Staying connected outside the U.S. Bloomberg Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. Lots of vacationers and business travelers find out the hard way. The mobile phone that they use back home....won't connect when they're outside the United States. You can rent phones designed to work in the country you're traveling to. Or check with your carrier about which phones and services they offer to help you stay connected. AT&T this month expanded its wireless international service. VP Bill Hague....

"Well we've expanded our data offerings. So they used to cover about 40 countries and now it's covering 67 countries. These are discounted data offerings. So you can use more data overseas and wind up not spending as much money as you would have previously."

For instance...for about 60 dollars customers can buy a package of 50 megabytes of data. The need for data and voice while traveling is growing...with more customers using smartphones....iPhones, Blackberries and Windows Mobile devices. Keep in mind that the usage plan you have at home....will not cover calls you make or receive while outside the country. Among the applications...available for International data users....is navigation...

"We have a navigation program now for each of the cities where the Olympics are taking place in China. Where you can just go on and self navigate yourself through the city."

Hague says it also works throughout Europe. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.