Samsung Telecommunications America and Verizon Wireless have made the Samsung SCH-a790 global phone available to Verizon Wireless customers.
The quad-band CDMA/GSM phone allows Verizon Wireless customers to roam internationally onto Verizon Wireless partial owner Vodafone Group plc’s networks in Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.
Verizon Wireless earlier this year said the a790 was available to its enterprise customers, but did not disclose details.
“This phone is a triumph of technology that gives customers an easy, convenient way of staying in touch while thy travel the world,” said John Stratton, vice president and chief marketing officer of Verizon Wireless. “The Samsung a790 successfully bridges technologies to create a seamless way of communicating between continents.”
The a790 uses Qualcomm’s MSM6300 chipset solution to allow roaming between GSM and CDMA2000 1x networks. The device also features a built-in camera with zoom and multimedia messaging capabilities.
The phone is retailing for $350 with a two-year contract at Verizon Wireless Communications Stores. Calls placed in most countries outside the United States will cost $1.29 per minute. International text messages will cost 50 cents to send and 5 cents to receive vs. domestic text messages, which cost 10 cents to send and 2 cents to receive.