GSM SIM in unlocked Verizon iPhone

[profinite]

A friend of mine who owns a Verizon iPhone is traveling to Italy soon.

He went to a local Verizon store and had his iPhone 4S unlocked. And, he intends to use a GSM SIM in it once he arrives in Italy. He has no overseas talk or data plan of any kind with Verizon.

In this configuration, while he is in Italy, I have the following questions:

Question 1.
What would happen if someone in the US dials his US phone number? Will his iPhone recognize the call as a roam call? Or, since it is a CDMA call, will his iPhone remain silent?

Question 2.
Hypothetically, if he had a Verizon overseas calling plan of sort, would his iPhone effectively become a dual-SIM iPhone?


Since I have never owned a CDMA iPhone, I don't know the answers to these questions. Would you mind chiming in for me?

 

[NorCalLights]

My understanding is if you put a GSM SIM in a CDMA iPhone, it acts like a GSM phone only. If someone calls the number attached to the CDMA account, it will just go to voicemail and will not ring.

 

[profinite]

Oh, I see. So, the so-called Verizon overseas calling plan would simply patch incoming CDMA calls to overseas GSM carriers then?

My understanding is if you put a GSM SIM in a CDMA iPhone, it acts like a GSM phone only. If someone calls the number attached to the CDMA account, it will just go to voicemail and will not ring.

 

[TheProFTW]

.

 

[Baggio]

Oh, I see. So, the so-called Verizon overseas calling plan would simply patch incoming CDMA calls to overseas GSM carriers then?

Yes, the phone actually has a Verizon SIM in it to roam on foreign GSM networks. There really isn't much of plan. You ask Verizon to turn on international roaming and you pay by the minute and data charges are outrageous, so turn off data roaming for sure. They may have a monthly package were you can add international minutes and or data plans for travel.

In most cases it might be best to just get a local prepaid SIM for the phone.

 

[profinite]

Thanks so much, Baggio, for the information. That explains it all.

Yes, the phone actually has a Verizon SIM in it to roam on foreign GSM networks. There really isn't much of plan. You ask Verizon to turn on international roaming and you pay by the minute and data charges are outrageous, so turn off data roaming for sure. They may have a monthly package were you can add international minutes and or data plans for travel.

In most cases it might be best to just get a local prepaid SIM for the phone.