Can I travel to Europe and buy a SIM from a local carrier and use that in my Nokia Lumia 1520 phone?

Can I travel to Europe and buy a SIM from a local carrier and use that in my Nokia Lumia 1520 phone? - Narrow pedestrian street between old residential buildings at twilight

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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Can I travel to Europe and buy a SIM from a local carrier and use that in my Nokia Lumia 1520 phone? - Narrow cobblestone pedestrian passage between old apartment buildings with burning electric lights in windows at twilight
Can I travel to Europe and buy a SIM from a local carrier and use that in my Nokia Lumia 1520 phone? - Colorful houses along narrow town canal
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International sim card - Use your phone while traveling Europe




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