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> Pay one rate for data around the world > > In 120+ countries, data usage costs the same $10 per GB > as it does in the US (data speed is limited t

> Pay one rate for data around the world > > In 120+ countries, data usage costs the same $10 per GB > as it does in the US (data speed is limited to 256kbps/3G). > Check email, get directions, and keep in touch with friends > and family when on your trip. Also, call around the world > for 20c per minute and send unlimited international texts. This sounds incredible. Roaming cellular transmission costs are enormous. It's routine to pay several dollars per minute for voice and per megabyte for data. If the data roaming is really no-strings attached, this is a must-buy for me (if it ever becomes available in the UK).

vigneshv_psg 11y ago
FWIW, T-Mobile in the US already has the exact same offering [1]. Their plan has free texts and 2g data in 120+ countries. Calls cost 20 cents per minute. [1] http://www.t-mobile.com/optional-services/roaming.html http://www.t-mobile.com/optional-services/roaming.html
- gabemart 11y ago
  I think this is offering 3g rather than 2g, but I wasn't aware of that, thanks! It seems like UK carriers are lagging behind rather badly in this regard.
  - anonymousDan 11y ago
    I'm pretty sure 3 in the UK has a package where you don't pay anything extra for roaming (http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roaming_and_International http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roaming_and_International).
  - Tomdarkness 11y ago
    3 offer the ability to use your allowances in 18 countries at no extra charge: http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Feel_At_Home http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Feel_At_Home It's not as many countries, but with 3 you can get unlimited data at a fraction of the cost (I currently pay £15/month with 3 for unlimited data, 5000 3 to 3 minutes, 5000 texts and 2000 minutes to other networks).
    - switch007 11y ago
      Currently using this in Australia (and Telstra have fantastic coverage). I was amazed it was available here. It feels too good to be true!
      - kitbrennan 11y ago
        Likewise, although I'm finding that Telstra throttles me quite a lot. Turns out you can use any network in Australia (with no roaming fee from 3), so I've manually switched to Optus and my speed has dramatically increased.
- amaks 11y ago
  Yes, but 2g data is barely if at all usable.
  - vigneshv_psg 11y ago
    in most countries i've been to (UK, Canada, India) 2G data came in handy for things like navigation. note that 2g is part of your plan and it does not cost anything extra. nevertheless, they also have an option to upgrade to 3G data for a fee ($10 or so).
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    Works enough for iMessages, Google Maps, Uber, online banking apps, booking hostels, hotels, airlines, etc.
- kamaal 11y ago
  Yeah, but other telcos in other countries don't have that offer. So a universal cheap data rate will be game changer.
- Someone1234 11y ago
  I am on T-Mobile and travelled outside the US late last year. First off, I just want to say, the "free tier" of international data is extremely appreciated for two important reasons: - Overage is literally impossible (i.e. no "bill shock"). - If you don't wish to pay, you get "something" for nothing. So, now, the "bad." The reality is that T-Mobile's free tier is incredibly slow like "my 56K modem was faster than this" slow. A single modern web-site can literally take so long to load that my phone would fall asleep and then cut off the connection (meaning I'd have to start all over). It is really only useful for push notifications and to check your email if you're really patient. Even for reading sites like Reddit, it would drive you up the wall. Looking at images (e.g. imgur) is a no-go and YouTube is definitely not even plausible. Now, if you pay, you get more data per dollar than you do on most other big US networks and you legitimately get 4G speeds in many places (at least I certainly did). So if you pay you wouldn't even know you were abroad. And when you run out of paid data, you drop down to the slow speed again rather than being cut off (which is nice, so you feel safe to use 100% of your paid data with no risk). So, to me, T-Mobile's free tier doesn't really change the formula for international travel. It just solves overage/bill shock and gives you some basic notifications and maybe email. Those aren't things to be sniffed at, they're legitimately nice, but people should manage their expectations. PS - Protip: Restart your phone every single time you change countries. My phone got "confused" and would refuse to connect until I restarted. We did a cruise so a new country was daily, and I missed a day of data because I thought that country simply wasn't supported (rather than it being a phone problem).
  - walterbell 11y ago
    Does the slow connection work for background reception of email? In that case, one would never wait interactively for email, only be notified when email had already been received.
  - xeromal 11y ago
    Basically, it's enough to whatsapp someone to meet up. I thought it was incredibly valuable during the world cup last year.
  - r00fus 11y ago
