Comments on: International data roaming is broken. Can MVNOs fix it?

By: Kevin Fitchard

Kevin Fitchard — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 17:28:55 +0000

0.90 Euros definitely sounds broken to me. That works out to more than 900 Euros per GB, which is what? 100X the typical domestic rate?

By: David Chambers

David Chambers — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 17:23:04 +0000

It’s definitely broken, and unless operators fix this themselves, then technology, new business or regulators will address it. Typically 80% of the cost of roaming goes to the visited country network, so unless some special deal is done, or a multi-national operator owns both, then it’s difficult to offer better rates.

The operators quoted above are a good example. Three UK charge $5/Mbyte for roaming in the US. T-Mobile USA charge $3/day for unlimited voice/text/data on their local prepaid SIM. Guess which I used on my last US visit, but its a shame they can’t offer this more seamlessly.

4G roaming isn’t implemented yet, partly because of the ludicrous costs, but the demand is now for data only roaming rather than voice so perhaps the approach above might well take off. Since you are not tied to your phone number for a data only tablet, it becomes much less of a problem.

By: TrOo DOn

TrOo DOn — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 16:26:24 +0000

It’s broken in North America. The EU have passed a law that limits data roaming rates to 90 eurocents per MB.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 14:38:46 +0000

Something is changing. I now have unlimited International data roaming with my iPhone 5 for $65 per month. This is via my corporate plan and is further discounted.

By: Andrew Phillips

Andrew Phillips — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 08:02:36 +0000

Imagine if Apple made multiple MVNO deals with carriers all over the world and then offered simple, global price plans direct to their millions of customers. They could use their size and strength to totally change the whole game ..

By: Craig Campbell

Craig Campbell — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 20:49:23 +0000

Oops, I meant to clarify – the “Europe” rates I quoted for 3 are those for roaming outside the UK, within the rest of Europe. Their domestic UK rates are frankly phenomenal. Many plans with inclusive unlimited (not capped or throttled) data, even on prepaid. A prepaid deal of 15 UKP for 300 minutes and unlimited data cannot really be beaten…. Don’t mean to sound like a shill for 3, I just wish more carriers worldwide, especially in the US, would learn from their pricing structure….

By: Craig Campbell

Craig Campbell — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 20:45:28 +0000

The picture above is just like me. I have small boxes full of SIM cards :-) Yes, this is a major bugbear of mine. My US carrier of choice is T-Mobile, but while they offer great plans within the US, they offer absolutely no discounts, concessions or special plans for voice or data roaming. $15 per MB is neither acceptable nor remotely justifiable. The situation thankfully is much better in Europe. I travel to the UK frequently and use 3 while over there. They charge 0.69 UKP per MB within Europe, or offer a daily pass with unlimited internet for 5 UKP per day. It’s still expensive but it’s an enormous improvement over the rates US carriers charge for roaming. Even outside Europe, for example in the US, 3 charge 3 UKP per MB, which, while of course a complete rip-off, is still, at about $5, one third the price T-Mobile USA charges for roaming! The situation in summary is outrageous. There is no way these carriers can justify rates even close to what they charge. At least within Europe the EU has been paying attention and legislating to bring costs down – as for the rest of the world, we are left on our own in a wild west cowboy market :-(