<h3>
International Sim-cards
</h3>
<p>
Buy a foreign Sim-card that's local to whatever country you are travelling to, either online or once you're inside the country. A foreign Sim-card, in its respective country, will work just like a US or UK Sim-card does in the US or UK. So you’re guaranteed much cheaper calls to local numbers, but you will have to pay extra to call internationally. The other benefit to using a local foreign Sim-card, is that you should never have to pay for receiving calls from the US or UK (though the person calling you will have to pay extra to make an international call!). For local Sim-cards you will probably need to top-up via vouchers bought in-store.
</p>
<h3>
Mobile Phone Compatibility
</h3>
<p>
When buying a local you need to make sure your phone is <strong>unlocked</strong> and that it's compatible with your destination country's radio frequency. Different countries operate their mobile networks on different radio frequencies. Most modern mobile phones, brought in the US or UK, will support the three major international frequencies, but you will need to check to make sure. As a general guide, if your phone is <strong>'quad band'</strong> then you should be able to use it anywhere apart from non-GSM countries like Japan. If it is <strong>'tri band'</strong> then you will be able to use it in most countries apart from a small selection in South America. If your phone is <strong>'dual band'</strong> then it will work across Europe, but you will have problems using it in the US. To get a complete run down of the different radio frequencies for each country see GSM <a href="content/networks">Africa's official</a> list. You can find out your mobile phone’s frequency in the specifications part of our mobile phone reviews or by searching on the internet for the device's specifications.
</p>
