Overseas phone usage is expensive because the overseas networks have free reign to decide what they charge. The cost that your carrier charges you per minute/sm

Overseas phone usage is expensive because the overseas networks have free reign to decide what they charge. The cost that your carrier charges you per minute/sms/MB is almost exactly the same as what the overseas carrier charges them. AT&T don't make money off overseas usage (which incidentally must be a very, very small portion of phone usage - enough to make it inconsequential). Here in Europe the EU regularly reduce the maximum price that a network can charge overseas (EU) visitors for calls and texts. The networks are very willing to tell us why european phone usage costs what it does - because of overseas network charges. You can see why a network would want to charge stupid amounts to visiting networks for usage - the more they charge, the more they make. There's no recourse because you're charging the customers of someone else.