<p>So how big of a process is it for an int'l student to get a cell phone in the US? I'm going to Penn in the fall and was hoping to have one for when I get there. Also, what do you do during the 4 months that you're back home? Can you change your network for a while or how does that work? Does anyone else have some experience with this? Thanks!</p>
<p>It’s kind of a hassle but it’s not a big deal. There are Verizon and AT&T stores on campus and Sprint and T-Mobile in Center City. I think all of them have some kind of arrangement where you pay a ~$400 deposit because you don’t have a SSN. AT&T waived that deposit for me…</p>
<p>All the major carriers have prepaid options and there are no contract carriers like MetroPCS and Cricket. I did that first year and just gave up the number after the school year because I hated MetroPCS. I think you can call your carrier and be like “I’m going to be out of the country for the next x months” and if you badger enough they’ll give you a discount rate for those months.</p>
<p>Thank you, it’s good to know that it shouldn’t be too much of a problem! So wait, is it better to go prepaid? I don’t want to have a pay-per-minute plan… Do you mean prepaid as in just paying monthly but without a contract?</p>
<p>I suggest going prepaid. Look into companies like PagePlus and Straight Talk.</p>
<p>^ Please don’t buy from spammers. Only posts about a phone, responding to old thread, and what kid would write “No contracts, no SS#, no credit checks and it’s a dual-sim…”</p>
<p>When i had the situation to move abroad from US, i was afraid of getting the huge roaming charge.My friends suggested me some options to avoid huge roaming charges that are, 1.Get a local prepaid sim card with international calls and data package, 2.To avoid data roaming use free Wi-Fi, 3.Get a mobile that is is compatible with the frequency of the networks in other country, 4.Use smartphone calling apps like Skype,Line to avoid charge for incoming calls …Finally i decided and got a new prepaid sim card but my mobile was not accepting the new sim card due to network lock .I unlocked my mobile by getting the service from [url=<a href=“http://www.mobile-unlocker.com/supported-phones/rs2wp7/]Mobile-Unlocker.com[/url”>http://www.mobile-unlocker.com/supported-phones/rs2wp7/]Mobile-Unlocker.com[/url</a>] at cheap rate .Now i am using the new prepaid local sim card with international call and data plan, also i can use many of other country’s sim card because my mobile have no network restriction now.</p>
<p>My phone service (Bell) gave me a Fab 10 option which allowed me to set 10 numbers that I could have unlimited calling for. I have only used like half of them, and they are for my family. However this means even though I live out of the local calling area and the calls I make to them are long distance, I do not get charged for them. I think other phone companies have similar “Fab X” deals as well so this might be a solution if you only plan on calling ten or fewer people regularly in the US.</p>