I don't immediately find mention here of this cellphone service described in the New York Times: A cellphone without borders
For one who would like occasional use of a phone while traveling internationally, it looks interesting.

Whee! This is exactly what I've been waiting for to happen! It's almost the beginning of the end (the very beginning was Skype, I think, or maybe VoIP companies a little further back than that), all you cell phone gouging bigwig companies...the Net has finally come to GET you...!

Now, we just have to get the iPhone on this wagon...

The service actually sounds quite similar to what United Mobile offers, except that Cubic also sells a phone. If you only wanted the SIM card, I think the basic callback service is pretty much the same. The main advantage I see to the Cubic plan is the possibility of linking the phone to local numbers. It isn't quite clear to me how that works though, and the rates still seem unclear too. From glancing at the site, it appeared that you would pay for incoming calls, which isn't the case with United Mobile.

The other added option is the wi-fi -- but $42 a month isn't exactly cheap, especially since you need to be able to find wi-fi hotspots. I wouldn't want to depend on wi-fi to use my cell phone.

I think this type of plan is the wave of the future, but Cubic is still very much a work in progress. As Pogue says, the company is

quote:

... a little group of 13 people in Ireland, with vast experience in calling cards but none in cellphone sales. Its plans are ambitious, disruptive — and incomplete. Several pieces of its system have yet to be slipped into place, including tech support, customer service, documentation, Internet data plans and domestic calling rates.

So I wouldn't be in a big hurry to sign up for a while until they prove themselves.

I have heard rumors that Google is at work on some type of cell phone. It will be VERY interesting to see what might develop there.

- Roz