The International Student Blog

I have yet to meet someone who does not carry a cell phone with them – I am sure they exist, but it seems to be that cell phones are now like your wallet or purse. They are everywhere! If you were like me as a student, my mobile phone never left my side to check messages, make calls and keep in touch with everyone – it was an essential part of my life. However, one of the greatest drawbacks was that whenever I went abroad was my phone would ooze money – it could still make calls and send messages, and even access the internet, but doing so would only give me a heart attack when I received my bill at the end of the month.

Back then, phones were locked and sim cards were not readily available. So we would resort to using phone cards, internet calling services like skype or just the plain old landline phone. However as technology advances at lightning fast pace, most mobile phones are now available unlocked (or they can be unlocked very easily) and sim cards are now readily available. It makes it so much easier to swap out the little sim card in your phone, and immediately you can make low cost calls and text message, some even allow you to have internet access and include low rates to call internationally.

For frequent travelers or students, it now allows you to be mobile without the high cost! But how is this done and what does it all involve?

What exactly is a sim card?

Most mobile phones work on the GSM protocol, and that is used in most countries around the world to transmit mobile phone signals. GSM phones are identified by a SIM card or subscriber identity module. This little card, with a microchip on it allows the phone to work on the network to make and receive calls. Sim cards are removable, which means when you travel you can remove the sim card from your phone and replace it with a local sim card from the country you are visiting.

What are the benefits of getting an international sim card?

Rather than roaming under your contract from your home country, getting an international sim card will help you not only save money but also make your life much easier. Benefits include:

1. Accesible coverage, no need to find a wifi hotspot like when using Skype
2. No more roaming charges
3. Local number in country for people to call you on
4. Low cost local calls
5. Cheap international calls (on most sim cards)

Now, on any extended travel period it should be the communication of choice as sim cards now only cost $30 for a card, and most of the time that includes some calling credit. For more information on international communication options please check out our international sim card page which has further information and advice.

Also – let us know what you use when you travel abroad? Do you use international sim cards or other calling solutions?

As we highlighted in our previous post, mobile phone companies tend to hit those who travel or study abroad with high roaming costs if you use your mobile phone when abroad. Our post identified some key areas to help students minimize these costs and avoid any high charges or unexpected phone bills.

Of course, the key to using your phone abroad is that its easy and convenient. That is why we have developed a range of sim card options for students coming to study or travel in the USA that are both easy to use, and are extremely cost effective – in fact you will probably not find a cheaper option online anywhere! All you need to do is make sure you have a compatible tri or quadband gsm mobile phone that is unlocked, and you can purchase one of our sims, pop it in your phone and you benefit from:

1. A Local USA Number
2. Cheap Local and Competitive International Rates
3. You Avoid ALL Roaming Charges

We now have two options for those needing a USA sim card – a T-Mobile USA Sim Card and TuYo Mobile USA Sim Card. Both cards offer some fantastic benefits such as low international calls, a set $1 per day unlimited calling price for all calls and much more. Both cards can be ordered online, quickly and easily and there is 2 to 3 day delivery schedule for orders that are shipped to the USA and 4 to 6 days delivery time for anywhere in the world.

For more information about our USA Sim Card options and all our other international sim card options please see our website for more information and pricing:

http://www.internationalstudent.com/sim_cards/

We all love our mobile phones, they provide such a high level of convenience that most people do not want to go without them. However, although you may travel well, its most likely that your existing mobile phone provider and contract in your home country will not travel well with you. As any traveler will tell you, when you use your mobile phone abroad you will be hit with high roaming charges that can really start to add up if you use your phone for any length of time.

To avoid any surprises in your phone bill, there are a few things you can do to minimize your costs and make sure you have the best calling options available to you. Before you travel abroad, you should:

1. Call Current Provider – before you leave, you should call your current phone provider and find out firstly if you can use your phone abroad, secondly find out what the charges will be (so there will be no surprises if you do end up using your phone) and thirdly ask if your phone is locked or unlocked, and if the latter you should request your phone unlock code. If they do not provide this to you, there are many sources online to unlock your phone – Google Search is a good start!
2. Do Some Research – after calling your provider, you will most likely find out that your charges when abroad are going to be high. The best way to avoid this is to purchase a sim card for the country you are traveling to, this way you will have a local number, cheap calls locally and depending on the country you are traveling to, you may have free inbound calls.
3. International Calls – of course, if you are traveling, you will want to be calling home and people around the world. The best and cheapest way to do this is through a VOIP solution such as Skype and Gizmo which you can run for free on your laptop, and will offer low cost rates per minute to countries around the world. If you do not have access to a laptop, consider purchasing an international calling card, or a sim card with international calling services built in. It may be slightly more expensive, but will be very easy as you can call directly from your mobile phone. Please also be aware that when using a calling card from a prepaid phone, you will be using up your prepaid credit and your international calling credit.

Hopefully with these few simple steps, you will be able to avoid the high roaming charges that most providers will impose on you when you travel abroad. If you need a range of sim cards, we have a range available that can be purchased online quickly and easily. For example our T-Mobile USA Sim Card offers some excellent benefits and can be delivered anywhere in the world!

As you head back to school there are always things that you put off doing, or simply forget about entirely – well now you can do them last minute and we have some great resources for you….

International Student Loans: Student loans for international students studying in the US or Canada, and for US students abroad. Apply online for up to $30,000 per year.
International Student Insurance: Student Secure is comprehensive health and travel insurance for students outside their home country, meets most school requirements.
International Calling Cards: Keep in touch with your family and friends with low cost international calls from your mobile or home phone
USA Sim Card and Mobile Phones: Stay mobile with a sim card or mobile phone for the USA and get a local US number to cut your roaming charges…..

and with any new school, or back to school experience, its a time to make new friends:

-Join our Facebook Group and introduce yourself to our current members

-Participate in our Forums and chat with other students