    Where did you travel to? When we went to France, I got great speeds (almost 3G-ish) roaming on several providers there (IIRC, SFR and Bouygues) in all sorts of locations, including very remote ones. In the end, we paid $40 (all for calls @ $0.20/min) for 3 weeks of near-normal usage with 2 iPhones. To me that's very much a game changer - previously I paid double that same amount as an accidentally access charge (forgot to turn off roaming on my AT&T phone). Not to mention I had to spend 30m with the AT&T rep to configure our accounts so we wouldn't get charged $2/min prior to our trip.
- peferron 11y ago
  The T-Mobile plan only offers you international data if you pass a credit check. I applied twice, once by phone and once in-person at a store. I got rejected twice. I have excellent credit and suspect the issue is something stupid like my first name being misspelled (something I experience a lot). However T-Mobile employees immediately enter stone wall mode and it's completely impossible to debug the issue. Probably it's a company policy that they should never ever start discussing failed credit checks with would-be customers. Anyway, I'll be damn glad if an alternative appears as it'll give me an additional chance to qualify.
  - adamrt 11y ago
    I have this plan and never did a credit check. Maybe I was grandfathered in though. I've had t mobile for 2 years now.
    - Casseres 11y ago
      T-Mobile uses the same name ("Simple plan") for their different offerings, one of which is international roaming with a credit check. I tried to get this plan, and T-Mobile wasted hours of my time and money on satellite phone calls to them and royally pissed me off with their extremely incompetent support. Apparently I was given the wrong plan when I signed up initially in the US, and then they tried changing my plan to the correct one, but it never worked. I wouldn't touch T-Mobile with a 10 foot pole.
pluma 11y ago
Is $10/GB and $0.2/min normal within the US? I'm not familiar with American (non-roaming) pricing. For comparison: In Germany I have an LTE data plan for my tablet where I pay €24.99 for 7.5GB (~$3.57/GB), the lowest plan being €6.99 for 1GB (~$7.50/GB). Unlimited calls in Germany including 1GB data would cost me €19.99/month (~$21.48) at the same provider and unlimited text in Germany would be an additional €4.99/month (~$5.36), otherwise texts are €0.09 each (~$0.10). Many German providers offer pre-paid (or post-paid) plans with €0.09/minute and €0.09/text. My current plans work out as follows: Tablet with 7.5GB LTE data plan: €24.99 / ~$26.83 (~$3.57/GB) Smartphone with 1GB LTE data, 200 minutes and 200 texts: €11.90 / ~$12.87 Overages per minute: €0.09 / ~$0.10 Overages per text: €0.09 / ~$0.10 Overages for data: free (at significantly reduced speed; "high-speed" extra data can be added for €3-9/GB depending on the plan and provider) The next closest plan for my smartphone would be 1GB LTE data, 400 minutes and 400 texts at €15.90 / ~$17.07, the difference works out to €0.01 (~$0.01) per minute or text. I'm using my own devices, so the plans don't include the cost of the devices themselves. My mobile phone bill over the past months mostly ranged from €14-20 and my tablet bill was mostly fixed at €24.99 (turns out 7.5GB is generally sufficient unless I use Netflix outside WiFi a lot). Also, tethering isn't a problem either, but obviously roaming is excessively expensive even in the EU.
- pyrocat 11y ago
  Not sure about the per minute pricing, but the data cost is low.
- jkaljundi 11y ago
  In Estonia I pay €12 for 5 GB or €17 for 10 GB or €23 for 20 GB. Additional 1 GB at €2 or 3 GB €4. Tethering always included.
- unprepare 11y ago
  A carrier in germany has to build 26 times less towers than a carrier in the US, because germany is more than 26 times smaller than the US. I would think the increased expenditure of 26 times more towers would increase the cost of plans. Europe also never had the culture of carrier subsidized phones, and so were never accustomed to paying more in monthly fees in exchange for low to no cost upgrades of hardware. Tethering varies by carrier in the US - Verizon is legally obligated to allow tethering due to the result of a lawsuit, so they do not charge any extra for this, i believe t-mobile also does not charge for tethering, but it is not related to a lawsuit AFAIK A final point is that pricing for data is fundamentally different in europe as i understand it. Most plans i am familiar with in europe tier data prices by speed - in the US almost all plans get the fastest speeds available, but it is tiered but amount of data used. You cannot pay for faster speeds on a typical US plan, only for greater amounts of data. The european side of that may have changed, as its been a year or so since i was last in europe looking into this
dzhiurgis 11y ago
$20 get's you a gig of 4G data in UK. Probably more in other countries. I think what's interesting here is that Apple tried to do something similar years ago and carriers revolted.
laacz 11y ago
Let me join the international domestic mobile plans pricing party. In Latvia we have unlimited calls and messages for 9.95€. Add unlimited 2G/3G/4G data for 9.99€. That's roughly 20€ for unlimited everything. Tethering is not disabled, however, you could get downgraded to slower speeds for abuse (torrents & alike; never heard of this being enforced). Roaming charges in while in EU are regulated at 0.19€ per minute, messages for 0.09€ per minute. Data is still expensive, though - 0,20€ per MB. Mobile operators provide roaming data packages, which might lower your data bill to 0.14€ per MB. There is a upcoming EU roam-like-home regulation, which would mean that you never pay more than at home for anything - including data.

