<p>What do internationals do about getting a phone in the US? Which carrier?
RIght now I got the iphone 4 but is blocked in my country;s carrier. Should I jailbreak it when I get to the US? Will I be able to still update it with newer versions and new music?
Also, my phone has a sim card in it. what carrier offer sim cards?
I was hoping apple would release the iphone 5 until september, but probably thats not gonna happen. any recommendations for another good phone, and a good data plan to go with it?</p>
<p>I had the same issue as you. I bought myself a brand new iPhone 4 (unlocked) and then found out that I couldn’t use it with the carrier I wanted to (Boost Mobile). This is because Boost Mobile is a CDMA/IDEN operator. If you find an operator that accepts GSM, than you are find (correct me if I am wrong!).</p>
<p>[Here</a> is a link of all the US carriers and their Voice Technologies](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_wireless_communications_service_providers]Here”>List of United States wireless communications service providers - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I guess you could go to AT&T or Verizon. But be careful, they are quite expensive compared to Sprint and/or Boost Mobile.</p>
<p>I am coming to the US by the end of August and will go with Sprint (I don’t want to go with Boost Mobile anymore because they don’t really have the phones I want). They have a wide variety of very good phones ([Sprint</a> Phones](<a href=“Sprint.com | Sorry for the interruption...”>Sprint.com | Sorry for the interruption...)) and their plans aren’t too expensive ([Sprint</a> Plans](<a href=“Sprint.com | Sorry for the interruption...”>Sprint.com | Sorry for the interruption...))
You can also take a look at Wireless.Amazon.com.</p>
<p>Tim.</p>
<p>AT&T and T-Mobile are the two big carriers using SIM cards.</p>
<p>I personally have a $25/month pre-paid plan from Virgin Mobile (owned by Sprint) that gives me 300 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data. (Now the cost is up to $35 I think.)</p>
<p>I come from South Africa. If i get a sim card in the US will my blackberry work there?</p>
<p>Three questions: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Does your Blackberry use SIM cards (i.e. GSM technology)?</p></li>
<li><p>Is it unlocked, i.e. does it accept SIM cards from other providers? (If you got the phone at a discounted price from a specific provider, you might have to pay a fee or stay with that provider for two years before you can unlock it.)</p></li>
<li><p>Does it support the American 850 MHz and 1900 MHz frequencies? Most other countries use 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequencies. If your phone is “quad-band”, you should be fine.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you can answer all of these with “yes”, then your Blackberry should work in the US.</p>
<p>I will be in NYC in a few hours, I will go to Penn State for my bachelor studies but I thought I could buy my phone and my plan from NY. I have some question regarding this matter.</p>
<p>Is there a difference buying the phone (blackberry) and my plan from an AT&T store in NY or in Pennsylvania, the tax will be based on the address I will be staying?</p>
<p>Also I learned that international students that don’t have a SSN have to pay a $400-500 cash deposit as insurance and they get back that money a year or two after. I know I will get a SSN around October so when I get it I can get back the deposit earlier? </p>
<p>@cat007 If you have to buy a blackberry (from AT&T or Verizon) in the US, a problem is that they don’t have any good models in stock (9780, 9800, etc) because they are waiting for the new ones coming out in September… (at least they say they don’t have in stock on their website)</p>
<p>@B@r!um, Virgin Mobile looks very good. Unlimited Data, text and 300 minutes for $35 is a really good price !! And the fact that it is prepaid is also a plus for some of us. But I just saw online that they were passing from an unlimited data plan, to a 2.5 gigas plan. Meaning that if you pass those 2.5 gigas, you will lose speed. Apparently, the only carriers that is left where you really have an unlimited plan are Boost Mobile and Sprint.</p>
<p>@periklis I think you will pay the local taxes on your phone only. The plan is registered to your adress in Pennsylvania, thus you will pay taxes for the Pennsylvania state. Anyone, correct me if I am wrong. Never heard about this deposit. Is it only on AT&T?</p>
<p>Tim</p>
<p>Tim2011, thanks for sharing the news about Virgin Mobile’s new data policy! I was unaware of that. Though I wonder if college students could effectively work around that by getting a wi-fi capable phone, and then use wi-fi for streaming videos or downloading huge data files. College campuses seem to have wireless internet available almost everywhere these days.</p>
<p>Well you could get around that, but you would need a Wi-Fi capable phone. Normally, all recent phones should have this ability.
Would someone else please give their thoughts about US carriers? </p>
<p>Tim</p>
<p>I have an iphone 3G in England, (Yeah so behind the times I know) but I could very very easily live without the internet and games.</p>
<p>I plan to buy a simple T-Mobile phone, and get their $10/month unlimited texts deal. I don’t phone much, but calls are only 10c/min, if I needed to.</p>
<p>Skype with home, it’s free.</p>
<p>You can always unlock your phone, things you should be aware of: frequency, that’s it, if your phone supports US’s frequency then you are good. Unlocking is the easiest thing (especially for iphones).</p>
<p>Planning ahead…Before buying a phone in your country to take it to the US, buy a phone in the US or planning on unlocking the phone…Be sure of the carrier you want your phone to work with, phones working on GSM (sim card) will only be capable to work with another GSM carrier, if your phone is cdma then it will only be compatible with cdma carriers. If you buy your phone at BestBuy or somewhere else where the phone is “unbranded” or “unlocked” you will be able to use it anywhere and with any carrier. If you buy it at bestbuy (plans) and or directly from carriers then your phone will be branded (or locked) and you will only be able to use it with that carrier unless you unlock it (which is pretty easy). I’ve been thinking on AT&T, because of coverage matters.</p>
<p>AT&T is a very good carrier, but they are quiet expensive compared to some other US carriers (T-Mobile (AT&T now), Sprint).
I guess choosing a carrier depends on how you will use your phone. An International Student shouldn’t get a unlimited plan as soon as they arrive in the US. There is no way they will use their phone constantly to call in the US. The best thing to do would be to take a cheap plan (nothing unlimited) and if at a certain point you feel that you need more minutes and/or more texts, than you can ‘upgrade’ your plan.
There are also many prepaid carriers, that offer an unlimited plan at a very low price. As b@r!um said, there is Virgin Mobile USA which is a great one (though the data plan is going to be limited very soon). Boost Mobile is another one, everything unlimited and you get a ‘price shrinkage’, meaning that every 6 months you will pay $5 less (for a duration of 2 years). </p>
<p>Tim.</p>