Question about moving internationally

[RampantSC]

Currently I live here in the States but next summer I may be living in Germany. I use AT&T here, and am planning to upgrade to the iPhone 5. Basically, I'm wondering if the US GSM iPhone is compatible with European GSM carriers, and if it is, would I need to buy the full-price, unlocked phone from AT&T to use next summer?

 

[KPOM]

Currently I live here in the States but next summer I may be living in Germany. I use AT&T here, and am planning to upgrade to the iPhone 5. Basically, I'm wondering if the US GSM iPhone is compatible with European GSM carriers, and if it is, would I need to buy the full-price, unlocked phone from AT&T to use next summer?

Yes, it will work (but not on LTE, though the Verizon version will - go figure). Yes, you will need to get the unlocked version, or alternatively, when you pay the ETF on your contract when you move, AT&T should unlock the phone for you.

http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB414532#fbid=1NJhACJ8_1b

https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/

 

[RampantSC]

Yes, it will work (but not on LTE, though the Verizon version will - go figure). Yes, you will need to get the unlocked version, or alternatively, when you pay the ETF on your contract when you move, AT&T should unlock the phone for you.

http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB414532#fbid=1NJhACJ8_1b

https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/

Well, I'd actually only be living there for the summer (about two months), and would therefore not necessarily need to terminate my contract because I'm on a family plan. So I'm guessing the only route to go is to buy full price. Or hope there's a work-around unlock by then...

 

[eastercat]

There isn't likely to be a software unlock, since that hasn't existed since iphone 4's first few months of release. Gevey is iffy; you'll have to make sure you're careful about upgrading and there aren't any guarantees it'll work with the 5.
If you've got an old unlocked iphone, that'd probably be your best bet.

Well, I'd actually only be living there for the summer (about two months), and would therefore not necessarily need to terminate my contract because I'm on a family plan. So I'm guessing the only route to go is to buy full price. Or hope there's a work-around unlock by then...

 

[RampantSC]

There isn't likely to be a software unlock, since that hasn't existed since iphone 4's first few months of release. Gevey is iffy; you'll have to make sure you're careful about upgrading and there aren't any guarantees it'll work with the 5.
If you've got an old unlocked iphone, that'd probably be your best bet.

Fair enough. Thank you, everyone, for your help!