Expert: DebiN - 7/19/2010

Question
I need a cell phone and service that will work at home (Colorado) and Internationally.  I live in a very rural area of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado zip 80814 and a lot of cell phones don’t work well up here.  I need a cell phone that will work here as well as internationally.  Internationally I will not use the phone very often.  I travel mainly to Cozumel Mexico, Belize and the Caribbean.  I just want an easy to use, basic, simple cell phone.  Can you recommend a phone and service for me?

Answer
My recommendation is that you get a phone from either Verizon or AT&T. Both carriers offer plans where you can travel to Mexico and have a bucket of minutes and not pay per minute like with other countries. The Caribbean is US for the most part or Mexico, so that is not an issue. For Belize, you have to pay per minute. If the phone is quad band (i.e., 850/1900 and 900/1800), it will work all over the world. If it is CDMA only (with Verizon), it will only work where Verizon has a partner on the CDMA network. To be sure the phone will work everywhere, you can get a Verizon WorldPhone and the Mexico and US plans and be fine. If Verizon or AT&T don't work where you live in Colorado, there will be no way to have a phone that will work everywhere. T-Mobile also works internationally but if you don't get signal with AT&T, you likely wont' with T-Mobile either. There really aren't many basic phones anymore, but they aren't difficult and you don't have to use all the features and bells and whistles. Your main concern based on what you indicate you need, is the ability to work internationally. All AT&T phones work internationally and only Verizon WorldPhones do. Hope this helps.