"Alan" wrote in message
...

In Australia all incoming calls, mobile or fixed, are free. That is, as
long as you've paid for the basic service, there is no extra charge for
receiving calls.

It was quite a surprise (an unpleasant one) to find that wasn't the case
overseas.

On mobiles, it varies, but there is usually no difference between long
distance and local. It is more expensive to call overseas.

As I said earlier, it's complex. Check out the sites I mentioned. It
also depends on where you intend to go. There are some country areas
where GSM will not give coverage but CDMA does. There are vast areas
where the only coverage possible is satellite. So it also depends on how
critical instant communications are to you. If you intend wandering the
outback, sometimes a combination of CDMA and CB radio may be the more
inexpensive option, which is the way my mum does it in her motorhome. We
sometimes spent a week or two out of range in the caravan, then answered
a load of message bank queries on the mobile as soon as we got back to
civilization.

If you intend staying around Brisbane, GSM is fine but it will depend on
how long you intend being here and how much you will use the phone - for
outgoing only, incoming don't matter for cost. Some of the "cheap"
contracts are commitments for twelve or 24 months.

If you are only here for a short time, a pre-paid recharge card may be
best.

Cheers, Alan
--
As stated by a few contributors, incoming calls to a mobile service are
free - provided you are contracted to an Australian network provider. If you
are using an overseas phone and global roaming, you will pay for incoming
and outgoing calls. (Not that this is likely to be a situation you find
yourself in. US cell phones don't work in Aus.)

In terms of network coverage, it's a bit hit-and-miss once you get away from
the main population centres. A few weeks back I was near Beechworth (Vic)
and, out of a group of us using various networks (Telstra CDMA, Optus
Telstra and Vodafone GSM) I was the only one who got any service, and that
was with Telstra GSM. Even other Telstra GSM users didn't get a signal. CB
radio is good for staying in touch with other members of your party, but if
you're really going seriously outback it's worth considering hiring an HF
(RFDS) radio. It costs, but 24-hour emergency watch is reassuring. Take a
look at http://www.rfds.org.au/hfradio.htm for a description.

There is, or was, a bit of a quirk with the pricing of Telstra's GSM. For
national calls, you pay whatever your contracted rate may be. For
international calls, you pay the fixed line rate plus an "air-time" charge.
Not sure if it still works, but recently it was cheaper for me to phone
Singapore than to phone somebody in the next street.

Dave Campbell