> Hi
> my daughter is going to Australia for a year and I want to get her a new
> phone and contract that will provide for economical communication between
> the UK and Down-Under. A non-flashy phone with email capabilities is the
> basis I'm searching on at the moment. Please can anyone offer some advice?
>
> Kind regards,
>
> --
> Lila Duncan
I've recently returned from a month in Oz and, due to the enormous size of
the place, the advice I'd give is different than for other countries.
Elsewhere, I'd suggest taking a normal (GSM) phone - remembering to get it
unlocked first - and buy a local SIM card to put in it; there's no sense in
your daughter using a UK contract abroad, because of the unbelievably
expensive roaming rates *.
But in Australia, a standard GSM phone will not work outside the major towns
and tourist destinations. She will be effectively out of touch whilst
travelling by road, or if she goes beyond the east coast tourist trail to
visit the outback, the Northern Territory, or Western Australia.
I drove up the west coast, and had practically no GSM signal once I left
Perth. On the way back down, I picked up some hitchhikers who were delighted
when their phones started beeping with text messages - they hadn't had any
signal for four months!
The good news is that the national operator Telstra have an old-fashioned
CDMA network that covers almost every small town and settlement in
Australia. This was upgraded last October to a brand new 3G network they
call NextG (for the techies, it's HSDPA on 850MHz W-CDMA). Coverage maps are
here:
http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/net...erage/maps.cfm
There are several phones available that work on this NextG network, there's
a list here:
www.telstra.com.au/nextgnetwork/mobiles.cfm
I used the Imate Jasjam which worked well, especially for email. This phone
is widely available in the UK as the Orange m3100, the HTC Tytn, the
T-mobile Vario 2 etc - they're all the same thing. You can buy one at
Expansys or on eBay, they're not cheap but it's the only way to stay in
contact in more remote destinations.
The only snag is that Telstra may want to credit check her before handing
out a NextG SIM card. I was able to get credit checked at my hostel address,
and got a one-month rolling 'contract' with no ties. I've emailed them to
find out if they can supply NextG SIM cards on a pay as you go basis, and
I'll let the group know what they say.
Hope this helps!
Benedict.
*
Two exceptions are Vodafone and Three, who have deals with their Australian
sister networks - links below. However, the coverage - especially for
Three - is limited to larger towns and cities.
Vodafone Passport:
http://www.abroad.vodafone.co.uk/ind...=cost.passport
Three Like Home:
http://three.co.uk/personal/coverage...me_details.omp