Wage War on International Roaming Charges

I travel internationally, not as much as I'd like, but a few times a year. The toughest thing for me about being parts foreign to the great US of A is that my cell phone is suddenly transformed into a pocket-size mugger. $2.25 a minute in India for a local call - are you freaking kidding me?

My solution? Skype In + Skype Out and a disposable cell-phone. Here's how it works:

1. Buy unlocked mobile phone (MobilePlanet is a good source)
2. Buy a pre-paid SIM card on arrival
3. Forward your cellphone to your Skype In number
4. Forward your Skype calls to your disposable cell-phone SIM card

You'll pay three times here, Skype In (annual fee), Skye Out (per minute) and disposable SIM card (per minute). It still comes to about $0.30 per minute to receive a call in India, a fraction of Cingular's roaming charges.

You can do also the exact same thing with the Gizmo Project, a properly SIP-compatible VOIP application.