Telephone

On-campus

If you live on campus, your apartment will provide you with phone service, but you will have to supply the actual device yourself. As customary in the US and Canada, all local calls are included in the monthly flat rate. The rent that you pay for campus housing includes this, so all local calls are at no additional charge. You'll have to use a calling card or an internet phone service to make long-distance or international phone calls.

Off-campus

If you live off campus, your roommates and you will have to decide whether or not you want a landline phone service. The most frequently used service is the one from BellSouth, but there are also other companies such as Talk America or ComCast. As mentioned above, all local calls will be included in the monthly flat rate. There exist plans for long-distance and international calls, but you'll have to research that yourself. The market is so volatile that it will quickly outdate any information posted here. You should also have a closer look at the calling card and internet phone service sections below.

Skype

Skype is a great voice-over-IP service. All you need to have is a broadband internet connection, a computer, the program, and a headset. This is the most affordable solution, because currently the service offers free (!) calls from Skype to any landline or cell phone within the US and Canada. You can also register a traditional phone number called Skype-In, which costs $12 for 3 months or $38 for 12 months. This is not only more affordable than a regular landline, but also portable with your laptop as you have free broadband WLAN access anywhere on campus. Besides, you have unlimited minutes on incoming calls, which is not true with American cell phones. They also offer excellent rates for international calls, e.g. Germany for US$0.021/min!

VoIP service providers not requiring a PC are Vonage, ViaTalk, SunRocket, ITP, Packet8, Verizon VoiceWing, Lingo, AT&T CallVantage, Voiceral, VoicePulse, Vonics. Use a service comparison such as Compare-voIP or ConsumerCompare to help you decide.

Dial around / Calling cards

Switching long-distance and international providers while receiving the charges on your landline phone service invoice is possible (known as "call-by-call" in Europe). Rates change often and should be checked online. A good site with instructions for the US is 10-10PhoneRates.com. For those calling to Germany, even better rates are available from German telcos. Refer the other party to Billiger-Telefonieren.de.

Calling cards are another option for you, but you should be careful. There can be many hidden fees such as activation, maintenance, and connect charge (additionally to the per-minute rate). Watch out also for expiration dates. A good site for finding affordable ones is CallingCards.com, but you can also buy them in stores. It is much easier to buy them online because they are not common anymore in stores or you have only a very small choice.

Cell phone services

There are some major differences to European cell phone services:

• Incoming calls cost you as much as outgoing calls.
• A monthly plan will include a certain number of 'free' minutes.
• GSM is not the predominant technology. Only T-Mobile and Cingular Wireless/AT&T Wireless offer GSM services.
• You have to have a credit history if you want a monthly plan, or pay a large deposit (~$500).

If you already have a GSM cell phone and you'd like to continue using it here in the US, you have to make sure it's at least a tri-band phone, because the American GSM uses different frequencies. The provider will give you a new SIM-card which you can plug into your phone, and you'll have a local number. While roaming with T-mobile is possible, it is not recommended due to high pricing. However, at least at the beginning, you'll have emergency cell phone service if you bring your tri-band GSM T-mobile phone.

To get a monthly plan, be prepared to make a large deposit of about $500 to the carrier, if you don't have an American credit history. The latter you'll have only through an American credit card; the network provider will be able check if your credit history is acceptable while you're in the store. Most plans are for 24 months which is too much for a one year stay in the US but you can cancel them earlier. In this case you have to pay a "Early termination fee" which is calculated in realtion to the months left on your plan is at the moment around $100 if you cancel after one year.

Both Cingular and T-Mobile offer prepaid services, with T-Mobile being more affordable at the moment. This works very well and you can reload using a credit card and the web or a free customer support hotline. The price per minute is higher than with the plans, and incoming calls will be deducted from your available minutes in the same fashion as outgoing calls. However, T-Mobile charges the same for all domestic US calls, even long-distance.