<<< Presumably with the advent of Cingulars GSM coverage exceeding Verizon that will enable us to be in tune with the rest of the world? I am hoping that their GSM phones will be transportable to Europe. Anyone up to speed on this?>>> Ron - I just got back from Germany. I brought my US GSM phone. While there I could make and receive calls on my US number with no problems. All I had to do to place a call was enter a "+" the "1" then area code and number. On my phone you get a "+" by holding the "0" down for a second. International roaming cost me $0.98 per minute on these calls. The most important thing to check into is the frequencies available on the phone. I don't know if the phones ATT sells are multi band or not. Phones that will be usable in Europe and the US need to be GSM 1900/1800/900 plus whatever ATT may require. These multiband phones are called "world phones" by some vendors. Many GSM phones build for the US market may not work in Europe. You need to be quite specific about this. I know that T-Mobile does offer other "world Phone" capable phones through there stores. I purchased mine direct from SonyEriccson. Next you need to insure that your selected cell phone vendor supports the international roaming. I know T-Mobile does. I used them, and it worked flawlessly. The phone I have is an "UNLOCKED" phone that allows me to put in different SIM cards. My phone is a Sony Ericsson Z600 (over kill). The advantage of an unlocked phone is that by swapping SIM cards, you can change your phone carrier. Because I knew ahead of time that I would be making a lot of local (in Germany) calls, I purchased a SIM card for the e-plus phone network in Germany. Most cell phone companies in Germany (all of Eurpoe?) do a lot of prepaid type sales rather than the longer term contracts as we do here in the US. Prepay minute cards for e-plus can be had at most gas stations, many stores, and from vending machines throughout most cities. This worked out well because it eliminates the roaming charge: The SIM card makes my phone a German phone. It turned out that making a long distance call from Germany to the US was cheaper than using the US Number and paying the roaming charge. The SIM card cost $60, so there is obviously a break even calculation one needs to do. In summary, pick a "world phone" capable phone, a US vendor that will support international roaming and it all works as advertised. My experience with T-Mobile was good. I suspect that Cingular will do the trick. ATT may work too although I seem to recall that they had some other non standard frequency that would require a four band phone --- you need to check that one out yourself. Jerry