Europe trip: use iPhone for text messages, disabling voice/mail?

Question

Level 1

20 points

Europe trip: use iPhone for text messages, disabling voice/mail?

I'll be in Europe for ten days later this month. I'd like to take my US ATT iPhone with me to use purely for text messaging. I'm willing to pay $0.50 to send and receive an occasional text message, if it makes coordinating travel plans a little easier.

However, to avoid ATT's egregious international roaming and data charges, I'd like to disable the "voice phone" and "voice mail" capabilities of my iPhone - as if I'd turned off my phone, or left it home in the US.

Is this possible? I'm not encouraged by:
http://ipod.about.com/od/internationaliphone/a/iphdataglobal.htm

Thanks.

iphone 3G, iPhone OS 3.0.1

Posted on Mar 16, 2010 12:58 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 16, 2010 5:26 AM in response to whoami24601

No, it's not possible. Voice and SMS use the same 'channel' - you cannot turn off just one. Visual voice mail is actually carried as data, not voice.

You'd probably be better off just buying a cheap ('disposable') cell phone (an unlocked GSM phone here or there) and getting a pay-as-you-go SIM card in whichever countries are your overseas destinations.

If you want to take your iPhone (for contacts, etc.), leave Airplane Mode ON (you can then turn Wi-Fi back on and access hotspots).

If you do decide to take the iPhone, be aware that you must call AT&T and have them activate International Provisioning on your account, or the phone won't work at all overseas. You need to do that even if you don't sign up for an international voice and/or data plan.

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Answer 2

scottw03

Level 1

16 points

Apr 5, 2010 10:06 AM in response to whoami24601

Also, if you use the iPhone for WiFi you can still send text messages, Just send it through email. find out what the last part is of the company that you are sending a message through (e.g. 1234567890@txt.att.net). Each company has one for the most part. You can send them that way. They can respond to you by just replying too.

I used to have a list of them somewhere. Found it. Hopefully it is still up to date.

Alltel
[10-digit phone number]@message.alltel.com
Example: 1234567890@message.alltel.com

AT&T (formerly Cingular)
[10-digit phone number]@txt.att.net
[10-digit phone number]@mms.att.net (MMS) [10-digit phone number]@cingularme.com
Example: 1234567890@txt.att.net

Nextel (now Sprint Nextel)
[10-digit telephone number]@messaging.nextel.com
Example: 1234567890@messaging.nextel.com

Sprint PCS (now Sprint Nextel)
[10-digit phone number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com [10-digit phone number]@pm.sprint.com (MMS)
Example: 1234567890@messaging.sprintpcs.com

T-Mobile
[10-digit phone number]@tmomail.net
Example: 1234567890@tmomail.net

US Cellular
[10-digit phone number]email.uscc.net (SMS) [10-digit phone number]@mms.uscc.net (MMS)
Example: 1234567890@email.uscc.net

Verizon
[10-digit phone number]@vtext.com
[10-digit phone number]@vzwpix.com (MMS)
Example: 1234567890@vtext.com

Virgin Mobile USA
[10-digit phone number]@vmobl.com
Example: 1234567890@vmobl.com

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