[HD123]

If you are looking for a world phone stick to GSM. The CDMA carriers are just starting out in the roaming arena and so far it doesnt look good. I have traveled with lots of friends from the states and canada and no one with GSM has ever had any problems roaming. But the few people I have seen with 8830 have had headache after headache. Not being able to make calls (yes they had international roaming activated), data not working, bad reception... etc.. Most of it has to do with whoever the CDMA carrier signs up as their partner in the roaming country. And from what I have seen, they have not been partnering up with the right carriers. They seem to be going with smaller, newer, CHEAPER carriers which of course will get you the above mentioned problems.
I looked at Telus (Canada) international roaming partners and it was a joke.

[CrackBlack]

Thanks for the heads up.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Go Blue]

I'm not sure that this is a universal problem. I use 8800 for international travel, but used my Sprint 8830 on one international trip (Europe) just for kicks, and to compare the service quality with my 8800, with no issues with either voice or data, and no discernible difference in service quality.

My son has a Verizon 8830 and uses it internationally with no issues either, voice or data. His first trip he did have problems upon arrival, but it turned out to be Verizon had not set up the account correctly for international roaming, which they fixed within 10 minutes. It was not an issue with roaming partner, just Verizon incompetence in initial account setup. He has traveled in China, Singapore, Malaysia, and all over Europe trouble free with his 8830. Like most things, YYMV, and I don't doubt that some have experienced issues, but it hasn't proven to be universal.

Some of the problems may be due to the user's own experience level. Often when you land, a GSM phone (and this will include an 8830 in international roaming mode) either will not automatically select the local carrier, or it may select one that will work for voice but not data. Look at the list of available carriers and sometimes you will see 4 or 5 to choose from. It often requires manually selecting a carrier until you find one that works both voice and data. I have had to walk people through this process countless times because they don't understand that for international roaming there is more to connecting than just pushing the "On" button. If you're used to a simple cellphone the "on" button usually works when you land -- but with a BB not every carrier that works for voice will necessarily work for your data connection too.

The other thing I have seen is that phones are often set to "home only" carrier selection. This is particularly true for those of us who live in border states, where, for example, if I travel around in downtown Detroit, or while on Lake St. Clair on my boat, the phones may automatically roam to a Canadian tower. One can get surprise roaming fees in this case, so many stores will set the phones up for "home only" to avoid this. Great to avoid roaming fees while in your home state, but for someone who doesn't even know that option exists it causes problems when you land in London or Shanghai or Mumbai.

[Xopher]

The 8830 has a GSM SIM slot. Are you talking about using CMDA outsite North America, or using the GSM radio within the 8830? That can make a big difference in where and how the phone will work. I would think that (depending on if your phone is locked or not) using a SIM card while in Europe would not only give you beter service, you would have the option to go with a carrier that will charge you less as well.

[HD123]

Xopher; you have to use the GSM radio outside North America.. you dont have a choice.

Go Blue: I agre wiht you and I myself am not new to roaming.. have been roaming wiht phones since I was kid. I tried all the thngs you mentioned and when I wa splaying around with the network selection I saw the 8830 was very stubborn and would not let me choose any network I wanted. Thats when went to Telus' site and saw that the issue was on their side and did some research and found out a lot of people there have the same problem.
Maybe you guys on Verizon are lucky and they have done a good job of signing agreements with more than 1 carrier in a country unlike Telus.
I just wanted to give a heads up.

[JRSCCivic98]

I want to say this was eye-opening, but alas....... it wasn't.