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My son currently gets cell service in the U.S. via an AT&T Wireless family plan. He will spend the next two years in India. AT&T Wireless provides international service for $10/day (!). Is there a reasonable way for an American to use a cell phone with an American cell phone number in India?

Michael Stern
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    Google Voice might be a viable option, though if I understand correctly it would mean that calls to & from the US number would only be accessible via a data connection. This may or may not be viable depending on how reliably your son will be able to access WiFi or cellular data (and how much it will cost.) – Michael Seifert May 31 '22 at 19:46
  • For what purpose? – littleadv May 31 '22 at 19:58
  • @MichaelSeifert wifi is too limiting. The best solution I've found so far would be to switch our U.S. coverage to T-mobile, as they offer global coverage at reduced speed with no additional cost (at higher monthly rates than we pay AT&T today, but not $10/day more). – Michael Stern May 31 '22 at 20:01
  • @littleadv mostly data. some voice. – Michael Stern May 31 '22 at 20:01
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    For data he'd be much better off getting a local subscription. – littleadv May 31 '22 at 20:02
  • @littleadv If I were optimizing only for price, I'd be there with you, but I'm trying to keep his existing number if possible. – Michael Stern May 31 '22 at 20:03
  • For TMobile - they provide this, but they also have an explicit callout in the T&C that the phone number should be used predominantly in the US. It is for travelers, not foreign residents. – littleadv May 31 '22 at 20:03
  • I think Google Voice will work with cellular data as well, so he wouldn't strictly be tethered to Wifi with that. If that's correct, he could get a local smart phone with a data plan and still make & receive calls to his US number. But I've never used the service and don't know for sure if this will work, hence this is a comment rather than an answer. – Michael Seifert May 31 '22 at 21:49
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    Google Voice will not work with cellular data from my experience – littleadv May 31 '22 at 23:07

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He can. But he will pay for his US number in one month might be sufficient for 2 years if he gets a local number. If he wants to call international, use Rebtel ($10/month).

quantum
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