Just saw this pop-up in my evening global news read:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/09/t-mobile-free-global-data/
T-Mobile USA has reduced international roaming rates to 100+ countries (nearly all the countries on all the continents) to just 0.20/minute USD incoming and outgoing. This is MASSIVELY cheaper even than the AT&T/Verizon package of $1/minute (e.g. in Europe) or some 3rd party roaming sims that are 0.30-0.50/minute or even Piranha Mobile: http://piranha-mobile.com/ (0.15/minute outgoing call in the UK for example).
T-Mobile USA just did a bomb-shell for Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.
Plus unlimited texts while roaming internationally and unlimited data throttled to 128Kbps speeds. If you want faster HSPA+ speeds dependent on foriegn network you can buy data packs. There is also a $10 from the US voice/calling/texting package to foriegn mobile numbers at only 0.20/minute direct dial. This isn't nearly a shocker because you could always use 800 number IDD or VoIP services like Google Voice and get 0.01/minute foreign rates.
For moderate usage I don't have to worry about getting a foreign SIM card anymore and can roam cheaply on a native +1 T-Mobile USA SIM.
More commentary from CTO about how T-Mobile USA is cutting their international roaming revenues:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-576...nlimited-international-data-texts/
For someone in the technology industry this is very interesting to watch.
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
I use Verizon right now (global phone with CDMA + GSM) and know many that use AT&T. This will likely cause them to get a T-Mobile USA account just for the cost savings. No more time wasting time getting foreign SIM cards abroad and you can now roam with a US +1 number (cheaper for someone in the US to call them wherever they ware).
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- Dreadnought
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting willzzz88 (Thread starter): T-Mobile USA has reduced international roaming rates to 100+ countries (nearly all the countries on all the continents) to just 0.20/minute USD incoming and outgoing. |
I work in the industry and can tell you that their cost probably averages no more than 3 or 4 cents per minute for such traffic (and in major countries like France, Germany and Japan, more like 1 or 2 cents.)
Democrats haven't been this angry since we took away their slaves.
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
Damn... International roaming rates cut by 75% and unlimited calls to international landlines from the US for $10 a month too (read the OP's article)!
As I've always had to use my T-Mobile SIM card overseas, this is a massive saving!
As I've always had to use my T-Mobile SIM card overseas, this is a massive saving!
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- jetblueguy22
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
My folks both have T-Mobile for their work phones and their company is making the switch to Verizon this upcoming week. There is no reason to stay with them even with these cuts. T-Mobile's coverage is crap in the US and my stepdad always has issues when he is in China getting coverage. It's always funny traveling with them because they end up using my AT&T phone trying to call into a conference call or get e-mails out. This will help keep some business, but I'd be willing to guess Verizon and AT&T will follow close behind.
Pat
Pat
Look at sweatpants guy. This is a 90 million dollar aircraft, not a Tallahassee strip club
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
This is awesome. Combined with their new cheap, a la carte data roaming, this is going to save me a fortune and tons of headaches.
Not in the places people actually are.
| Quoting jetblueguy22 (Reply 4): T-Mobile's coverage is crap in the US |
Not in the places people actually are.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting Dreadnought (Reply 2): I work in the industry |
What do you do, out of curiousity?
Four Granavox Turbines!
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting jetblueguy22 (Reply 4): T-Mobile's coverage is crap in the US and my stepdad always has issues when he is in China getting coverage. |
It's getting better as they continue to refarm the spectrum acquired in the breakup of the AT&T merger as well as the spectrum acquired when they merged with MetroPCS. Where I live, I have 5 bars of 4G and every so often, it will switch to LTE (although it's only one bar, which is pretty worthless) as they've not filled the gap yet.
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting jetblueguy22 (Reply 4): My folks both have T-Mobile for their work phones and their company is making the switch to Verizon this upcoming week. |
Same here. I had T-Mobile when I was living in SMF and it was ok. Cheap, but ok. When I moved to RNO for work, it was completely useless. Hardly any service in the valley, not to mention the mountain passes. Went over to Verizon and while I pay substantially more, I don't regret it.
Marine Corps Aviation, The Last To Let You Down!
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- Dreadnought
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
Democrats haven't been this angry since we took away their slaves.
