I will be traveling to the UK the end of this coming week for a couple days of life raft testing and evaluation. My cell phone won't work over there. It appears the least expensive solution (and the ETS Foundation isn't exactly rolling in dough, so I'm trying to save wherever I can) would be to borrow an unlocked tri- or quad-band GSM phone and buy a SIM card when I arrive at Heathrow.

If anyone here has one they can lend to me, or some other inexpensive solution, please email me at: dritter at equipped dot org

Hi Doug,

If your not too bothered about the actual phone features and just need to make phone calls then it would probably be cheaper to to buy a Pay As You Go (PAYG) mobile phone along with the sim card. A basic Nokia 6210 mobile can be picked up from an Orange shop or other retailers such as Phone4U. These retailers will be in every city centre high street. Even the local supermarkets such as Tesco (Tesco are everywhere throughout the UK) usually have a good deals on basic handsets in there larger stores.

http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_payg_details.asp?ItemKey=156574&NetKey=4

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.202-3677.aspx

A handset such as the Nokia 6210 will cost not much more than just the SIM card on its own.

Expect to pay around $20-25 for the basic PAYG handset which will include the SIM Card and around another $20 of call credit to get you going.

You will probably spend more on transport arranging to meet up with someone to lend you a handset, as any form of transport is very expensive, especially in London.

Doug:
You might check into Tracfone. calls to the UK are the same as local calls.
www.tacfone.com

Dang, this forum is made up of good folk. There's Izzy, in the midst of dealing with his water problem, but still offering help to someone else. My hat's off to you, Izzy.

I don't think my phone qualifies. It is basic as dirt. $20 at Wally and $100 a year for minutes.

What can I say ... I'm something of a Luddite.

Doug - I have an unlocked Palm Treo 650 and a Nokia (can't remember the model); you're welcome to borrow either.

Contact me via PM if you still need one; I'm in Marin.

Thanks! Email on the way

Thanks for the offer, Izzy beat you to it.

Thansk for everyone's help and suggestions, I really appreciate it.

Hell? LOL

Seriously though, that was pretty good of you to take time out of fending off the weather to get the phone to Doug.

People not in a hurry can check our page at
http://www.cieux.com/callingUS.html
for several options for telephony overseas: rentals of cell phones and satellite phones, buying pay-as-you-go phones that work all over the world, VOIP, calling cards for existing phones, rent-a-Blackberry, and other options.