Title: The Best Ways to Get a Cell Phone While Traveling in Europe | USA Today
Headings: The Best Ways to Get a Cell Phone While Traveling in Europe
The Best Ways to Get a Cell Phone While Traveling in Europe
Travel Tips
Buy a Phone In-Store
Buy Prepaid Mobile Online
Auction Sites and Secondhand Stores
Travel Tips Video
Rent a Phone
Alternatives
SIM Card for International Travel
Travel Tips
GSM Technology
Locked vs. Unlocked Devices
Country-Specific Cards
International SIM Card

Content: He has written on politics, the arts, travel and society for publications such as "The Big Issue" and "Which?" Roennevig holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the Surrey Institute and a postgraduate diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists at City College, Brighton. Cite this Article
SIM Card for International Travel
Travel Tips
Robert Schrader, Leaf Group Updated March 15, 2018
When you travel within the United States -- and use a carrier with a national reach, such as T-Mobile or AT&T -- you only rarely incur additional charges and fees for "roaming" off your carrier's network. Traveling internationally, however, requires you to use foreign networks, something that gets expensive quickly. Purchasing a cell phone SIM card in each destination country helps you avoid racking up huge fees to make local calls. GSM Technology
The underlying technology that allows you to use your U.S. cell phone on foreign networks is known as the Global System for Mobile Communications, or GSM for short. If your cell phone has a SIM card, you know it's a GSM device -- otherwise, it uses Code Division Multiple Access, or CDMA, a technology that transmits signals and stores information internally. If you have a CDMA phone, you won't be able to use a foreign SIM card in it. Locked vs. Unlocked Devices
U.S. cell phone companies understand the portability inherent in GSM technology -- and, as a result, most restrict or "lock" their devices so that you can only use them on the network of the carrier from whom you purchased it. Overcoming this restriction involves taking your phone to a repair specialist, paying a small fee and collecting your device once it's unlocked, as you must have an unlocked phone to use an auxiliary SIM card.