Can I travel to Europe and buy a SIM from a local carrier and use that in my Nokia Lumia 1520 phone?
Hello from a non tech savvy girl,
I am currently in the US and looking to purchase the Lumia 1520. I see that there are unlocked gsm AT&T phones (I currently am using at&t go phone no contract plan) and international versions of the phone.
I found a phone for sale that says this in the specs:
Cellular Band: LTE 700 / 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2600
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
WCDMA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
I am wanting to be able to use it both here in the US on AT&T gophone no contract plan and in Europe/other parts of the world with a local sim.
Will that be possible?
Best Answer
You will absolutely be able to use your phone and you should have some decent data coverage as well; but you may run into issues where LTE (the high speed network) is not available on your device.
In Europe, the two predominant frequencies are 900/1800 this is for voice and text.
For data, each operator offers data service on different bands. Wikipedia has a page that lists LTE frequencies on major operators in Europe.
Your phone runs on the 1800 (band 3) and 900 (band 8); LTE on 850 (band 5) and 1900 (band 2).
This covers the large majority of operators.
Just make sure your device is not locked to AT&T (also called "sim locked"). If it is locked, you can call AT&T and request them to unlock your phone. There is usually a fee for this service.
Or can simply buy the phone "off contract" (unlocked).
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