Verizon's iPhone Unable to Make Calls Outside of the U.S.

Verizon's iPhone Unable to Make Calls Outside of the U.S. - Those considering getting Verizon's version of the Apple iPhone 4 should consider that this model will not be able to make calls in Europe or much of the rest of the world, while AT&T's version can.

Verizon's cellular network uses the CDMA standard, while most countries only have networks using a rival standard: GSM. This means that a majority of Verizon's phones can't make calls outside of the U.S.

This carrier does offer a few phones that support both CDMA and GSM. Included in the list of worldphones is the Motorola Droid Pro and the BlackBerry Bold 9650 -- but not the iPhone 4.

This means that outside of the U.S., most travelers with Verizon's iPhone 4 will be unable to cellular-wireless networks to make voice calls. Their only option will be connection to Wi-Fi networks to use VoIP software like Skype.

AT&T subscribers with an iPhone, on the other hand, can arrange with their carrier to use their smartphone when outside of the United States. This is because AT&T uses the GSM standard.

Still, international roaming isn't cheap, especially for data. Using AT&T's version of this smartphone when abroad requires signing up for an additional voice and/or data service. Paying $5.99 per month means that calls placed outside of the U.S. will cost 99 cents a minute. For email or web access, $24.99 gets 20 MB of data while 200 MB is a whopping $199.

Verizon's version of the iPhone isn't going to be available until February 10, getting potential customers time to consider how much they want to use their phone when traveling in Europe, S. America, etc.