last year (2005) I got a brittish Vodaphone prepay SIM in heathrow airport.
i was in 3 countries equal time, so it didnt matter what country i got it from.
I used my Hiptop for this.   REQUIREMENT: had to have tmobile "unlock"
the phone, and make sure it is "three-band".

this year (2006) I used my american T-Mobile (hiptop) number.  
minimum a dollar a minute.  didn't need to use it much, 
but i ignored the high cost & made SHORT calls when i needed to,
and preferred SMS Text Msgs.  My bill was an extra $80, about $30 of
is 2MB GPRS internet (email fetching, a little AIM & Web).  I'LL DO THIS AGAIN.
REQUIRMENT: Had to enable "international roaming", and make sure it is
"three-band".

2 yrs ago, i bought a used cheap phone ($50) in MAMUT (Moszkva T�r, Budapest)
and hungarian prepay card (another $50, includes extra chunk of minutes).
REQUIREMENT: trusting a dodgy used phone dude to get it working.

The cell phone companies will be the first against the wall
when the revolution comes (:

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p.s. Beware the #19 tram in Budapest. Two years ago, I lost my phone on that tram, on way to a Korean restaurant. I was my next-to-last day, so I didn't sweat it.

Last year, I got off one evening at T�T�NYI �T, but sensed something was wrong, and jumped back on just before the doors shut. Under my seat I found my cell phone. I rode to the next stop, and walked back to the Backpack Guesthouse. It was an extra-fun walk because Bart�k B�la �t was all torn up along there, because they were finally repaving that section.