be able to use the phone internationally. Has anyone ever heard of this? It is extremely frustrating they wait to tell me once I am over here.

Are there any other options? Does Skype work via blackberry to call out? Or will I hit the same issues?

here is the deal if you change your blackberry plan to the international one your locked into it. its a new policy no more flip flop. like i used to when i would be doing business over seas. as for makeing phonecalls you should be able to make calls on your cell phone if the international roaming is active on your phone. just make sure the data part is worth the 70 dollers a month and you are locked into it.