vigneshv_psg 11y ago

FWIW, T-Mobile in the US already has the exact same offering [1]. Their plan has free texts and 2g data in 120+ countries. Calls cost 20 cents per minute. [1] http://www.t-mobile.com/optional-services/roaming.html http://www.t-mobile.com/optional-services/roaming.html

gabemart 11y ago
I think this is offering 3g rather than 2g, but I wasn't aware of that, thanks! It seems like UK carriers are lagging behind rather badly in this regard.
- anonymousDan 11y ago
  I'm pretty sure 3 in the UK has a package where you don't pay anything extra for roaming (http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roaming_and_International http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roaming_and_International).
- Tomdarkness 11y ago
  3 offer the ability to use your allowances in 18 countries at no extra charge: http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Feel_At_Home http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Feel_At_Home It's not as many countries, but with 3 you can get unlimited data at a fraction of the cost (I currently pay £15/month with 3 for unlimited data, 5000 3 to 3 minutes, 5000 texts and 2000 minutes to other networks).
  - switch007 11y ago
    Currently using this in Australia (and Telstra have fantastic coverage). I was amazed it was available here. It feels too good to be true!
    - kitbrennan 11y ago
      Likewise, although I'm finding that Telstra throttles me quite a lot. Turns out you can use any network in Australia (with no roaming fee from 3), so I've manually switched to Optus and my speed has dramatically increased.
amaks 11y ago
Yes, but 2g data is barely if at all usable.
- vigneshv_psg 11y ago
  in most countries i've been to (UK, Canada, India) 2G data came in handy for things like navigation. note that 2g is part of your plan and it does not cost anything extra. nevertheless, they also have an option to upgrade to 3G data for a fee ($10 or so).
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  Works enough for iMessages, Google Maps, Uber, online banking apps, booking hostels, hotels, airlines, etc.
kamaal 11y ago
Yeah, but other telcos in other countries don't have that offer. So a universal cheap data rate will be game changer.
Someone1234 11y ago
I am on T-Mobile and travelled outside the US late last year. First off, I just want to say, the "free tier" of international data is extremely appreciated for two important reasons: - Overage is literally impossible (i.e. no "bill shock"). - If you don't wish to pay, you get "something" for nothing. So, now, the "bad." The reality is that T-Mobile's free tier is incredibly slow like "my 56K modem was faster than this" slow. A single modern web-site can literally take so long to load that my phone would fall asleep and then cut off the connection (meaning I'd have to start all over). It is really only useful for push notifications and to check your email if you're really patient. Even for reading sites like Reddit, it would drive you up the wall. Looking at images (e.g. imgur) is a no-go and YouTube is definitely not even plausible. Now, if you pay, you get more data per dollar than you do on most other big US networks and you legitimately get 4G speeds in many places (at least I certainly did). So if you pay you wouldn't even know you were abroad. And when you run out of paid data, you drop down to the slow speed again rather than being cut off (which is nice, so you feel safe to use 100% of your paid data with no risk). So, to me, T-Mobile's free tier doesn't really change the formula for international travel. It just solves overage/bill shock and gives you some basic notifications and maybe email. Those aren't things to be sniffed at, they're legitimately nice, but people should manage their expectations. PS - Protip: Restart your phone every single time you change countries. My phone got "confused" and would refuse to connect until I restarted. We did a cruise so a new country was daily, and I missed a day of data because I thought that country simply wasn't supported (rather than it being a phone problem).
- walterbell 11y ago
  Does the slow connection work for background reception of email? In that case, one would never wait interactively for email, only be notified when email had already been received.
- xeromal 11y ago
  Basically, it's enough to whatsapp someone to meet up. I thought it was incredibly valuable during the world cup last year.
- r00fus 11y ago
  Where did you travel to? When we went to France, I got great speeds (almost 3G-ish) roaming on several providers there (IIRC, SFR and Bouygues) in all sorts of locations, including very remote ones. In the end, we paid $40 (all for calls @ $0.20/min) for 3 weeks of near-normal usage with 2 iPhones. To me that's very much a game changer - previously I paid double that same amount as an accidentally access charge (forgot to turn off roaming on my AT&T phone). Not to mention I had to spend 30m with the AT&T rep to configure our accounts so we wouldn't get charged $2/min prior to our trip.
peferron 11y ago
The T-Mobile plan only offers you international data if you pass a credit check. I applied twice, once by phone and once in-person at a store. I got rejected twice. I have excellent credit and suspect the issue is something stupid like my first name being misspelled (something I experience a lot). However T-Mobile employees immediately enter stone wall mode and it's completely impossible to debug the issue. Probably it's a company policy that they should never ever start discussing failed credit checks with would-be customers. Anyway, I'll be damn glad if an alternative appears as it'll give me an additional chance to qualify.
- adamrt 11y ago
  I have this plan and never did a credit check. Maybe I was grandfathered in though. I've had t mobile for 2 years now.
  - Casseres 11y ago
    T-Mobile uses the same name ("Simple plan") for their different offerings, one of which is international roaming with a credit check. I tried to get this plan, and T-Mobile wasted hours of my time and money on satellite phone calls to them and royally pissed me off with their extremely incompetent support. Apparently I was given the wrong plan when I signed up initially in the US, and then they tried changing my plan to the correct one, but it never worked. I wouldn't touch T-Mobile with a 10 foot pole.

