<p>My dd used Skype the whole time she was in Japan.It worked fine.</p>
<p>When I studied abroad in Spain, I communicated with my other friends there almost exclusively through text messages (or as they call them, SMS)--it's a lot cheaper than calling. So having a local phone to text message the other students studying abroad or Spanish friends I made was useful. Some study abroad students didn't switch to a Spanish phone, and they always called instead of text messaged (another fun thing in Spain: the person who makes the call pays for it). I used a phone card to call my parents at home on a pay phone, although I made occasional calls to my boyfriend from my Spanish cell phone at astronomical rates.</p>