Photo courtesy of Engadget Mobile

You went to the store and bought yourself a nice little, thin as paper, innovative looking cell phone. You agreed to all the terms of use with the carrier and are very pleased with yourself – the prices are good, your ringtone is nice and you just downloaded yourself a hot new Paris Hilton screensaver to brighten up your days. The next morning you go out of state to visit a friend. It's a long drive, making for a good opportunity (but not necessarily a smart one) to catch up on all your phone calls. You finally arrive at your friend's, hang out, have some laughs and come back home. Life is good. Till one day the mailman brings you your phone bill and, oh mama, it's big!!! What happened? Well, somebody in the nice cellular store forgot to explain to you what roaming is and how much it can cost you.

Hey, but that's what we're here for...

Roaming is the use of a cellular phone in areas located outside of the provider's regular service area. The ability to do so is agreed between two or more providers allowing each other clients/users to seamlessly move between service areas and still enjoy talking over the phone. You usually don't need to register to any new service or switch to another phone when you go out of your service area, but you still pay a little bit more if you have a roaming agreement in your monthly plan or a whole lot if you haven't got one. So, if you want to avoid huge cell phone bills, give your provider a call before you leave your service area and check out the rates and the terms of use. Sometimes you will find that they expect you to pay even if you haven't answered any incoming calls. Have a nice trip.