Help Samsung Galaxy III - Using SIM Card in Poland

[Android Question]

I have Samsung Galaxy SIII (Verizon) and am traveling to Poland. Because of the nature of my work, I will be making many local calls and have been told that a local SIM card would be the best option. I understand that you can buy these at the airport but that you have to have an unlocked phone for them to work.

Am not that familiar with the technical workings of my phone, so I joined this Forum in the hopes that someone might help me deploy a local SIM card in Poland.

Thanks for any help you might provide.

 

[Hadron]

Well the first thing is that the phone needs to be unlocked, so you need to talk to Verizon about that.

But I don't know whether it will work even so. Many modern VZW handsets also support GSM, so they can be used internationally (VZW call them "World Phones"). But I don't think the Verizon S3 is one of those. It needs a SIM for LTE, but I suspect (and a quick search of the specs online supports this) that it only has CDMA technology for telephony, and that doesn't exist anywhere in Europe (or indeed in most of the world apart from North America). So check the specifications (in the manual for example) before going any further, as I think it just won't work in Poland even if you do put a local SIM in it (LTE is currently data-only as far as I know - that should change in future, but I'd not count on it for this trip).

 

[girolez]

Hi

I would buy a cheap android with a pay as you go sim in Poland (maybe $50 with SIM) to use just for calls and internet over data. Set it up with the same google account that you use on your S3 phone. That way, your google contacts and gmails will be automatically synced. Take your phone with you, it will work on wifi. Keep the phone afterwards in case you need to travel outside US again.

Roger

 

[alexizawesome]

You should be able to use your phone over there but you will only get gsm service. The S3 on verizon becomes unlocked with the android 4.4.2 update. I would suggest that you call Verizon customer support and ask for the unlock code just to make sure. My sister took her Verizon S3 abroad and was told by a local phone shop it needed to be unlocked even though I had tested it here with a T-mobile sim.