Moving to UK w/ 2x AT&T In-Contract iPhone 5

I would sell the iPhone as the 5S might be out in October.
Also, the AT&T iPhone won't work with LTE on 1800mhz in Europe.

xjosh said:

I would sell the iPhone as the 5S might be out in October.
Also, the AT&T iPhone won't work with LTE on 1800mhz in Europe.

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How about HSPA+?

i would take sim only 30 day contracts with your current handsets and wait. only one carrier has 4G LTE at present, and thats EE, however in the near future (couple of months) most carriers will be opening up their LTE frequencies. When this happens buy new iphone contracts and sell your american ones as these wont work on our european frequencies.

Avoid Three network if your in london, vodafone and o2 are your best bet. EE would be the best bet for your data needs as O2 only offer a maximum of 1gb as standard on their sim only contracts.

as for the 'changing your phone after 12 months' idea, look in to O2 refresh. Its a new way of breaking your contract just by paying off the handset (not the line rental) and you can change phones again by taking up a new contract.

macher said:

How about HSPA+?

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HSPA+ would work.
We use 3G on 2100mhz and 900mhz, which all the iPhone 5's works with.

GSM model A1428: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz)

CDMA model A1429: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz); UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25)

GSM model A1429: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5)

A couple things to consider, as I had moved to the UK for three years on an International Work Assignment from the US in 2005-2008.

If you call AT&T (they were still Cingular when I did it), and tell them that you are relocating to the UK, they may very well likely let you out of the EFT, as they do not provide native coverage there. I told them the fact that I was moving was the only reason I was cancelling, and once I returned home, I would be resuming service, as long as they were willing to work with me on the EFTs. I believe when I did it, I had to send them in a copy of my lease agreement for the property I was going to be renting and living at in the London, as well as a plane ticket confirmation with a set travel date, to prove I was in fact truly moving. Once I did that, they cancelled my lines without EFT.

Also, about getting new phones over there. Unless you've lived in the UK previously, you will not have established credit yet, as you likely have done here in the US over time. It takes about 6 months of paying your bills (gas, electricity, cable, etc) in order for you to establish credit. If you don't have established credit, the cell phone companies over there will likely not allow you to sign contract and give you a subsidized phone. I'm not sure if that has changed since I was there, but it was the case when I went in 2005. So, when I went, I had to use an unlocked quad band phone that I brought with me from the US with a PAYG UK sim for 6 months, until I had enough credit for them to give me a UK contract/phone. Based on this, you might want to consider keeping your current phones if they are unlocked, otherwise you may be paying full price for new phones if you want one when you get there, or you might have to buy a cheap dumbphone to use for a bit.

Also, just a side question, is this a temporary move (work assignment) or a permanent move? If temporary, what do you plan to do with your US mobile phone numbers? Did you want to keep them? I wanted to keep mine, so what I did is ported them to the TMobile PAYG plan, where you can prepay $100, and get 1000 minutes which don't expire for up to a year. I then just reloaded it with another $100 each year until I came back home for good to the US. So for roughly $8 a month, I kept my cell phone numbers during that whole time I was in the UK. Plus, when I came back to the US for vacations/visits, I was able to pop in the TMobile SIM into my phone, and make calls while here, without paying the UK cell phone company roaming. Basically, you are paying to park your phone numbers for the time you are there. Here's a link to the service, if interested.

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-as-you-go-plans

Your best option is three without subsidized plan.

You can get a ''Pay as you go'' or a monthly plan with no contract (The ones that say ''1 month'':

Monthly plans:

http://store.three.co.uk/view/searchTariff?deviceType=SIM_ONLY&priceplan=PAY_MONTHLY


Or pay as you go:

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/Pay_As_You_Go

They don't have LTE, but their 3G network is just awesome, averaging 20mbps+ and they will get LTE in a few months

currently only the european i5 can only run on LTE on EE you can use DC HSPA on Europe (if you unlock your iPhones) with great LTE like speeds, however LTE will not work and will be kind of hard to sell in EU.

you better pay for the ETF then wait till the 5S that should probably cover more LTE bands in the UK and also... the rest of the UK operators are launching LTE in a couple months now you'll have more options

I've heard on this forums EE are a ripoff

I was under the impression that residents outside of Europe couldn't just move to Europe and vice versa. Educate me.

On three you get DC-HSPA, and it's pretty darn fast, ask any three user.

JarScott said:

I was under the impression that residents outside of Europe couldn't just move to Europe and vice versa. Educate me.

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Illegal inmigrants!

You can always find a way to move legally to a place, you just need time and money. A good lawyer can get you a green card in the US, or a live&work visa for any european country (some are easier than others)

TheProFTW said:

Illegal inmigrants!

You can always find a way to move legally to a place, you just need time and money. A good lawyer can get you a green card in the US, or a live&work visa for any european country (some are easier than others)

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Hmm, still seems dodgy.

If you give proof that you're going to work there and do something positive, it's not gonna be a problem.

I don't think americans will have a problem getting an european work visa