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- RussianJet
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
Meanwhile, here in the EU we'll continue to be raped with ridiculous roaming charges for daring to want to use our phones an hour's travel away from home.
✈ Every strike of the hammer is a blow against the enemy. ✈
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- Dreadnought
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting RussianJet (Reply 10): Meanwhile, here in the EU we'll continue to be raped with ridiculous roaming charges for daring to want to use our phones an hour's travel away from home. |
I used to live in Geneva, less than a mile from the French border. If I was not careful, my phone would often lock onto a French tower rather than Swisscom and "Hello roaming charges!"
Democrats haven't been this angry since we took away their slaves.
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- RussianJet
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting Dreadnought (Reply 11): I used to live in Geneva, less than a mile from the French border. If I was not careful, my phone would often lock onto a French tower rather than Swisscom and "Hello roaming charges!" |
Indeed. Similarly, if you stand on the cliffs in Dover you can sometimes jump onto French towers 20 miles across the English Channel.
In any case though, it's ridiculous that we have to pay through the nose when visiting friends only an hour's flight away or whatever, and when we're part of what is supposed to be a close political union (though yes, I understand that phone companies are not political entities). It's really hard not to feel that the European bill payer is being totally ripped off.
✈ Every strike of the hammer is a blow against the enemy. ✈
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting RussianJet (Reply 10): Meanwhile, here in the EU we'll continue to be raped with ridiculous roaming charges for daring to want to use our phones an hour's travel away from home. |
I thought that had been, at least partially, fixed.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
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- RussianJet
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting N1120A (Reply 13): I thought that had been, at least partially, fixed. |
It's not as bad as it once was, but it's still pretty atrocious. There are apparently moves afoot to sort it out, but at the moment it all just seems to be talk. There are bundles you can buy which help, but the best I could get recently was £3 per day for 100mb per day roaming in the EU/EEA. Not too bad on the face of it, except for the fact that I'm already paying for my data allowance every month as part of my contract which is completely dismissed as soon as I travel to a neighbouring country.
✈ Every strike of the hammer is a blow against the enemy. ✈
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
Yeah the EU has imposed limits on roaming, around 0.30€/minute, but the limit for data is 0.54€/MB, totally useless. I was in Italy last summer and my French provider just had implemented this, even lower for voice at 0.23€, so that was OK, but my data was kept off for two weeks. I bought dual SIM phones to my mother and sister so that next time we buy local SIMs, you can get data for very little in Italy.
New Technology is the name we give to stuff that doesn't work yet. Douglas Adams
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- RussianJet
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting Aesma (Reply 15): Yeah the EU has imposed limits on roaming, around 0.30€/minute, but the limit for data is 0.54€/MB, totally useless. I was in Italy last summer and my French provider just had implemented this, even lower for voice at 0.23€, so that was OK, but my data was kept off for two weeks. I bought dual SIM phones to my mother and sister so that next time we buy local SIMs, you can get data for very little in Italy. |
It seems ridiculous to have a very capable smartphone and have to turn the data off just because you visit neighbouring European states.
✈ Every strike of the hammer is a blow against the enemy. ✈
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting Dreadnought (Reply 9): Finance Director for a major telecom. |
Anyone I'd have heard of?
Four Granavox Turbines!
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- Dreadnought
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
Democrats haven't been this angry since we took away their slaves.
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting Dreadnought (Reply 2): |
Out of curiosity, whose costs are you referring to above? Are you referring to T-Mobile's network cost or the network cost of the roaming partner that the T-Mobile customer is using?
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- Dreadnought
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting EricR (Reply 19): Out of curiosity, whose costs are you referring to above? Are you referring to T-Mobile's network cost or the network cost of the roaming partner that the T-Mobile customer is using? |
Well, I don't want to go into too much detail because there are various ways to go about it. But I'm guessing that companies as big as T-Mobile or AT&T have their own IP gateways in most countries, that they themselves terminate all outbound calls and inbound calls are carried to the local carrier via the gateways and the actual cost per minute is well under $0.01 per minute. The biggest cost will be what the host cell carrier charges for interconnection, and what is often called "last-mile" which is that carrier's charges for passing the roaming phone's charges to and from T-Mobile's gateway. That's where the bulk of the cost would be, and is purely a function of how competitive the local industry is. T-Mobile is free to use whichever local carrier that gives them the best deal.
