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Sep 28, 2007 -- MAXroam SIM chip allows cheap overseas cell phone use

During Clark's recent trip to Montana, he was talking with a waiter who is engaged to a Peruvian woman and went down to Peru to meet her family. The waiter found that his cell phone worked in Peru so he used it as he normally would. When he got back to the U.S., he had a cell-phone bill of $800/day! Clark just discovered a service called MAXroam.com that could have helped the waiter. MAXroam sells a SIM chip that's compatible with unlocked T-Mobile and AT&T world phones -- it doesn’t work with Verizon or Sprint phones. You just put the chip in the back of your phone, and then you can travel anywhere in the world and enjoy rates that are about one-fifteenth of what U.S. companies charge you overseas. Please note that you have to be 90 days into your contract with T-Mobile to get them to unlock your phone, while AT&T requires you to have completed your initial contract. If you're in the market for a world phone, check eBay and try to get one for about $50.

Clark also provided an update about his FCC inquiry regarding AT&T's compliance with the $10 DSL deal. AT&T is contractually bound to provide $10/month DSL for customers in a 22-state region as part of its takeover of Bell South. But the problem is that AT&T keeps unethically hiding the deal on its website. Clark asked the FCC to look into this, but they didn't give him a straight answer. Later this year, AT&T will be required to offer naked DSL. Let's see if they're more forthcoming with that deal.

Unfortunately, Clark won't be able to answer any questions submitted via commenting. If you have a question, please try posting it to our message boards.

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What others are saying

  • not nearly as good deal as Clark said
    i heard about maxroam and went to their website. Clark on said up to 15x savings over using US carriers outside of the country but they only claim up to 60-80% savings in their FAQ.

    Germany is 25 cents a minute and up which is not bad. But Mexico is $1.36 a minute and up. That is more expensive then using my AT&T world service.

    Nothing against maxroam but it is not the great savings Howard said.

    I will continue to use the AT&T world service which costs around $5 a month and reduces cost to 99 cents a minute in most countries and I think Mexico is less like 65 cents a minute. No changing phones or phone numbers.

    TURN OFF your data roaming. That is what will kill you even when you prebuy mbs. If you don't prebuy it can end up being thousands of dollars. Leave on the wireless connect and simply do all your email when connected to a wireless which is not difficult to find anymore.

    Minimize talk times and avoid text messages which are I think 50 cents each and you'll have costs but they won't be huge.

    The other piece of advise I think Howard gave without enough caveats is to unlock your phone. That can break your phone, make it unable to upgrade its programming, void your warranty, etc. Can be done but has consequences.
    I personally would rather buy a 2nd phone then unlock my iphone for example.

    Bruce
  • Possible Scam
    I registered for the Naked DSL, DSL w/o phone service, last month. When I received my bill, they had given me the ultra package. This also happened to my sister and others. They don't give you what you request, they give you the really fast service and charge you more. Then, you have to go through a big hullaballoo to get it downgraded and get the money refunded. I think they do this to hope you give up and leave it, or you will get hooked on the faster service and pay more. I wish I had another option for internet other than AT&T and its slimy business practices or the extremely overpriced Comcast service. If there is another option out there, I'm not aware of it.
  • current ATT customers
    I'm wondering if this is only for current ATT customers or can you be a new customer? My $200 cable bill is mainly for internet and phone since I hardly ever watch TV - its out of control.
  • $10 AT&T Internet Deal
    I am trying to sign up for the $10 AT&T dsl service, but it requires me to pay a $100 installation fee. Is that correct? I thought nothing more had to be done with DSL than to connect the box to the phone line.
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