Why not go to the Apple web site and select Israel. They give links to three providers there who have the iPhone4, e.g. Orange, http://www1.orange.co.il/iphone/
Buy it there and I'm sure it ends up cheaper than roaming!
budone wrote:An ATT iPhone will NOT work in Israel as the country is 99% CDMA.
Hi, where is that information coming from? http://www.mobileworldlive.com/maps/network_info.php?nid=7825&org_id=7824&cid=2017 for example shows pretty good nationwide coverage of GSM (and 3G GSM).
Remember that the Verizon maps are "biased", in that they show only the GSM coverage that they have partner agreements with, not all the available GSM.
silver6055 wrote:
budone wrote:An ATT iPhone will NOT work in Israel as the country is 99% CDMA.
Hi, where is that information coming from? http://www.mobileworldlive.com/maps/network_info.php?nid=7825&org_id=7824&cid=2017 for example shows pretty good nationwide coverage of GSM (and 3G GSM).
Remember that the Verizon maps are "biased", in that they show only the GSM coverage that they have partner agreements with, not all the available GSM.
That could be.I had not taken that into consideration. Thanks!
I didn't take the iphone with me to Israel because off all the push data , didn't want to end up with thousands of dollars bill ,
I was planning of renting a GPS and they offered me a rental ihpone , paid 5 bucks a day free of worries ,
got it from http://www.rentcenter.co.il/index.php?act=products&cat_id=79
Cheers
Here is the definitive answer. The Verizon iPhone 4s will roam in Israel, but only on an outdated and largely abandoned CDMA network. It will not allow you to roam onto the myriad of sophisticated 3G GSM networks. The result is that the data will be very slow - it will be o instead of E or 3G.
Even if you have an international data plan you won't be able to use it effectively except to read simple emails. Forget about using Skype or Vonage which work well on 3G.
Your only solution is to call Verizon and ask them to unlock your iPhone 4s. I did this - the tech support people were really useless on the roaming issue by the way. Then pop in an Israeli SIM card that costs 100 shekels - about $25. You can buy 20 gigabytes of data for 150 shekels. You can then use 3G data all you want ncluding making free calls on Skype and Vonage. It really is easy. You can find the cards everywhere.
It is a real shame that Verizon forces roaming onto this outdated CDMA network that does not have 3G capabilities.
I'm confused. A Verizon rep. just told me that using a local SIMM in Israel will not work because the iPhone 4S defaults to CDMA and you cannot turn this off. (So it will ignore the SIMM and will not connect to GSM).
Can you help?
Thanks,
Zurkin
Call in. If your phone is not supported. Verizon has a free loaner program where you can get a world phone. Also its 25 dllrs for 250 mb (not o sure about the mb part)
www.verizonwireless.com/global
cheers!
The Verizon reps are not knowledgable on this roaming problem. If you have been a customer in good standing Verizon will unlock your iPhone for you. Simply go into any Israeli shopping mall and buy a sim card and data plan. The person at the kiosk will do it all for you. GSM will work great. When you return remove the Israeli sim and put the Verizon one back in. Easy.
Looks like Apple added a new feature allowing the international CDMA roaming to be turned off. This should force the iPhone 4s to use the GSM network instead when roaming in Israel or in other countries with poor CDMA networks.
See:
http://support.verizonwireless.com/clc/devices/knowledge_base.html?id=55482
Just be sure you have an international data plan during your trip so you don't get a nasty billing surprise when you return home. They prorate the plan. So for example, if you buy the $200 plan and go for 10 days, you'll pay under $70. Pays for itself especially if you use Skype or Vonage for phone calls, use email, send photos back home. Just be sure to preset the end date for your plan do it doesn't continue. If you travel a lot try to convince the rep to give you the unlimited international plan for $65 a month, which also includes unlimited domestic.
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