recommendations for FL/USA | cheap int'l calling and data required

[MobileMan]

I'm taking a trip to Florida next week and planning to use Locus GSM for calls, 15ct/min for the first 5 minutes then 9c/min. For data on my HTC Touch Diamond I'm planning on using 3 UK at £3/mb (apx $4.70/mb at todays rate) unless anyone has a better recommendation.

[mileageman]

If you are a higher volume user, you might consider using O2 Wireless, also owned by Locus. 500 minute refills can be had for 29.99 or .06 a minute making it perhaps the cheapest prepaid GSM, although expiration is short. Also AT&T prepaid now offers unlimited calling for $3 per day.

http://www.o2wirelessservice.com/

[adam917]

Originally Posted by MobileMan

I'm taking a trip to Florida next week and planning to use Locus GSM for calls, 15ct/min for the first 5 minutes then 9c/min. For data on my HTC Touch Diamond I'm planning on using 3 UK at £3/mb (apx $4.70/mb at todays rate) unless anyone has a better recommendation.

AT&T PAYG has a package that is 19.99 USD/100 MB (102400 KB) & lasts 29 days. That works out to ~20 cents/MB if you use it all. Surprisingly, their only other offer is a 4.99 package for ONE megabyte (1024 KB). A la carte is 0.01/KB which is an even crazier price. It has worked fine for me for surfing but streaming & any applications that require a constant connection but don't constantly transfer data will get you disconnected after 5 minutes of inactivity. Also, after every disconnection, even if you are on a package, you get this annoying USSD pop-up saying you have spent 0.00, (blah blah). You can press *777*3# then send to see how many KB you have remaining (so if you use Windows Mobile, you may still not want to suppress USSD via registry).

As far as anything else, you may be able to get away with using T-Mobile's Sidekick option on a standard pre-paid account for 1 USD (automatic deduction every day) every single day (even if you don't use it) and manually entering the Hiptop APN. Included is unlimited SMS, MMS, IM, & EDGE/GPRS data. It has been working fine for a friend of mine for a month and me for about 6 months and counting now. Many iPhone users seem to be using this. Hopefully this is not some loophole that will eventually be shut. This actually is the most affordable prepaid plan per byte as it's unlimited.

Besides these options, your Three UK deal isn't terrible if you don't plan on doing more than light occasional use, and it might even be cheaper than these other options depending on how much you need to use. It is funny that AT&T offers such a small package of 1 MB alongside their 100 MB one and has the nerve for charge 4.99 for that 1 MB!

Good luck!