Your experience spooks me. I'm in the middle of getting a Sony Ericsson p800 with T-Mobile service. It is tri-mode.

T-Mobile's customer service was lame, and I was trying to buy!

Couldn't you buy AT&T service somewhere else and use it. Guess your phone number would be in another area code.

Hey!

It's a sad thing, that the reach of the T-Mobile cutomer service is nearly world wide :-)) One should assume, that only the best developments propagate around the world, but... Well. I'm feeling with you

Ciao

Oli D.

You forgot Cingular and Nextel. Cingular is the second largest carrier next to Verizon (which is CDMA) and also one of the first carriers to hit the GSM market in the U.S. My current work is heavily involved in the mobile world so here is some useful info:

* Cingular shows most of MA covered on there map (http://onlinestore.cingular.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/html/Maps/Northeast/Massachusetts/superhome_ma_ri.htm)

* Here is Nextel's map (http://www.nextel.com/cgi-bin/localMarketMap.cgi?market=mkt27)

* ATT GSM is the new kid on the block and coverage is bad but getting better (only major cities right now)

* T-Mobile is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG, has been around longer than ATT GSM, has good international coverage, but they are still expanding there network here(it is interesting to note that T-Mobile is leasing Cingular lines)

* Both Cingular and Nextel have international roaming plans

* Cingular also offers the Handspring Treo 270 (they have a lot of other tri-band phones as well)

From my experience, using an international roaming plan gets really pricey and should *only* be used if you really need people to contact you on that number. Most people get unlocked phones (phones that are not tied down to any provider) and take out the SIM card when travelling and buy SIM cards local to their place of travel. You get a local number but the rates are much cheaper overseas (some prepaid SIMs even have unlimited incoming calls)! Most people do this and suspend their account if they are leaving for a long time or just create a voicemail message giving people the new number (hey, they want to talk to you -- let them pay for it!).

If you buy a phone from the manufacturer they are locked to their network only, but if you let them know that you are travelling a lot they might give you the unlock code. People also sell unlock codes and unlocked phones so there is always a workaround. I have a friend who does if you are interested.

Don't forget to make the distinction between tri-mode and tri-band. Tri-mode means 3 modes. Digital 800, Analog 800, and Digital 1900. It's runs in two frequency ranges, therefore it's dual band. Tri-band is 900/1800/1900. The first two are used in europe and asia, and the 1900 is the one used in North America. 1500-1900 is considered the "PCS" frequency range. 800-900 are the "cellular" range.

In conclusion, the best thing to get is an unlocked tri-band phone (or a locked one which you can get unlocked). You can buy them here or overseas. They are real cheap in some places so I would shop around. If you travel, check the prices on some phones whereever you are at (without looking like a tourist -- you will get ripped off!). My friend gets the latest phones a few months before they hit the market and he ships nationwide so let me know if you see a phone you like online that isn't out here yet.

That's all for now,

Nasseam

Well we got vx6000 verizon picture phones went through the hassle of 5 phones and new numbers and the whole shpeel, but it turns out I ALSO LIVE IN A DEAD ZONE ! thanx for telling me. oh and also i am sure the tower is going to be built during the 2 years plan i have , so while you are charging roaming rates screwing people i hope you just make the money you want