PRESS RELEASE
Summertime…… and the talking is easy
Summer’s here, and everyone’s thoughts are turning to summer holidays and lazy days by the pool. While you’re away from home your mobile phone is vital for staying in touch with your family and neighbours - keeping up with the local gossip, ensuring Fido is being fed and sending those holiday photos to your friends instantly. Your mobile can even be used as a currency converter or an alarm clock!
But how do you get it to work whilst you’re abroad? And how can you be sure you won’t be greeted by a whopping bill on your return home? Read these cost-saving tips from The Carphone Warehouse to ensure you won’t suffer from the mobile blues this summer.
1. Make sure you set up international roaming The service that allows you to use your UK mobile phone abroad to make and receive calls and messages is called ‘international roaming’ and you need this service activated on your account so that your mobile works abroad. At least a week in advance of your departure date, contact your UK mobile network provider to ensure your mobile phone is ‘enabled’ for travel abroad.
• 3 0870 733 0333 • BT Mobile 0800 032 2111 • Fresh 0845 655 5000 • O2 0870 521 4000 • Orange 07973 100150 • T-Mobile 0845 412 5000 • Virgin Mobile 0845 600 0789 • Vodafone 0870 168 0870
2. Familiarise yourself with call charges – you have to pay to receive calls abroad! When you use your mobile abroad, you will be using a foreign mobile network. As a result, when receiving an incoming call from the UK while you’re abroad, you’ll be charged the international leg of the call and may have to pay extra to listen to voicemail and send text messages. Call charges vary from country to country so it’s worth phoning your network before you go to check the exact rates. Text messaging can often be the cheapest way to stay in touch. Check our price guide for more details.
3. Consider mobile phone hire if you’re off to the USA, Caribbean or Japan (hire logo) Not all mobiles work in all countries, due to differences in networks between countries. Most UK mobiles are dual band (i.e. they work on two frequencies) and can be used all over Europe and 130 other countries around the world, but are not compatible with networks in some other countries like the USA, the Caribbean or Japan. Tri and quad-band mobiles work in North America and some South American countries, but not all mobiles have this technology so it’s best to check at The Carphone Warehouse if your mobile is compatible. If you want to be absolutely sure you are contactable, you can hire a mobile from The Carphone Warehouse for the duration of your holiday, from as little as £1 per day. For further information, or to order your phone, call our hire team on 0800 125 000.
4. Save time with Memory Master In order to phone home from abroad you need to add +44 to the start of each number. To make this easier, The Carphone Warehouse has created a SIM editing service called Memory Master. This will automatically add +44 to the start of each of your stored numbers, meaning you can still use your phone book when you’re abroad and saving you the hassle of adding +44 each time you call home. Memory Master also saves a private record of all your stored numbers, so should you ever lose your mobile, you can visit your local branch and re-save all your numbers onto your new handset. This handy service costs just £1.99. It only takes a few minutes and is available from any branch of The Carphone Warehouse.
5. Buy a new SIM A more cost effective way to use your mobile abroad can be to use a SIM card for that country in your phone. SIMs for European networks can be bought in all Carphone Warehouse stores. If you spend more than a couple of weeks per year in a specific country, this is a good cost-saving scheme. Contact your local Carphone Warehouse store for further information. This will cost around 30 Euros.
6. Check what your insurance covers (Lifeline logo) Your travel insurance may not cover your mobile phone, and if it does, you should check the small print, as you may not be covered for some types of damage. The Carphone Warehouse’s Lifeline insurance service offers tailor- made insurance packages to suit your needs. Lifeline is aimed specifically at protecting your phone from most major eventualities, such as theft, loss and damage. It also covers unauthorised calls and third party accidents, which many policies do not. Please ask in-store for further details. Cover starts from as little as 39 pence per week.
Capturing those holiday moments… The quality of camera phone images is the best it’s ever been, meaning you can be assured of great holiday snaps without the bother of carrying a camera around with you. And when you get back, The Carphone Warehouse can help you send your pictures to another mobile via picture messaging, download your pictures onto your PC, or even print your photos out in-store via infra- red or Bluetooth on a Kodak Picture Maker machine. Please ask in-store for details.
If you don’t have a camera phone, think about upgrading to one of these 5 great mobiles before you go abroad, and you won’t even need to pack your camera!
1. Nokia 6230 – from free on a contract, or handset only for £299.99 – available now The 6230 from Nokia is a multi-media marvel. With a video recorder, MP3 music player, high-quality colour screen, stereo radio and expandable memory, it’s definitely built to entertain.
2. Motorola V600 – from free on a contract, or handset only for £279.99 – available now From work to play, the V600 shines with style. Watch video clips in colour with sound and enjoy news footage, sports highlights and more. Lose the wires with Bluetooth® and roam globally with quad-band using the phone in North America and many countries in South America.
3. Sony Ericsson K700 – available in June, pricing TBC The K700 camera phone features the latest in imaging, multimedia, and entertainment functions. This includes playing video clips, capturing images and video with the built-in camera and listening to the built-in FM radio.
4. Siemens CX65 – available in July, pricing TBC The smart Siemens CX65 has a large colour screen and first class camera, along with video clip recording. Best of all, it has 11MB of memory – that’s more than some digital cameras have – which means you won’t have to worry about running out of storage space while you’re on your travels.
5. Samsung E700 – from free on a contract, or handset only for £299.99 – available now The Samsung E700 is a neat and lightweight little camera phone, perfect for taking quick and easy holiday snaps to send back home.
Accessories The Carphone Warehouse even has great mobile accessories that you can take on your holiday with you:
Personal Handsfree Kits – from £9.99 If you’re hiring a car on holiday, make sure you ‘Hang up or go Handsfree’ while you’re driving. The Carphone Warehouse has a selection of handsfree devices to suit your needs.
Portable Wind Up Chargers - £9.99 The portable wind-up charger means you never need a battery or power source to charge your phone and costs just £9.99. The Carphone Warehouse also has a range of Mobile Emergency Chargers starting from just £7.99.
Body Glove Scuba Cases (Exclusive to The Carphone Warehouse) - £12.99 Made from a protective textured material the Scuba Case is slim, sleek and provides the ultimate protection for your camera phone. Exclusively available at The Carphone Warehouse for the Nokia 7600.
You are never far from simple, impartial advice The Carphone Warehouse has stores in 9 other European countries - Belgium, France, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland - under the brand The Phone House. Customers from the UK are very welcome to visit our stores with any questions or queries while abroad.
* * * Snapping up the latest in mobile technology couldn’t be easier; simply visit The Carphone Warehouse – over 500 UK stores nationwide, browse the online store at www.carphonewarehouse.com or if you prefer you can call The Carphone Warehouse Direct Sales on 0800 925 925 and have your purchase delivered to your door within 24 hours.
For further information, review samples, images or pricing details, please contact: Bite Communications: Adam Paris / Phillippa Streets Tel: 020 8741 1123 Email: [email protected]