Using the 521 in Europe/Italy

[oaooao]

I have a 521 on T-mobile prepaid.

I will be traveling to Europe in October and I was wondering if there is any way to use it there?
Does it have to be unlocked?

 

[anon(5918101)]

Since the Lumia 521 is not one of the "International Devices" of T-mobile, I suppose the following fees will be applied:

Voice rate: $1.49
Text messaging rate (per message): $0.50 sent, $0.20 received (or pulled from feature bucket)
Internet(GPRS) rate: $15 per MB

source​

T-mobile, to provide international functions in Italy, relies on Vodafone Omnitel Nv. and Telecom Italia Mobile, both of wich have a pretty good coverage over almost the whole peninsula.

Source: Me =P, I'm italian.​

 

[jfmanzo]

It's a GSM device so it'll work in Italy but will be exorbitantly, insanely expensive to do so. You should get it unlocked and use a SIM from an Italian provider.

 

[Dustin Hodges]

You could also, if you bought it after it was released through T-Mobile stores, or if you installed the update that went out to devices bought before then and reset your phone, use wifi calling. Granted you would need a hotspot to use it, but if youre at a hotel or a restaurant with wifi, it will use your current rate plan.

 

[darkoman4]

You could also, if you bought it after it was released through T-Mobile stores, or if you installed the update that went out to devices bought before then and reset your phone, use wifi calling. Granted you would need a hotspot to use it, but if youre at a hotel or a restaurant with wifi, it will use your current rate plan.

So that means that if you are in Europe and call back home when you are on wifi, the phone will use your regular plan minutes?

 

[Dustin Hodges]

So that means that if you are in Europe and call back home when you are on wifi, the phone will use your regular plan minutes?

Last I checked, yes. It will only charge you international costs if you leave the hotspot and/or turn on cellular. Like I said: Not a good solution for everywhere, but it helps for when you are in a hotel or restaurant with wifi.

Also, this only applies to calling US numbers, and can be affected if you have roaming turned on. So I would suggest switching your phone to "wifi preferred" if you were to use it, disable roaming while within a wifi hotspot, and you will still be charged the international rate if you call a number outside the US (Example: Using your US Phone connected to wifi to call an European phone number somewhere in Europe.)

 

[jfmanzo]

WiFi calling is not the same as VOIP. I had it with my BB 9780 with Rogers and it is only usable in certain situations in your home calling area where cell is weak or unavailable. It is NOT for making calls from Italy. It will not work. You can't stipulate " WiFi only' and again you'll end up paying huge roaming charges.

Unlock the damn phone and get a sim on arrival.

 

[Dustin Hodges]

WiFi calling is not the same as VOIP. I had it with my BB 9780 with Rogers and it is only usable in certain situations in your home calling area where cell is weak or unavailable. It is NOT for making calls from Italy. It will not work. You can't stipulate " WiFi only' and again you'll end up paying huge roaming charges.

Unlock the damn phone and get a sim on arrival.

Dude. its 2013. Not 2010. You can wifi call in other countries.

Also, its not just for areas where signal is weak or unavailable. I used wifi calling at a place of business in town where I had all 5 bars of 4G.

And lastly, everything I have read seems to say you can make wifi calls in Europe. Even T-Mobile has a support page on international wifi calling (its a bit hard to understand at first, but it basically says calling to international numbers or calling with roaming turned on will incur international charges. Calling a US number with roaming off will not.)

If your BB9780 is only usable when you have little to no signal in a home area, then it sucks for you. Rogers must not have a very good WiFi calling setup. Not to mention, this is a Lumia 521, a device on T-Mobile, not Rogers.

 

[jfmanzo]

Dude, my 9780 WAS only usable. It's 2013. I have a lumia 920 now. My point is that TMo's service isn't Skype and it's not as simple and straightforward as you're making it sound. Getting a foreign SIM is always the best strategy.

 

[Dustin Hodges]

Dude, my 9780 WAS only usable. It's 2013. I have a lumia 920 now. My point is that TMo's service isn't Skype and it's not as simple and straightforward as you're making it sound. Getting a foreign SIM is always the best strategy.

Dude. It is as straight forward as I make it sound. Your device uses a different Wifi calling tech and is on a different carrier.

Steps:

1. Go to a foreign country
2. Turn off roaming
3. Turn wifi calling on and set to "Wifi Preffered"
4. Connect to a Wifi hotspot
5. Call a US phone number
6. Call will be connected through T-Mobile, plan minutes will be deducted, no international costs charged.

