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Question by legs: Cell phone ideas for US guy in Recife, Brazil?
So… I’m locked in a contract with Verizon, otherwise I’d consider a plan with someone else. I want to be able to use a cell phone while I’m away in Recife. Twice before, I went there and found that I had no signal. (even though both times, Verizon reps repeatedly assured me that I could use my phone in Recife)
I finally found out that Verizon doesn’t use GSM, That’s the problem. Also, a Verizon rep told me that even their “Global Phones” won’t work in that city despite having some GSM capabilities. So I’m told that Verizon can’t work for me in this case.
I need some good ideas. I was thinking of a prepaid quad band GSM phone from AT&T or T-Mobile or an “unlocked” quad band phone. I’ve never had a prepaid phone, and I don’t know much about SIM cards.
I want to make local calls and calls to the US. I’ll be there about 3 weeks.
What is the best short term solution?
Best answer:
Answer by nwtrekkr
I have found while in Venezuela that ATT worked really well. I would not get a prepaid phone,instead a cheap package with the following upgrades: International package (I think around 39 US dollars) and Extended talk package (around 7 US dollars). The second package extends the free minutes timeclock to extra hours and more than pays for itself. A prepaid phone has virtually no free minutes, if any and the cost of a cheap contract in the long run will be cheaper. Otherwise, due to it being International, your minutes will not be cheap and 0 phone bills might be the norm. Another alternative might be International phone cards which may even work with different forms of their cell phone plans, prepaid or contract. I would call ATT- they were great assistance to me. You might have to eat the Verizon phone unless you have a VERY close family member that you TRUST to assume your contract (unfortunately in your name) who needs to use a cell phone. If that is so, I would call Verizon and see if you can put monthly caps on it to keep the bill from being out of control in case of disaster.
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