RangeRoamer vs. Cingular
General Cingular international roaming information:
Cingular has made a strong move towards enabling international roaming services in the last few years, and they have a frequent roamer plan that can save some people money. Most new Cingular phones sold over the last two years are GSM based, so there is a chance they'll work in places like Europe, Australia, etc. However, some phones don't support European frequencies, so you'll need to check on that with them, and also, if you are an old AT&T TDMA customer, your phone basically can't roam anywhere in Europe and you would need to switch to a Cingular plan…an unwelcome choice for many since some old AT&T wireless plans were a better deal than the Cingular ones and it wouldn't make sense to switch just to get roaming services!
In almost all cases though, RangeRoamer is a more affordable solution. Also, the more you talk, the more the savings will accumulate.
| Cingular vs. RangeRoamer |
Cingular International Roaming Plan (WorldRoamer) |
Rangeroamer roaming |
| Incoming Call Cost |
$0.99 to $4.99 per minute |
FREE in 36 countries, others at much lower rates |
| Outgoing Calls Cost |
$0.99 to $4.99 per minute |
$0.69 per minute from 59 countries, others at subsantial savings |
| Global Phone |
Usually not needed if you have a newer phone. Renting is $8 per day, ($56
per week) or you can buy a phone from Cingular for a negotiable price |
Purchase and re-use, or rent for $39 |
| Roaming SIM & Activation Cost |
$5.99 |
$30, yours to keep for future use |
| Monthly Charge if Ongoing Service |
$5.99 per month |
$3.99 per month |
France, Italy, Germany Roaming Savings Examples:
This example applies to most Western Europe travel with Sprint vs. RangeRoamer
Low Usage Scenario:
14 day trip
phone used for 5 inbound minutes per day
5 outbound minutes per day
| Cingular vs. RangeRoamer |
Cingular use your own phone plan |
Cingular Rental Plan |
| Total Cost |
$145 |
$256 including some call forwarding |
With RangeRoamer you pay $147, so you only save if your current Cingular phone
is incompatible and you have to rent a phone. In that case, you would save $109
with RangeRoamer.
Medium-Low Usage Scenario:
14 day trip
phone used for 8 inbound minutes per day
8 outbound minutes per day
| Cingular vs. RangeRoamer |
Cingular use your own phone plan |
Cingular Rental Plan |
| Total Cost |
$227 |
$340 including some call forwarding |
With RangeRoamer you pay just $185, so you save $155 if renting from Cingular,
or $42 if your phone is already compatible with European roaming frequencies.