Also, what does the Lumia 920 have to do with anything? It doesn't have Wifi calling.

Ive done my research. Looked on T-Mobile support pages, read T-Mobile forums.

From T-Mobile Support on WiFi Calling:

There is no additional monthly charge to use the Wi-Fi Calling feature on your handset. Wi-Fi Calling uses monthly plan minutes for the following:
•Calls made from the US to international numbers (subject to international rates)
•Calls made from outside the US to US numbers (not charged roaming)
•Calls made from outside the US to international numbers (subject to international rates, but not charged roaming)
Note: You must disable Data Roaming when traveling internationally to avoid incurring data roaming charges.

As you see, any call made to a US number incurs plan minutes. Calls to International numbers (whether in country or out) are charged at international calling rates. If roaming is enabled, one will incur international charges as well.

PS: I know its not skype. But with IMS (a fairly new Wifi calling tech), its a similar concept. It connects over the internet to T-Mobile. In fact, it uses SIP which facilitates VoIP, making it fairly similar to skype in that its using VoIP:

From T-Mobile Support on IMS:

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP):
SIP is a new technology integrated into the device that uses fewer network resources to process Wi-Fi calls. SIP helps facilitate Voice over IP (VoIP) services by establishing sessions over Wi-Fi networks. SIP is more efficient for the T-Mobile network and will allow more calls to process.

 

[palandri]

The most popular wireless carrier in Italy is called Tim. Just buy a pay as you go sim card from them.

 

[oryan_dunn]

Dude, my 9780 WAS only usable. It's 2013. I have a lumia 920 now. My point is that TMo's service isn't Skype and it's not as simple and straightforward as you're making it sound. Getting a foreign SIM is always the best strategy.

It is that simple...

I travel for my job, and WiFi calling has saved me thousands in phone bills. I've used WiFi calling (UMA) with a BB Pearl 8120, BB Curve 8520, Samsung T339, and Nokia 6136 and (IMS) with Amaze 4g and now the 521.

You enable WiFi calling, and when you're connected to a WiFi hotspot, your phone works just as if it were back in the US. Example, last time I was in India, I made over 300min worth of calls, and at the going international roaming rate, that would have been over $900 (just over $3/min). With WiFi calling enabled, no extra charge.

WiFi calling is completely different from Skype or similar Voip services and requires carrier support to work.

 

[oryan_dunn]

The most popular wireless carrier in Italy is called Tim. Just buy a pay as you go sim card from them.

That's the best solution if what you want to do is call Italian numbers. WiFi calling is better if you're going to be calling US numbers.

 

[montsa007]

If I were you I'd install viber and call/text people using wifi without blowing up my phone bill .
Better call T and check if your phone will catch network in Italy (its a beautiful place, and there are a lot of games about Italian Mafia!)

 

[oaooao]

I can have T-mobile unlock it 4 me b4 I leave.

I suspect the best option is to buy a EU sim that works throughout Europe.
But I will need it only for a short period -- are such short-term sims available for what kind of price?
Can I buy one in the US and also use it to call EU b4 I leave?

 

[oaooao]

Do they have TIM SIM cards for sale at Milan airport? Calling on arrival is a rather
good ability to have. Incidentally, is the SIM card micro? That's what the 521 takes.

BTW, these cards are available on Amazon for $50 with the claim that it includes
EU15 credit, but a guy who bought one posted that it's a scam.

 

[Maggie Chang]

There should be TIM stores in major airport/ train stations. Depend on current promotion, usually you can get EU12 for a week of data + EU5 of voice (I think the plan is called TIM12). They have all different kind of SIM cards. Tell them your phone model and they will find the right card for you.

 

[Maggie Chang]

I was using TIM in Italy. 1GB of data for one month=9 euro. if you need voice it will be another 6 euro prepaid. (total=15 euro)
However I only get 2G speed, I could not get 3G anywhere. the TIM person said it is the restriction of my phone, which is the Lumia 521.

 

[thomas wojcik]

If I were you I'd install viber and call/text people using wifi without blowing up my phone bill .
Better call T and check if your phone will catch network in Italy (its a beautiful place, and there are a lot of games about Italian Mafia!)

I forgot how nice and clear viber sounds. I don't make a ton of calls but the $30\5gig Tmo plan is great with viber to back it up.