Going to Afghanistan with TP2...Ideas?

[dbldwn02]

Going to the desert for a few months. I know Sprint's intl dialing is out of the picture...$2.99/min or 3.99/min if you don't have the $5/month intl plan.

I would just put my phone on hold but it's only a $20 add-a-line.

I signed up for Intl data today. It's $40/month. It's GPRS there so that means slooooww...I'll probably cancel that when I get there.

Does anyone have any ideas for local sim cards there? Has anyone been there before? Switching out the sim cards everytime I make a call is a pain but oh well.

Thanks

[DLCPhoto]

I don't know specifically about Afghanistan, but I just purchased a SIM from Ekit, for upcoming trips to Greece and Costa Rica. Costs are reasonable. I bought the "SIMple Card" for $9 + $3 shipping, and it includes a $10 credit balance for calls. Afghanistan is included in their list of countries.

If you get one, get it through their Ebay site, not their primary website.

A great forum for this kind of information is www.prepaidgsm.net.

Good luck!

[briggs]

skype mobile over data connection could work.

[mp3ster]

probably not with that slow gprs data....

[dbldwn02]

They have wifi in some spots on the base but I'd rather just be able to pick up the phone and call. I got a sim card from my buddy and it's through Roshan Connections. It's about 300minutes for $50 for calls to the states. 17 cents a minute...not that bad. Better than $3.00

[chong67]

I use prepaid SIM card on TP2 while I was in Malaysia and Singapore. Somehow if you can see GPRS, that means data. I use GPRS and I was able to surf on the internet on my laptop. When you put in the SIM card, it will configure all the strings you need. In Mobile Outlook and wmwifirouter, I have to point it to the SIM card data string and it work. It didnt find it auto for me. Hope that helps.

[batpot]

check out Go SIM
http://www.gosim.com/?gosimusa

[dbldwn02]

Originally Posted by chong67

I use prepaid SIM card on TP2 while I was in Malaysia and Singapore. Somehow if you can see GPRS, that means data. I use GPRS and I was able to surf on the internet on my laptop. When you put in the SIM card, it will configure all the strings you need. In Mobile Outlook and wmwifirouter, I have to point it to the SIM card data string and it work. It didnt find it auto for me. Hope that helps.

Thanks for that info. Hopefully I can get it to work. How was the data speeds on gprs?

[ssteven365]

I'm in Kabul now. If you're going to KAIA then there are some spots with WIFI and Skype works pretty good.

I put my phone on hold to save the $20. No need to keep it active. I bought a SIM from the local "hajji" shop. The network is MTN I think. I paid $5 for the sim and $10 for a recharge card. That's 500 afghani's. I get about 40 minutes of talk time.

I don't know that I get data and I can't seem to access the SIM for contacts etc.

[amw1972]

Are they not enforcing the whole no cell phone rule in Afghanistan?? When I deployed to Iraq in the past...we were "forced" to leave our cell phones at home. The ones that were found to have kept their cell phones...were confiscated and were "reissueed" immediately upon redeployment back here to the States.

Would love to be able to have my OWN phone while I'm in Afghan...will be deploying there this fall/winter...