Expert: DebiN - 1/3/2010

Question
Hi!

I use an iPhone in Switzerland, where I have a normal data/voice plan. However, I'll be in the US for three months next summer and I'd like to get a local contract to use my iPhone, as I'll be doing quite a bit of messaging, calling & checking my emails...
When I traveled to the US last summer, I got a really cheap prepaid Verizon cellphone that I was told could be reactivated next summer, even if I didn't use it in between.
I was wondering whether it might be possible to use my Swiss iPhone in the US by getting a voice & data plan for just a few months (as I'll be out of the country again after that...). I also know that there's a difference between the AT&T service (and their iPhone) and the service all other carriers use... Would that pose a problem?

Thank you so much for your help!

Cheers,
Lola

Answer
The iPhone that you will buy in Switzerland, if SIM unlocked, will work in the US with an AT&T or T-Mobile SIM card. It will only work for voice and not for data so you will not be able to check your email, access the internet or send and receive MMS messages. You would have to have a jailbroken iPhone to do this and then you would likely have issues when you returned home. You would, however, be able to use the WiFi, so that might be a good way to check your email in the US. AT&T doesn't have a temporary iPhone plan, so the only way to get full AT&T voice and iPhone data service is to sign up for a 2 year agreement and I don't believe you would want to do that. No other carriers in the US sell or support iPhones and as I mentioned, AT&T only allows post-paid contractual customers to have iPhone data plans. AT&T's iPhone is the same iPhone as what is sold in other countries - they have their own network, of course and AT&T has the second largest network in the US (close in size to Verizon only because Verizon purchased Alltel this year making them the largest). You didn't say where you will be traveling in the US, but unless you will be in very rural areas where most cell service is spotty at best, you shouldn't have a problem. Please let me know if you need more specific detail or if I haven't completely answered your question. Thanks. DebiN