Managing cell phones globally

[juwaack68]

Got a question for those of you who manage your company's cell phones.

In the US & Canada we use 1-3 main cell carriers for all of our cellular devices (both regular cell phones and Blackberry devices). Doing this allows us to get volume discounts, as well as having dedicated account teams for each carrier.

I have been asked to look at our other company locations - mainly European locations - to see about the possibility of doing the same thing there.

//rant on

Of course, Mr. Manager, I'm not busy. I'm just getting ready to upgrade 2 BES servers next week and activate the 12 Blackberry devices on my desk and program 50 Cisco phones for our NY showroom and create a new Cisco IPCC script for the Helpdesk and help with the Ahlen BES users being moved to a new Exchange server. Let me drop everything for you.

//rant off

We don't even have any visibility for what cell phones are being used there (so that will be my first email!), or what carriers provide what services (in country vs. global devices). I know about the major players (Vodafone, O2, Orange, etc).

If manage a European cell account for your company:
- What carrier are you using and why?
- Did you evaluation multiple carriers before selecting the one (or 2) that you're using?
- Are you cell/BB/PDA users mainly 'in country' users or do they travel globally?
- What issues have your encountered?

Thanks!