Cheap data roaming: Article discussion

RazoRmedia

We're currently trialling an iPhone application which can save you over 90% of data charges.
It seems that the most savings to be had are further afield than Europe as some of the UK networks charge ridiculous amounts of money for data roaming abroad. One of our clients just checked emails abroad and got charged £750 for a week (Abu Dhabi). The next time they went, they tested a beta of our application and got charged only £35.
Unfortunately its only on iPhone at the moment but is soon to be released. If anyone would like a sneak peek then please send me a private message and I will arrange.

I can't post links as new user but app is called iRoaming, search google for it.

Chri

I have 2 solutions that I have used on my trps to Europe:
For the whole continent (33 Countries): europasim .com
It costs € 0.04 per MB (actually it's 6 € per day with 150 MB included) and in Italy you pay only 2 € per day (with 500 MB included)
It is prepaid, therefore you can allocate your budget and recharge via Paypal.
For Germany there is an even better solution because it's free (at least for me ): I have a voucher for a German Prepaid SIM-Card with 20 € credit included.
The daily flatrate costs 2.50 € and there is also a monthly price cap (you never pay more than 25 €). You can also call the States for just 9 cent/min.
The voucher code is "Germany" and you can use it since I will not go to Germany anytime soon

koru

There's a UK mobile company called Vectone which also has operations in several other European countries. The websites for those countries are available in English and as far as I can tell you can order a free Sim to be delivered to you in the UK.

For Austria, you then top up a minimum of €10 and this gets you a free data allowance of 300 MB for the next month. Voice calls within the country are five cents per minute.
Austria: http://www.vectonemobile.at/rates/national-rates.aspx?lang=en

The deal in Sweden seems similar, although it is in kroner.

Sweden: http://www.vectonemobile.se/view/rates/freenationlaminutes.aspx

They also operate in the Netherlands, but they don't seem to have any rates for data:
http://www.vectonemobile.nl/

Companies like Lebara also have english language versions of their European sites:
https://www.lebara.com

Lyca also has English language versions of its European sites:
http://lycamobile.com/

I can't immediately see if it offers data, but perhaps others know?

Im_just_careful

I was in Spain in December and bought a Carrefour data SIM.

It cost 5 € and you can then top it up as you wish. Either at the time or in the store. It seems to cost approximately 1.2€ a day for up to 100 MB. If you go over 100MB it slows but doesn't entirely stop working.

I put it in a MiFi type device and our various WiFi enabled devices all worked well with it.

The only "challenge" was that it came with a PIN enabled (the pin was on the carrier the SIM came with) and it took a little while to work out how to turn the PIN off with the device I have.

Sadly, if you don't spend 3€ a month on it, as far as I can tell it stops working so I'll have to get a new one,

They photocopied my passport when I bought it, there seems to be a need for some form of identity with Spanish SIMs.

Other than my complete lack of Spanish there were no difficulties buying it.

http://www.carrefour.es/telecom/internet-movil-prepago/tarifa-diaria/

koru

koru wrote: »

There's a UK mobile company called Vectone which also has operations in several other European countries. The websites for those countries are available in English and as far as I can tell you can order a free Sim to be delivered to you in the UK.

For Austria, you then top up a minimum of €10 and this gets you a free data allowance of 300 MB for the next month. Voice calls within the country are five cents per minute.
Austria: http://www.vectonemobile.at/rates/national-rates.aspx?lang=en

Looks like they do not deliver to the UK. When you try to order a free Sim, it insists that the postcode has only four characters, so I assume this is Austrian format. And there is no field for country. So, you would have to pick up a Sim while in Austria.

OlivierR

There is a new solution in France, you can now rent a wifi dongle (think mobile hotspot) from FrenchConnection.fr
Instead if a few € per MB, the prices are then between 6 and 14 CENTS per MB!

buglawton

Um.. but you did not mention the rental cost itself. So how viable is renting a dongle for say, a week then? And how do I convert a usb dongle into a WiFi hotspot?

MikeWhite

buglawton wrote: »

Um.. but you did not mention the rental cost itself. So how viable is renting a dongle for say, a week then? And how do I convert a usb dongle into a WiFi hotspot?

Looking at the site, for a 7 day rental you are looking at 8 euros per day (so 56 euros (ouch)). You do get 100MB daily allowance.
Then you need to factor in postage to and from you!

It looks like a mi/fi (?) device rather than a usb dongle, so stand alone.
Mike

mrcamp

Renting makes no sense in this day and age. Better to just buy an unlocked on and get a sim card and buy an appropriate data package. You sure you are not affiliated with that website?

OlivierR wrote: »

There is a new solution in France, you can now rent a wifi dongle (think mobile hotspot) from FrenchConnection.fr
Instead if a few € per MB, the prices are then between 6 and 14 CENTS per MB!

woodencupboard

I submitted an email to the site to update the fact Switzerland is now included in the T-Mobile Euro Roaming Zone countries, but the article hasn't been updated. Perhaps the forums here gets checked more often.

I think for the ease of it (and I only need very light data for a 10 day trip) the 50Meg £10 T-Mobile 30 day booster is not too bad a deal.

I read elsewhere Orange in France do a cheap PAYG sim with lots of free internet, but don't know if this roam in Switzerland for free/cheap also, or if the Carrefour ones mentioned above (I know that was Spain but presume similar) are worth a go though?