Traveling to Australia from Canada with iPhone 4

[ridingforlife]

Hi everyone,

I'm leaving in a few months to go to Australia for 4 months on a study abroad. I have an iPhone 4 with Telus, and they now do unlocking of iPhones (according to someone I talked to in-store).

If I unlock my iPhone, I should be able to leave my Telus Micro-SIM at home, and pop in a prepaid Micro-SIM in Australia from a cell phone provider there, correct? And when I get home, and switch back to the Telus microSIM, it should recognize it?

I'm also wondering if anyone has advice on which carrier to go with in Australia? I'll be living in Canberra while I'm there, but will hopefully travel to Sydney and Melbourne.

Thanks!

 

[chris2k5]

Yes it should work. Just check to make sure the iPhone supports the bands they use in Australia.

And for your SIM you are leaving at home. I would call your carrier and ask if it is possible to temporarily suspend the line while you are away. (This should allow you to keep the account, your number, and everything and NOT pay for the months you are away)

Usually there is a 2-3 month limit on temporary suspending.

 

[ridingforlife]

What do you mean by bands?

Unfortunately Telus doesn't offer suspensions, according to the person I talked to. They used to but don't offer it anymore. So I will be dropping my plan to their lowest plan at $20/month while I am gone.

ETA - Yup, what they called Vacation Stop is no longer offered (http://www.telusmobility.com/en/BC/support_services/vacationstops.shtml).

 

[ridingforlife]

Called Telus, and it looks like the person I spoke with in-store is incorrect. They currently are NOT unlocking iPhones due to software limitations apparently. Darn!

 

[PsstGreek]

You can buy a Gevey Turbo sim (to unlock) and use that in Australia with whatever services they have.

 

[ThaDoggg]

Called Telus, and it looks like the person I spoke with in-store is incorrect. They currently are NOT unlocking iPhones due to software limitations apparently. Darn!

That is correct. There were rumours that they were going to start unlocking the iPhone for a fee but nothing solid has come out of that.

 

[ridingforlife]

Yeah, it's unfortunate. They're unlocking a whole bunch of other phones, but the person I spoke with on the phone said they don't know when they will be able to unlock iPhones.

I may just buy a pre-paid phone for $50 in Australia. Costs about the same as unlocking would. I'll take my iPhone for wifi, music and games though.

 

[nateo200]

Yes it should work. Just check to make sure the iPhone supports the bands they use in Australia.

And for your SIM you are leaving at home. I would call your carrier and ask if it is possible to temporarily suspend the line while you are away. (This should allow you to keep the account, your number, and everything and NOT pay for the months you are away)

Usually there is a 2-3 month limit on temporary suspending.

What do you mean by bands?

Unfortunately Telus doesn't offer suspensions, according to the person I talked to. They used to but don't offer it anymore. So I will be dropping my plan to their lowest plan at $20/month while I am gone.

ETA - Yup, what they called Vacation Stop is no longer offered (http://www.telusmobility.com/en/BC/support_services/vacationstops.shtml).

Support of frequency bands isn't really an issue especially since the iPhone 4 is now quad band UMTS (unofficially quint-band UMTS) and of course quad band GSM. Even if he had the Tri band iPhone 3G it would still run on 850 and 2100 Mhz.

 

[macingman]

Hi,
I live in Australia so I can give you some advice.

First of all when you arrive just pick up a microsim from the carrier store of your choice and you would be good to go, many carriers have stores at the International Airports or heaps around the cities.

My personal suggestion for Canberra is to go with Telstra. Telstra offers the biggest network by far in Australia and is also much faster and easier to deal with than the other networks. Telstra costs slightly more a month (5-10 dollars depending on your usage) but the extra cost is worth it when you get the benefits Telstra offers.

How much data, texts and calls do you intend on using/making a month? Also if you are going to be calling home a lot from the iPhone you can get a special sim which offers cheap international calling/texting. Personally I am with Amaysim and when I call friends from overseas it is only 15 cents a minute or 10 cents every text.