National Geographic Talk Abroad

Cellular Abroad, Inc. was founded in Los Angeles in 2001. In 2007, together with the National Geographic Society, the company devised a high-quality, high-standard roaming solution suitable for international travelers, including National Geographic’s own writers and photographers. Called the National Geographic Talk Abroad SIM, the service’s voice feature works in over 200 countries, with data access across 3G networks in over 70 countries with 2G EDGE data available in over 130 countries. The SIM card itself is available in standard and micro-SIM sizes.

The SIM is compatible with any unlocked GSM cell phone with the appropriate GSM bands. Like many international SIM card services, the National Geographic SIM card supports multi-IMSI technology, allowing for both a US and UK based phone number on one SIM card. Unlike other services, however, both numbers are always active on the National Geographic SIM and do not require a monthly fee to maintain.

Incoming calls on the UK number are free in more than 70 countries, though there is currently a “per minute” charge to all calls made to the U.S.-based number. Like many of its counterparts, the National Geographic SIM service also offers auto recharging features so users don’t have to manually top up their accounts and is prepaid, so expensive overage charges are a thing of the past.