international iphone usage (help please and thanks)

[Jason]

my sister and her husband both have iphones, and they're moving to the netherlands in a few months. without looking into it whatsoever at this point, i'm under the impression they will have to hack their phones in order to use them overseas. there is no at&t over yonder, right?

so then, my brother-in-law is dropping the task of figuring this whole phone thing out in my lap. can anyone point me in the right direction? surely some of our european brethren might have some insight they could share?

i know it's probably a matter of doing some googling and just diving in, but i'm really really lazy today.

any (and all) help is appreciated!

[Jeenyuss]

jason i would recommend that you don't get an ipod touch. last st. patrick's day i lost my ipod touch in a movie theater and i've felt shitty ever since.

[Jason]

i touch my pod, but i don't have an ipod touch

[Galleleo]

As far as Iphones go in the Netherlands, T-Mobile has the sole right to them.

However, obviously if you hack one, you can put in whatever you want. They could try going to T-Mobile for a subscription and see if T-Mobile can make it so it works in their phone, but I am not sure about that.

[Displaced]

jailbreak+unlock it... then you can use whatever you want with it...

a quick google search should yeild more then enough info.

[Money]

im pretty sure ATT as an international plan

[Jason]

yeah, it's a crazy rip-off.

they want $25/month and then you still end up paying out the ass for calls back to the states. my sister wants to be able to call back over here and talk to my mom without it costing a fortune.

[Jason]

jailbreak+unlock it... then you can use whatever you want with it...

a quick google search should yeild more then enough info.

first, hi disp. :]

second, this is exactly what i plan on doing, i'm just being terribly lazy, so i was hoping someone could link me to a very simple, explicit, step-by-step tutorial.

[Displaced]

here you go.

http://www.iphonehacks.com/2008/07/jailbreak-3g.html
http://www.iphonehacks.com/unlock_iphone/

[Money]

u could always use vonage, u can get a number to ANY country with vonage, no matter where u live...so ur mom could go get vonage phone ($25) a month and have the phone number set to wherever your sis is going that way when ur sister calls back to the states shes actually calling a local number and wont get charged up the ass for international calls, understand?

[Jason]

that's one idea i hadn't looked into but have been meaning to, money.

<3 disp.

[Galleleo]

J, I can tell you that if you sis is spending time here, it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better to get a Dutch subscription for calling, wherever. I have had an American thing and that is the biggest piece of rip off shit I have ever seen, why the fuck do you have to pay for incoming calls or messages? And why the fuck is it so damn expensive?

For instance, would you get a Vodafone subscription, calling to the us costs you .50 per minute (pre-paid would be more expensive)

For the rest you can always use Skype or that Vonage stuff, but definitely don't stick to an American company and plan.

[project dragon]

http://www.skype.com/allfeatures/sub...ubscriptionTab

If they want to call back to the States. $12.95/month to call anywhere in the world.

Or maybe it's the $2.95/month plan for unlimited US/Canada calls. Though I am speculating it says that because I am in Canada. If it works anywhere in the world though this would be a good option.

[l s]

Skype is probably your best bet.. It's cheaper / user friendly ( for your sister ) / and you wont have to worry about the silly extra charges, it's not as cool as the iphone but who cares?

I'd rather use Skype if I'm going out there, I wouldn't want to pay an extra 25 dollars, on top of what ever other charges they're going to hit me with from the cellular phone providers..

[Eric is God]

I don't know much about calling plans, but if your sister plans on passing a lot of data traffic, I'd recommend she just pays the cancellation fee at AT&T (yes I know it's a lot of money) and just signing up for a new contract at a Netherlands carrier (Vodafone, KPN, Orange T-Mobile etc). Jail breaking iPhones is the cheaper way to go but it can have serious consequences if she ever wants to download updates from Apple or use new apps. Apple is doing it's best to ensure as many jail broken iPhones as possible get bricked. One of the many reasons American and European courts are looking into the company's practices and policies.

P.S. I admit that as a RIM employee I hate Apple, but everything I mentioned is true.