pluma 11y ago

Is $10/GB and $0.2/min normal within the US? I'm not familiar with American (non-roaming) pricing. For comparison: In Germany I have an LTE data plan for my tablet where I pay €24.99 for 7.5GB (~$3.57/GB), the lowest plan being €6.99 for 1GB (~$7.50/GB). Unlimited calls in Germany including 1GB data would cost me €19.99/month (~$21.48) at the same provider and unlimited text in Germany would be an additional €4.99/month (~$5.36), otherwise texts are €0.09 each (~$0.10). Many German providers offer pre-paid (or post-paid) plans with €0.09/minute and €0.09/text. My current plans work out as follows: Tablet with 7.5GB LTE data plan: €24.99 / ~$26.83 (~$3.57/GB) Smartphone with 1GB LTE data, 200 minutes and 200 texts: €11.90 / ~$12.87 Overages per minute: €0.09 / ~$0.10 Overages per text: €0.09 / ~$0.10 Overages for data: free (at significantly reduced speed; "high-speed" extra data can be added for €3-9/GB depending on the plan and provider) The next closest plan for my smartphone would be 1GB LTE data, 400 minutes and 400 texts at €15.90 / ~$17.07, the difference works out to €0.01 (~$0.01) per minute or text. I'm using my own devices, so the plans don't include the cost of the devices themselves. My mobile phone bill over the past months mostly ranged from €14-20 and my tablet bill was mostly fixed at €24.99 (turns out 7.5GB is generally sufficient unless I use Netflix outside WiFi a lot). Also, tethering isn't a problem either, but obviously roaming is excessively expensive even in the EU.

pyrocat 11y ago
Not sure about the per minute pricing, but the data cost is low.
jkaljundi 11y ago
In Estonia I pay €12 for 5 GB or €17 for 10 GB or €23 for 20 GB. Additional 1 GB at €2 or 3 GB €4. Tethering always included.
unprepare 11y ago
A carrier in germany has to build 26 times less towers than a carrier in the US, because germany is more than 26 times smaller than the US. I would think the increased expenditure of 26 times more towers would increase the cost of plans. Europe also never had the culture of carrier subsidized phones, and so were never accustomed to paying more in monthly fees in exchange for low to no cost upgrades of hardware. Tethering varies by carrier in the US - Verizon is legally obligated to allow tethering due to the result of a lawsuit, so they do not charge any extra for this, i believe t-mobile also does not charge for tethering, but it is not related to a lawsuit AFAIK A final point is that pricing for data is fundamentally different in europe as i understand it. Most plans i am familiar with in europe tier data prices by speed - in the US almost all plans get the fastest speeds available, but it is tiered but amount of data used. You cannot pay for faster speeds on a typical US plan, only for greater amounts of data. The european side of that may have changed, as its been a year or so since i was last in europe looking into this

dzhiurgis 11y ago

$20 get's you a gig of 4G data in UK. Probably more in other countries. I think what's interesting here is that Apple tried to do something similar years ago and carriers revolted.

laacz 11y ago

Let me join the international domestic mobile plans pricing party. In Latvia we have unlimited calls and messages for 9.95€. Add unlimited 2G/3G/4G data for 9.99€. That's roughly 20€ for unlimited everything. Tethering is not disabled, however, you could get downgraded to slower speeds for abuse (torrents & alike; never heard of this being enforced). Roaming charges in while in EU are regulated at 0.19€ per minute, messages for 0.09€ per minute. Data is still expensive, though - 0,20€ per MB. Mobile operators provide roaming data packages, which might lower your data bill to 0.14€ per MB. There is a upcoming EU roam-like-home regulation, which would mean that you never pay more than at home for anything - including data.