Tag: roaming

Update: Data Roaming still a rip off.

Paul O’Flaherty writes: I was looking up the charges for WiFi access in Dublin Airport and realized that it was a complete rip-off at 3 euro ($3.78) for 30 minutes. … It turns out that 3 will give me 2 Gigs of data for 10 euro, which is very agreeable to me considering the airport … Continue reading “Update: Data Roaming still a rip off.”

Paul O’Flaherty writes:

I was looking up the charges for WiFi access in Dublin Airport and realized that it was a complete rip-off at 3 euro ($3.78) for 30 minutes.
…
It turns out that 3 will give me 2 Gigs of data for 10 euro, which is very agreeable to me considering the airport rates, but, if I decide to turn in on in the U.S. it will cost me 5 euro for 1 (one) MB of data.
…
Yes, I know there is a connection fee involved with roaming and all the carriers want to get their cut, but seriously – 1000 times more expensive?

With an upcoming week long trip to the US and a two week cruise around Europe, I tried the “recommended solution” for data roamers, MaxRoam, and found them to be €3.90 per megabyte for a “Global SIM” and €5.90 per megabyte for an “iPad SIM”.

For the european leg of my travels, I had thought a Vodafone SIM will do the trick as they charged £4.99 for 25 MB in Europe. But as is typical with carriers, they’ve fucked it up by increasing the charge by a factor of 4.

You can use up to 25MB a day (midnight to midnight UK time) for just £4.99 in Europe – and for £14.99 elsewhere in the world. 25MB is approximately 500 mobile friendly web pages.

From 15th June our new data roaming pricing will come into effect:
Europe: £1 per MB for the first 5MB and £5 for every subsequent 5MB
Rest of the world: £3 per MB for the first 5MB and £15 for every subsequent 5MB

It used to be that a fiver would buy me 25 MB, but now it’s £6 for 10 MB (and costs £21 for 25MB)

For Fuck Sake. In this case, new != better. That’s a pain in the butt but it’s still better than any other carrier. With O2, that £6 would buy me 1 MB of data in the US.

Related posts:

  1. Roaming in the EU. And not in the EU.
  2. iPad Data Plans in the Wild
  3. Waiting for a 3G and a Micro-SIM
  4. Roaming Data….

Using your mobile abroad.

SMSTextNews comes in with some timely tips considering the weather is so bad here in Nor’n Ireland and this might motivate some of us to run for the hills…or maybe the Playa del Arseholio. The tips are all about how to save money when using your mobile abroad. Of course you’re going to use your … Continue reading “Using your mobile abroad.”

SMSTextNews comes in with some timely tips considering the weather is so bad here in Nor’n Ireland and this might motivate some of us to run for the hills…or maybe the Playa del Arseholio. The tips are all about how to save money when using your mobile abroad. Of course you’re going to use your mobly abroad unless some bright spark thinks of an alternative (yes, I know).

They also point to an Ofcom brochure.

For my part I’m hoping to make as much use of Skype and FON as I can. That means:

  • activating my SkypeIn number again
  • making sure I bring my N800 and my charger for same. Unless Skype surprise us with an app on the App Store
  • making sure I can log into FON and find somewhere for my second FON router.
  • making sure I know where every other Free WiFi spot in 6 cities in 6 countries lies
  • adding O2’s 50 MB roaming bundle making data £1 a MB rather than £3-6

I travel infrequently enough at the moment that this should suffice. July-August is just going to be a bit busy in terms of travel for me.

Related posts:

  1. Roaming in the EU. And not in the EU.
  2. Municipal WiFi failing again. Try FON.
  3. Holiday plans in June: Roaming Data
  4. Skype Frustrations

Roaming in the EU. And not in the EU.

I was not aware of this: In February 2006, O2 Ireland became the first operator to abolish roaming charges between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland – introducing ‘All-Island’ pricing for people travelling between the north and south. Roaming charges in Ireland were a concern for those living or working near the border, who … Continue reading “Roaming in the EU. And not in the EU.”

I was not aware of this:

In February 2006, O2 Ireland became the first operator to abolish roaming charges between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland – introducing ‘All-Island’ pricing for people travelling between the north and south.
Roaming charges in Ireland were a concern for those living or working near the border, who often incurred roaming fees inadvertently, sometimes in their own homes.
In addition, international roaming has been abolished for O2 Ireland’s business customers between Ireland and the UK.

Of course, I have no idea whether I incur data or voice roaming charges because I’m an O2 UK customer and not an O2 Ireland customer.

It’s now a month to the big day and straight after that a two week cruise which will take in 6 countries in 12 days. I’ve been busying myself with getting FON set up so that I can find some free/cheap WiFi in some countries and looking at the roaming rates other than that. For the most part it’s going to be £3 a megabyte. For two of the countries at least it’s going to be £6 a megabyte.

Digging around, there’s the ‘Data Abroad’ Bolt-on which costs £20 per month for 10 megabytes and £50 per month for 50 megabytes. Seems like a winner and I’ll nab that when I migrate to my new contract.

Anyone got any EU and European-but-not-EU roaming stories?

Related posts:

  1. The Broadband Blueprint (re DETI Telecoms Consultation)
  2. HSDPA coverage in NI
  3. Update: Data Roaming still a rip off.
  4. Roaming Data….