The short answer is: No, it聮s not legal to use a U.S.-purchased FRS (Family Radio Service) or GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) in Europe. That聮s because European nations have allocated their radio frequencies in a way that聮s different from the United States. For instance, the radio bands used by FRS here are used by emergency services workers in England. Similar conflicts can be found elsewhere on the European continent.
Motorola RAZR V3
RAZR V3Europe does have its own radio system that聮s analogous to our FRS and GMRS. It聮s called the PMR system, for personal mobile radio. PMR446 is the full designation. It聮s similar to our FRS system in that no license is required. And it聮s legal across most of Europe, including Italy.
One option is to simply purchase a pair or more of those radios when you get to Europe. The cost is about 30 Euros ($60) for a pair from manufacturers such as Cobra (www.cobra.com).
Like FRS, PMR446 is designed to have a maximum range of about two miles. That聮s line-of-sight, under ideal conditions. Actual range is apt to be much, much less. If one member of your party is on one side of the Duomo in Florence, and you聮re on the other, you might not to be able to communicate because the structure will simply block the transmission. So I聮m not sure how practical they聮d be.
Alternatively, check with your wireless phone carrier to see what it costs to get phones that would work in Europe. All wireless phones in Europe use the same GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) frequencies. Here in the U.S., some phones also use GSM, but they聮re still not compatible. So you聮ll need a so-called 聯unlocked” wireless phone, and a SIM card (subscriber identity module) compatible with European systems. You can buy a 聯quad-band” phone that works both here and there. Motorola (www.motorola.com) has a good selection of quad-band phones, but what you pay can range from nothing to a couple hundred bucks depending on contracts, etc.
The advantage of a wireless phone is that you have unlimited range. You聮re in Sienna, your wife is in Rome (how that happened, you聮ll have to explain later), and you can get in touch.
The votes are in: , including the year’s hottest GPS unit.