Democrats haven't been this angry since we took away their slaves.
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
Thank god the DOJ prevented AT&T from eliminating T-mobile. It was so important. This is why.
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting RussianJet (Reply 10): Meanwhile, here in the EU we'll continue to be raped with ridiculous roaming charges for daring to want to use our phones an hour's travel away from home. |
Its slowly coming down. For travel in Europe Vodafone Passport is good for receiving calls over 4 minutes. Its a flat rate to receive a roaming call within the EU. I would like to see a time where data is 5c per MB and 10c per call to receive in the EU. In the meantime its a money racket for all involved.
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting Dreadnought (Reply 20): Well, I don't want to go into too much detail because there are various ways to go about it. But I'm guessing that companies as big as T-Mobile or AT&T have their own IP gateways in most countries, that they themselves terminate all outbound calls and inbound calls are carried to the local carrier via the gateways and the actual cost per minute is well under $0.01 per minute. |
This is the way calling cards typically work these days, but AT&T still partners directly with local carriers when roaming. Their cost is determined by that partnership and varies significantly, but costs are high by mutual agreement, not because of the actual cost to connect that call over the PSTN, which is negligible.
Perhaps T-mobile have used IP gateways in this case but I doubt it. Roaming fees have been exorbitant for a long time, and now over-the-top providers are driving down that cost- it was only a matter of time before somebody reduced the price.
Four Granavox Turbines!
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting willzzz88 (Thread starter): |
Hope this is not too good to be true. Just beware there could be those hidden clauses, conditions and charges; the usuall lawyer BS legalize so tread carefully.
I'm Zippyjet & I approve this message!
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- JoePatroni707
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
How does this program work? I will go to Germany next month to visit relatives, and I am always paranoid of using my cell phone too much over in the EU, I always disable international data connection so I dont end up with a huge roaming data bill. Also, I limit phone calls to bare minimum, IIRC T-Mobile used to charge around $1.99 a min international roaming.
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- casinterest
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RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
I see all of this as a tick on the downfall of the international premium. Data and billing are going to go big with all the new services and I think T-Mobile is making the right move forward for all this. The last thing these carriers want to do is to be seen as limiting usage of their phones when traveling. At this point it becomes a one up game. Their will be a cascading lowering of prices from here on in.
Where ever you go, there you are.
RE: T-Mobile USA International Roaming Now 0.20/minute
| Quoting Aesma (Reply 15): Yeah the EU has imposed limits on roaming, around 0.30€/minute |
This is what I was thinking of.
| Quoting Aesma (Reply 15): but the limit for data is 0.54€/MB, totally useless. |
Yeah - that's bad.
| Quoting RussianJet (Reply 16): It seems ridiculous to have a very capable smartphone and have to turn the data off just because you visit neighbouring European states. |
I feel the same way when I go to our NAFTA neighbor, Canada, and have to do the same. Thankfully, I won't have to do so anymore in 2 weeks.
| Quoting Flighty (Reply 21): Thank god the DOJ prevented AT&T from eliminating T-mobile. It was so important. This is why. |
That was always going to happen, and T-Mobile was absolutely brilliant to negotiate the break up they did. The way the deal was structured, the DOJ and all the other players knew that T-Mobile would be able to grow exponentially and jump into the iPhone market immediately, so why not bust up what was a very anti-competitive move?
| Quoting JoePatroni707 (Reply 25): How does this program work? I will go to Germany next month to visit relatives, and I am always paranoid of using my cell phone too much over in the EU, I always disable international data connection so I dont end up with a huge roaming data bill. Also, I limit phone calls to bare minimum, IIRC T-Mobile used to charge around $1.99 a min international roaming. |
Its automatic, so long as you have one of T-Mobile's newer Simple Choice plans (if you don't, you need to get one, I save a bundle compared to my older plan - which was still better than anything AT&T or VZW would do for me). Just turn your mobile data on after October 31 in one of the 100 countries on the list, and you get EDGE speeds. You can also buy bundles of HSPA+/LTE speed.
I too have my data roaming disabled, but I make and receive the calls I need to when away. Its expensive, but I need to do it. I can live with having to grab wifi when available, but calls are not negotiable. It will be nice to have all of that for such a lower price now.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss