If you are looking for a place to travel where it is fairly easy to use a cell phone rental, Europe is an option that you should explore. Nearly every country in Europe is on the GSM network, meaning that you would be free to travel anywhere on the continent that you wish with just one mobile phone. The only concern that you would have in choosing a phone is that you must be aware of the frequencies that the different countries operate on. Phones from the United States operate on a 1900 Hertz (Hz) frequency while international phones operate on two frequencies, 900 Hz and 1800 Hz.
For those who are looking for a cell phone rental, Europe offers several options. First, if you have a cellular phone in the United States that is compatible with the GSM network and frequency, you can use the phone that you already own. However, this option is probably the most costly option that you could choose from due to the fact that you would most likely be roaming while overseas.
The second option is renting a phone while overseas. With renting, you as the user have the option of signing a short term pay as you go contract or prepaying the service provider for a certain amount of minutes. The pay as you go option is probably the most convenient, because you do not have to worry about running out of minutes. You simply use the phone as often as you would like or need and then pay the provider. The prepaid plan however, offers a very easy way of renting if you know that you will not be using you phone often. In addition, it is possible to add more minutes to your phone at a later time if you use all of your original minutes. This allows the user to be in ultimate charge of how much they spend.
The third option is the ability to rent the individual SIM cards. These plans work the same as the rental plans mentioned above, except that you can save the cost of the actual phone rental. This is possible if your phone works on the GSM network and is unlocked. If your phone satisfies these two requirements, you can simply switch your SIM card with a card from the international provider. Therefore, you can keep the same phone and save yourself money.