World Wide Satellite Internet Access

GSM = Global System for Mobil Communications.

http://www.gsmworld.com/index.shtmlThis seem like a goo link, progress towards understanding.

GSM is the cell phone standard that all of the world except the USA uses. I know T-Mobile is the one carrier in the USA that uses GSM. So their phones should work for this. Just make sure the free incoming calls include while you are OUT of the country. To answer your question of paying the bill, you can set it up to use your debit/credit card to pay the bill automatically each month of you can do it yourself online. This is what I currently do with my Nextel phone (which only works in the USA unless I buy the international phone). Hope this helps hobo!RobertThe Prudent Travelerhttp://www.prudenttravel.com

MORE INFO from the person that started this great idea.READERJust read your blog and have some additional information for you. The"GSM" system is the "Global System Mobile" and it is the most widelyused mobile telephone system in the world. If you have a GSM phoneyou can use it to access telephone systems in most countries. You usethe phone with a SIM card. Some SIM cards are pre-paid in some casesthe card may only be used on the network in the country where issued. You can often buy a SIM card at a newsstand or tobacco shop and thetelephone number is local to that country and printed on the SIM card. Alternatively, there are companies that issue SIM cards and the billis paid by credit card. These cards are more flexible and often canbe used on GSM networks around the world. The cards are more flexibleand, therefore, more expensive. These cards allow you to use the samenumber all the time.As for payment, ylou can arrange to have the bill charged to a creditcard. And you can arrange for the credit card bill to be debited toyour bank account. You can also pay the bill using an online billpayment service like Citibank on-line (which is free and very good). I would be interested to know how you handle banking and credit cardsand the like in your travels; have you ever posted on this topic onyour blog?As for the callback process, what you would do is open an account witha callback firm in the USA. You will be issued a personal "triggernumber"; this is the number that, when called, it dials the telephonenumber where you can be reached (you can do this via internet, forexample). Then when you dial the trigger number and hang-up. Thecomputer calls you back and when you answer there will be adial-tone--in the USA. So, at that point, you aqfre paying for thecall from the US to you. Then you dial the number in the USA for theinternet service provider. That call will be a US domestic telephonecall and a few cents per minute. So you would need to maintain acheap US-based internet service provider that you can access viadial-in. You would have to have a connection from the phone to yourcomputer.I cecked-out another callback service; see below:http://www.virtualiving.net/There are a ton of these callback services. See:http://www.escapeartist.com/internet/callback.htmIf you put some information on your blog about callback services youcould probably create links to some of these services and earnreferral fees.For example, a call from Israel to a number in the US is 16 cents perminute. From Estonia 21 cents. From Thailand 36 cents. From Niger54 cents.Let me know if you have any questions.James

My techie from India sent me this, and I need to keep all the informaiton in one place:Came across the GSM thing on your BLOG.. So, here's some info from my head.May have missed some specs..What you need is a Quad band GSM cell phone with GPRS support. Bluetooth isoptional as it will allow the Notebook to interface with the cellphonewirelessly. Without Bluetooth support is OK too, but this would need a cablewhich is usually sold as an add-on accessory.The advantage of Bluetooth is that, if the GPRS signal is weak (ie: from thecellphone to the service provider), you can mount the cellphone on a higherspot like a tree, beam or something 7ft tall. This way the notebook wouldcommunicate wirelessly over Bluetooth with the cellphone.-> GSM - Global System for Mobile CommunicationsGSM is the most widely used standard, but newer technologies are coming up.CDMA is faster and clearer for voice, data but not compatible with GSM cellphones. So, GSM is common currently.-> GPRS - General Packet Radio ServiceGPRS works along with GSM and is a MUST for internet connectivity. Onceconnected over GPRS, you can send/receive mails and surf the web on thecellphone itself (small screen is too small). For the Notebook to access theinternet through the cellphone, you'd need Bluetooth on the cellphone or acable connecting the two.-> Quad bandSome cell phones support dual band or triple band frequencies only. Thesedevices might work in Asia or the Middle East, but not in the USA or Europe.To ensure the cellphone covers ALL frequencies in any country, a Quad bandcell phone is a must.Quad band frequencies include 850/900/1800/1900850 and 1900 - USA900 and 1800 - Asia, Middle East, Australia-> Service ProvidersOptions include pre-paid and post-paid plans. When traveling, it might be abetter option to purchase a pre-paid plan in the country your in. Thepre-paid plan includes a certain number of hours for talk time and a certainnumber of text messages that can be sent before your plan expires.You would need to tell them that your primary usage is for GPRS connectivity(internet) and not voice calls or text messaging [SMS]. This way, you mayget a better deal as you wouldn't be paying for text messaging and (or)other unnecessary features.After the signup, you will get a SIM card which sticks into the cellphoneand your connected!! (may require a few settings) ;-)Usually providers have 'happy-hours'. This means calls or data transfersafter 11PM at night to 6 in the morning cost half the full rate or maybecost one fourth the full rate. This is subjective with every provider.When you travel to another city/state, sometimes a cellphone provider mightnot have a presence in the other state or city (although in the samecountry). They may have tie-ups with 3rd party providers and this would bebilled under 'roaming' which costs more or they may have no presence at all!If it's the former, then you essentially get the same features but under adifferent provider.-> SpeedsThis is dependant on the network. Sometimes it can be slower than a modemabout 7200kbps. But, good enough to POP and SMTP a quick email.-> SecurityDepending on the make and model of the cellphone, there are some virriout-in-the-wild that could infect the cellphone. However, the ONLY way aninfection can take place is if the attachment is accepted over Bluetooth(requires user interaction). This can be disabled so as not to accept filefrom any *unknown* users.-> Roaming between CountriesSome cellphone companies are tied up with companies from other countries.For eg: If you were to signup for a plan with IDEA cellular service in Indiaand need to make a trip to Malaysia. Then, with the roaming featureactivated, you would be able to make calls once in Malaysia. Billing is aproblem though as you'd need to pay the money back in India. (or maybe inMalaysia). This option may be good during an emergency and you don't want toloose your number.But just for GPRS connectivity, roaming is not needed.So basically, with a Quad band GPRS phone, and after registering for apre-paid service plan you pop in the SIM card and use it for the amount oftime your in the country.Usually the Nokias have a clear signal (haven't tried one though)Btw, if you buy the cellphone in the USA through a service provider (eg:Cingular). It could be very cheap. Eg: This smartphone/pda hybrid costs $650 (unlocked). But through Cingularits only $399 (after rebate). http://onlinestorez.cingular.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phones/phonedetails..jsp?id=cdsku9870027However its locked to work only with Cingulars service, and this will notwork with other coutries' service providers. So you'd need to get itunlocked..Ciao,@ndrew

