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Hello from a non tech savvy girl,

I am currently in the US and looking to purchase the Lumia 1520. I see that there are unlocked gsm AT&T phones (I currently am using at&t go phone no contract plan) and international versions of the phone.

I found a phone for sale that says this in the specs:

Cellular Band: LTE 700 / 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2600
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
WCDMA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100

I am wanting to be able to use it both here in the US on AT&T gophone no contract plan and in Europe/other parts of the world with a local sim.

Will that be possible?

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  • Will the phone be unlocked? If it's locked to just one US carrier, then you'll be unable to put any other sim cards into it, which'll be a show-stopper...
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Aug 9, 2015 at 8:06
  • It is unlocked, yes! :-)
    – Mango mermaid
    Commented Aug 9, 2015 at 23:23

1 Answer 1

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You will absolutely be able to use your phone and you should have some decent data coverage as well; but you may run into issues where LTE (the high speed network) is not available on your device.

In Europe, the two predominant frequencies are 900/1800 this is for voice and text.

For data, each operator offers data service on different bands. Wikipedia has a page that lists LTE frequencies on major operators in Europe.

Your phone runs on the 1800 (band 3) and 900 (band 8); LTE on 850 (band 5) and 1900 (band 2).

This covers the large majority of operators.

Just make sure your device is not locked to AT&T (also called "sim locked"). If it is locked, you can call AT&T and request them to unlock your phone. There is usually a fee for this service.

Or can simply buy the phone "off contract" (unlocked).

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  • Thank you very much Burhan! That was a very helpful answer! I will be able to take more time to understand it this evening, as I have to run now! I will ask at that point if I have any questions. :-)
    – Mango mermaid
    Commented Aug 9, 2015 at 23:24
  • Seems to me that even most data frequencies I see on the Wikipedia page are supported by the phone+gsm unlocked frequencies which is great news! Mostly I was wanting to make sure that the gsm and wcdma frequencies would still work even if the phone's cellular band didn't list them. I guess so! If you can pleaseconfirm with me I will check this question as answered!
    – Mango mermaid
    Commented Aug 10, 2015 at 1:59
  • All your voice + text features will work without fail. You will also enjoy data coverage (you just may not be able to attach to the high speed network).
    – Burhan Khalid
    Commented Aug 11, 2015 at 4:59

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