Andre Russell, marketing development manager for Alcatel - Lucent Technologies, recently utilised the global capabilities of the new Samsung W531 WorldMode phone whilst travelling through Europe, Asia and the Americas on a working holiday.

“As soon as I got off the plane and turned on the phone, it knew whether to operate via a GSM or CDMA network,” he says. “It would give me a number of choices and I could then use the menu option to select an appropriate network. Five seconds later it would be operational and I would receive a text confirming the connection I was using,” he says.

Having the freedom to choose what network to use was a blessing in disguise when Russell visited remote areas of Canada. “When I was on the ski slopes there was only a CDMA network option, so everyone with GSM phones were simply cut off,” he says. “Similarly in Thailand I was able to simply swap from a GSM to CDMA network depending on what I wanted to use the phone for.”

The Samsung operates two numbers, a Telecom post-paid subscribers 027 number and a British number via an O2 (a UK telco) SIM card. The second O2 number and SIM card allows users to access reasonable roaming rates in Europe and more importantly local rates whilst in the UK.

Russell, who is based in Wellington, was able to transfer all of his land-line calls to his mobile so he didn’t miss any business opportunities whilst travelling. “It was great as people didn’t even notice a difference, even though I happened to be on the other side of the world,” he says.

Russell says he used the phone's voice and text functions overseas but the 1.3 megapixel camera proved to be very effective. “I used the phone to take a lot of photos in Cuba, but instead of sending them via the phone, I’d just connect the phone to my laptop via a cable and then instantly email them to all my friends”, he says. “The resolution was good, allowing me to take some amazing pictures, and after I’d send them people would comment on how clear they were,” he says. There is no data roaming available on the WorldMode phone so email and picture sending is not possible.

Currently callers need to guess which number you are roaming on. Telecom’s head of mobile products, Jason Foden, says from mid 2007 Telecom’s WorldMode service will be improving to include more countries, a wider range of handsets and the ability to have one number and a single mailbox irrespective of location. “One number, one mailbox whether you’re doing business in Invercargill or Inverness.”

Russell says the entire process of changing to the Samsung W351 was extremely easy. “I simply went into the Telecom shop, where they transferred everything from my old phone to the new one in five minutes,” he says. According to Telecom's Foden, at least four more worldwide devices will be launched this year across a variety of price points and with a variety features, and Telecom is working on sourcing WorldMode data cards, PDA’s and smart phones. The Samsung W531 WorldMode phone is available through Telecom outlets, current RRP$299.

For more information
Telecom New Zealand
Call 123 for general enquiries.
www.telecom.co.nz

May 2007