Hey guys! So as part of my assignment, and of course info we’re all dying to know, here is a bunch of really helpful information about cell phone usage while we are in China! There is a lot of information and really isn’t one straight answer on everything, it really depends on your carrier. Basically, if you have one of the four major carriers in the US (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile) you really just have to stop by your store and talk to them about going abroad. They all have plans or options to stay connected over seas. However, overall, it is way expensive; especially using data. A lot of carriers charge a hefty rate per minute of call, a lot per text, and tons per data. My personal suggestion (at least what I’m going to do): talk to your carrier, get whatever you need for use abroad, then use it sparingly. Turn off automatically checking emails automatically, make use of airplane mode, and take advantage of areas with WIFI. Resort to Facebook and Skype to stay in touch with people in the states.
So below I posted links to 5 sites: a great CNN article (long, but worth it) explaining all this in greater detail, and links to all 4 major US phone carriers international pages. Its a lot of information, but I’d read it carefully to avoid a major phone bill! Also, hopefully we can figure out a way to stay connected between us all in the group that won’t run up our cell phone charges.
CNN -> http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/05/27/cell.phones.overseas/index.html
Sprint -> http://shop.sprint.com/mysprint/services_solutions/category.jsp?catId=service_international&catName=International%20Services&ECID=vanity:international
Verizon -> http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms/global.html
AT&T -> http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/international.html#fbid=jtiIukZIvvZ
T-Mobile -> http://www.t-mobile.com/international/
See you all Wednesday
-Joey