Daughter leaves for Ecuador 5-27-07

[stevenjeff]

0830 hrs:/May 29, sent her the quad band Motorola today. This might make a difference with the 09 card that is suppose to work in Ecuador. She should get it within 5 to 8 days. The C 139 does work with the local sim. The only thing was she only purchased a 5 sim card with 3 min. I told her to buy a 20.card and use it, but call and give us the phone number.
We make contact with her using VOIP, but I have since added World Service to our home telephone and cost is only .32 cent per minute.

Q: The networks in Ecuador run on 850 frq network only: on 09 website they state a quad band phone is needed in South America. Is it possible that 09 is running on 900/1800 in Ecuador when their networks are only 850 therefore making the Motorola C139 unusable?

I might be wasting money sending her the SLV 6 phone and messing with the 09 card, but it’s a learning experiment for us all. If anyone can help or have an extra card that might work let me know.

I checked and UWS callback service is up and working. But this service will do no good until I get a Sim working were she can test it.

Thanks.

[DRNewcomb]

Originally Posted by stevenjeff

Q: The networks in Ecuador run on 850 frq network only: on 09 website they state a quad band phone is needed in South America. Is it possible that 09 is running on 900/1800 in Ecuador when their networks are only 850 therefore making the Motorola C139 unusable?

I doubt this will make any difference. The reason that 09 says "Quad Band" is that in Europe (including Iceland) that's the only type phone that has 850 MHz.

Here are the key points:
1. She has a perfectly good local SIM. She does not need a different SIM. All she needs is to add a top-up to the SIM she has. Since she found the SIM she can probably find the appropriate top-up card at any little store anywhere she goes.

2. If the 09 issue is still worth solving, consider this:
2.a It is important to know if the phone registers (locks on) with one of the two GSM 850 carriers. If it doesn't register (after waiting about 30 minutes) but works with the local SIM, then 09 has some serious problems with roaming in Ecuador.
2.b If it locks onto one carrier but won't make calls, then she needs to try to force it to the other carrier and try again. The calling system for most of these prepaid SIMs is based on a system called USSD which allows the phone to send a signal back home (Iceland) to trigger the callback. Not all carriers implement USSD signaling. Sometimes a SIM will register on a net but not be able to send the trigger message. In that case you need to try another local net.
2.c If the phone is registered, it may be possible for her to receive calls but not place them. You should have her send you an e-mail (or something) letting you know when she will be waiting with the SIM in place for your call.

The whole roaming issue is a bit complicated and it is always best if the user understands how to change some of his phone's settings. Problems occur even when roaming post-paid accounts with major carriers. I was in Singapore just after Christmas and couldn't get my T-Mobile SIM to work properly. A submarine earthquake had cut undersea cables and disrupted communications around the western Pacific. OTOH, some of my prepaids worked just fine.

Keep in mind that kids have been traveling on exchange programs since long before the cell phone was invented and she can probably live just fine without one.