2003-05-13T23:57:00.000-05:00

So here it goes, after couple of trips to Germany I have gathered some usefull knowledge as to how use a GSM cellphone virtually for free. It's not a scam, it works 100%. Here is the list of things that needs to be done:
1. Get unlocked GSM phone here in US. Or get locked one and unlock it (Rumor says that procedure costs about ~$25)
2. Get calling card account here in US that provides Germany 1-800 access number (MCI or AT&T have such card for sure)
3. As soon as you get to Europe, unplug your US sim card from the phone and stash it into your wallet, you will not need it until you get back.
4. Find any cellular store which sells prepaid SIM cards (T-Mobile worked great for me) and get your self a prepaid sim card. This will require passport and about 60 Euro.
5. Here are two most important parts which are not known to US cellphone users. First one is that incoming calls to your prepaid SIM card number ARE free to you. Absolutelly free, for as long as you talk. The second important part is that all calls from your cellphone to toll free numbers are FREE as well. You don't have to even pay for airtime! What this mean to you? Simple! You got a calling card in US, right? Calling card gave you a tollfree access number in Germany, didn't they? So all you need to do is to setup your phone to use a calling card before making calls and all you will pay for is the long distance charges on your calling card.

Here are the instructions on seting up calling card calling on Ericsson T68i:
Go to “Calls” menu
Select “Time & Cost”
Select “Calling cards”
Select “Use calling cards”, enter your phone lock code, and select “On” press “yes”
Select “My cards” and enter your phone lock code
Select “Add new?”
Add access number (something like 1800….) and press “Yes”
Enter card name (MCI for example) and press “Yes”
Enter verification code that was provided to you by calling card company press “Yes”
Based on how you required to dial using your calling card select either “Number first” or “Code first” and press “Yes”. In most cases the code needs to be entered before number however it varies from calling card to calling card.
Card is added, now select it from the menu of available cards and select “Activate card” and press “Yes”
To make a call using calling card enter number like you would dial it using calling card (01149xxxx) for calls to Germany when calling from US for example and press and hold “Yes” button until you will see that phone started dialing. Sit back and relax until phone dials the active phone card number and sends verification code and finally sends the phone number. That’s it

2003-05-10T15:16:00.000-05:00

Let's see if this thing does work, looks amazing...

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