[geeks] GSM coverage in southeastern PA.

[Nadine Miller]

On May 25, 2009, at 2:49 AM, gsm at mendelson.com wrote:

> I know there are some people from PA (or nearby) on this list and  
> thought
> I would ask.
>
> My wife will be in the Philly area late July for a week.
>
> Obviously, she will be bringing her cell phone with her. It is a  
> quad bad
> GSM Nokia. She will be staying in Gilbertsville, but won't need the  
> phone
> there.
> Mostly what she will need is a phone to call local (215) numbers as  
> she goes
> around and does her errands. My expectation is that her using her  
> Israeli
> phone for anything but emergencies will result in a rediculous phone  
> bill.
>
> Is there GSM coverage in Philly? Does it reach out as far as  
> Gilbertsville?
>
> Is there a cheap celluar alternative? I have an old GSM 1900mHz  
> phone, can one
> get a cheap SIM for it, assuming the battery works.
>
> Is there an alternative service to GSM in that area?
> She is going to be in touch with us via a 215 number, so there is no  
> need
> to have the Israeli phone if we can call her and she can call us  
> with a
> Philly one.

She can use her quad band GSM phone with a prepaid T-Mobile or AT&T  
SIM, just like a person from the US would do if they were going to  
Europe.  Can't speculate as to which would have better coverage for  
Philly, though.  T-Mobile's coverage map for the US is pretty  
detailed, and they have good roaming agreements.  AT&T probably has  
better coverage, though.

That's the whole point of quad-band "world phones".

=Nadine=