Communication Breakdown
International travel always presents certain challenges in terms of staying in touch with friends, family, and of course, work. Last fall, after painful research, I determined the best option was to switch from Verizon to T-Mobile and get the Blackberry Curve. The wifi enabled device allows for unlimited free calling (to US numbers) over the internet when connected to a wifi network. So, I can be in a hotel room in Sudan and make calls over the internet to America at no charge. Add to that your standard Blackberry email services and you have an impressive package.
Of course, theory and practice rarely converge nicely...
When I was in Sudan last year, blackberry services were not supported through the local telecom system, so I could only use the device in wifi zones, of which there are few. Basically I could sit in my hotel lobby and make calls. Still, an improvement over how much it would cost to call the US by any other method.
Egypt was better--I had email access everywhere I went, and at times was able to get the UMA (which is the voice over wifi service) to kick in, but often had to revert to Skype.
Taiwan was a complete pain in the ass--I had wifi in my hotel, but could not consistently hold the UMA signal, so calls dropped all the time. At least blackberry email worked throughout the country.
Colombia was mixed--in most of Bogota I could use regular blackberry functions, but the UMA was again sketchy in my hotel room which had wifi. The signal would come and go, and more often than not, I had to use skype.
After that trip, I finally leaned on T-Mobile to the point that they replaced my blackberry, and my UMA problems did decrease at home and abroad.
My next big trip was to South Korea, and my guide book mistakenly told me that they used GSM technology there, which meant my blackberry would work, and I could also buy a local sim card as I always do for my road phone. Well, upon arrival I learned that they use CDMA and you have to rent a phone at the airport. That meant no blackberry at all unless I was in a wifi zone.
My hotel room had hard-wired internet, and at a ridiculous price, but I had little choice. I did find some random locations where I would be walking along the sidewalk in Seoul, and suddenly I'd start receiving emails on my blackberry. I memorized the locations of a few open wifi zones where I knew I could receive email, and even make a couple of calls when I had UMA service. Still, the device was of marginal utility in South Korea.
This recent trip to Lebanon and Syria was a comunicaitons disaster. Neither country supports blackberry service, so I could not get my email in real time with my device. Then, there was another weird twist--in the instances when I could get UMA service (which were fleeting), I could get through to any number I dialed in the US except for two: my voicemail and my girlfriend's mobile number. She could call me, and I could call her from any other phone or service, but over UMA I would get the message that "the number you are calling is not in service at this time."
I made three different calls to t-mobile customer service, all of which lasted 45 minutes, and all ended with no resolution of the problem, and in each case I had to run off to a meeting without being abole to complete the trouble shooting process.
And, in instances when I had UMA signal and called other numbers, people had difficulty hearing me as the connections were usually spotty. While T-mobile might deserve some blame for this, the poor internet infrastructure in the Middle East certainly bears primary responsibility.
Then, there was that two day period when my blackberry lost all local service--I couldn't even make international roaming calls. No explanation for that...
Bottom line, no one has yet solved the international phone and email conundrum with a reliable, and cost-effective service. If t-mobile did what it says it does on paper, I'd be happy, but this trip was another headache in terms of trying to stay in touch, and t-mobile is partly to blame, but the lack of development in the Internet and telecom sectors in Lebanon and Syria are the real culprits here. Then there's that whole Internet censorship thing that goes on in Syria, but that's a topic for another time.
