Hi All,

I just returned from a three-week trip around the world and I'm happy to report I had strong GPRS coverage in the following places:

1. Lima, Cusco, and Machu Picchu, Peru
2. Hanga Roa, Easter Island
3. Papeete, Tahiti
4. Port Douglas, Australia
5. Manila, Philippines
6. Chengdu, China & Lhasa, Tibet
7. Siem Reap, Cambodia
8. Agra & Jaipur, India
9. Luxor & Cairo, Egypt
10. Fez, Morocco
11. Santa Maria, Azores

Apia, Samoa offered no GSM coverage at all but I was told a new GSM network will be in place by August 2006. The Serengeti in Tanzania had voice coverage only so I could SMS but not email.

My BlackBerry service is with T-Mobile. I activated unlimited international email before departing and deactivated it the day after I returned. I was charged $15.33 on my bill with no charge for internet use. As a side note my colleague who was also on the trip did not have service in Cambodia with his Cingular BlackBerry.

I am continually amazed that third-world countries can manage 5 bars of coverage when I only get 1 bar on Aurora Avenue in Seattle.

Thanks,

Canadasy

Yes, it is amazing. People don't realize how bad service really is in major US metro areas compared to just about everywhere else in the world. I have never lost a signal in Eastern or Western Europe whether in an elevator shaft or a below ground level office. As someone else noted, GPRS based services are also more reliable as well as (at least subjectively) faster.

That's strange because last year I went on a cruise to Mexico and had to leave my 7730 (T-Mobile USA) behind (8 days. I had MAJOR BB withdrawal). I could not get a signal anywhere else other than my house (among many other problems with it). 2 weeks and an upgrade later, I took my 7100t to camp last year in Texas and had perfect signal the entire week. I'm hoping to be able to test the international coverage on both of my 7100 series phones next time I take a cruise and see what happens.

I've always had wonderful results when roaming internationally with T-Mobile.

I was in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China and my Cingular 7100g worked great.