Inclusive text message from abroad - o2 only?

LB1985

Having been offered some pretty poor deals by o2 retentions (as mentioned in the thread on that subject), I thought about what exactly it is that is keeping me them - other than the very attractive deals they've offered me in the past.

As I'm abroad reasonably often, their policy for text messages from abroad (taken from my inclusive allowance at the rate of 4 credits per message) is very appealing. Do any of the other networks offer similar deals?

redux

Not permanently, but for 3 months of the summer, Vodafone have launched a promotion of abolishing roaming charges. Partly this means removing the 75p connection fee for calls, but they also say that inclusive texts will be usable from abroad.

Whether this promotional experiment is fully intended to be only 3 months of the summer, or has any chance at all of extension if they deem it a success, it's up to you to guess.

You might also look at mobile Java programs which can send an equivalent using data, such as smsbug, Vyke, Fishtext, the various Betamax VoIP brands and others. I'd be a bit careful of using this roaming with Vodafone though, as their data charges abroad seem to go in steps rather than pro rata, so 50p for 100KB is a nuisance if you use only 3kB.

One of the other interesting things that O2 Retentions can offer, mentioned a couple of times on that thread but obviously on old pages by now, is to add My Europe Extra free of charge, thus free incoming calls in Europe. And you might get a better discount on a more modest phone, or get cash as well if you stick with the old one.