The detail provided by @ndrew is comprehensive, accurate, and an excellent supplement to the information I provided earlier. --James

Andrew sent and email and I am posting again.Hi Andy,I hadn't read the original posters post on callback.. I would think callbackwould increase the number of potential issues of what can go wrong. Firstly,callback is dependant on the caller having a static number. If we consider,the static number to be a cellphone, then its surely not going to work theminute one leaves the city/state/country. Some service providers do not evenwork outside the city you registered in.So, during subsequent signups with new Mobile Service Providers, you'd needto update the new cell phone number with the callback service.Btw, callback is not over GPRS. If you have a cellphone signed up with alocal provider and if there's a problem, then the service guys would helptroubleshoot. Unlike a GPRS signup, Callback is dependant on multipleservices, not one point.Total cost involved = Cost of the Mobile Service Provider (local) + CallbackService + Internet Service Provider (USA) + (If the Mobile Service Providercharges a premium for enabling callback on their network)Also, there are legal issues concerning callback. The FCC InternationalBureau has listed countries which have made callback illegal.[quote] FCC PUBLIC FILE COUNTRY LISTThe Following countries have submitted information claiming that they haveexpressly made call-back illegal. * The Bahamas * Bahrain * Bermuda * Bolivia * China * Colombia * Cook Islands * Costa Rica * Croatia * Cyprus * Ecuador * Egypt * Honduras * Hungary * India * Indonesia * Kuwait * Latvia * Lebanon * Malaysia * Netherlands Antilles * Oman * Panama * Peru * Philippines * Portugal * Qatar * Saudi Arabia * Seychelles * South Africa * Syria * Tanzania * Thailand * United Arab Emirates * Uruguay * Venezuela[/quote]http://www.fcc.gov/ib/pd/pf/call-back.htmlCiao,@ndrew

Hi Andy,There are 2 options,Motorola V3 Razr Unlocked GSM Cell Phonehttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1208678&Sku=L420-7190&SRCCODE=PRICEGRABBER&CMP=OTC-PRICEGRABBERThe Motorola is a Quadband world phone with bluetooth and GPRS. ORSmart phone:Do you plan to check email and get updates for other things like currency conversion etc? Then you’d require a Smartphone. The GPS accessory for smartphones are sold separately.Palm Treo 650 Smartphonehttp://www.pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/detail.asp?store=pcmall&dpno=548325&source=CNETSHOPPERPC&srccode=cii_5766179&cpncode=07-911072-2&adcampaign=email,CNETSHOPPERPC&wt.mc_id=CNETSHOPPERPCGPS Accessory for Palm Treohttp://www.expansys-usa.com/product.asp?code=119811&partner=frooglehttp://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/treo650/Standalone GPS devices: (These will not work with cellphones)http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=1194193#long_descrhttp://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2416362http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2612110http://www.emtac.com/products/receiver/index.html