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theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
This is so OUTDATED !
In Europe you can have unlimited 4G + Phone calls + Messages for 16$/month inside a given country. By 2016 roaming fees in Europe will be very low (about the price of regular local calls, and very low for data), and totally suppressed by 2017.
The way it should already be.
Which part of Europe allows you to get all of that for $16 per month?
 
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coolfactor

macrumors 604
Jul 29, 2002
7,062
9,730
Vancouver, BC
Wait, it's $1 for 15MB of data in ONE HOUR use? What a load of crap!

15MB/hr is a joke. Why not give me $1 for 100MB/hr is more like it. You visit websites, stream a video, get a ton of ads forced down your throat, and send one or two emails minus attachments. 15MB is great back in 2007.

This is the same tactic used by american companies.

You go to asia they give you unlimited wifi access at their wifi coffee shops for 30 days - you buy a pass that's around $25 or less. This is typical how us telecoms force-fornicate consumers.

Let's just use an example:

Send some images only in whatsapp - probably 250kb/image. Send some video, that's gonna eat that 15MB real quick. You can basically text for an hour minus sending any multimedia. The plan is pretty ripoff in my opinion.

Yes, I agree that 15MB is far too low in today's media-rich world. This is a major cash grab.
 

svenning

macrumors member
Mar 13, 2015
84
434
Los Angeles
Tmobile lets you borrow an iPhone to try out their network. Their coverage has expanded by nearly 400% in my area ever since John Legere became CEO. They just surpassed Sprint to become #3 in the amount of customers that they have. Any rumor that you heard about Tmobile that is older than 6 months is already outdated. They're a really good company and they work in every country that I've visited.
Second that! Switched from ATT 2 months ago and couldn't be happier. Much cheaper and many more benefits; Free data roaming, Spotify, apple music and Netflix doesn't count towards your data usage (plus they just gave all their customers unlimited data for 3 months), and they don't charge for tethering like ATT.
 

DavsDue

macrumors newbie
May 16, 2010
11
2
Lol, I live in Denmark and pay (199 DKK =) $29.3 for 8 hours talk + 8 GB data and for an extra (29 DKK =) $4.3 I'll get unlimited data. No down throttling of the speed! It's (29 DKK =) $4.3 for each extra SIM I get (and they are with unlimited data). All is on 4G and I even get Telmore play with the subscription, link for ad: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkViVFOCwZo
 

weckart

macrumors 603
Nov 7, 2004
5,835
3,514
*Plans are not available to residents of these countries.

that makes the offer much less attractive.

Reality: No one in those countries would bother with the ridiculously low amount of data offered. Current offer with EE in the UK, £10 on a PAYG sim gives you 100GB of tetherable 4G data per month for two months. That 15MB just doesn't even cut it with WAP, let alone a smartphone.
 
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sudo1996

Suspended
Aug 21, 2015
1,496
1,182
Berkeley, CA, USA
The question is whether you can accidentally go over and get charged. I hate having that fear with my plan.

This is so OUTDATED !
In Europe you can have unlimited 4G + Phone calls + Messages for 16$/month inside a given country. By 2016 roaming fees in Europe will be very low (about the price of regular local calls, and very low for data), and totally suppressed by 2017.
The way it should already be.
Yep :/ Europe is lucky when it comes to Internet service.

Maybe the U.S. is so spread out that it's hard to connect and easy for companies to monopolize certain areas. Our cell companies get away with charging really high prices for small data plans on slow networks. Even our home ISPs are generally worse than European cellular data! If you get stuck with Comcast or Time Warner over here, their deals aren't too bad on paper, but what they don't tell you is that their connections are high-latency and horribly unreliable. But if you're lucky, you'll get something nice like Verizon FiOS in your area.

Also, there's something fishy going on with Speedtest.net. I ran a test on my AT&T LTE and got 50mbps download. No ****ing way that's true; webpages obviously take much longer to load than on my grandma's 4mbps DSL connection.

Tmobile lets you borrow an iPhone to try out their network. Their coverage has expanded by nearly 400% in my area ever since John Legere became CEO. They just surpassed Sprint to become #3 in the amount of customers that they have. Any rumor that you heard about Tmobile that is older than 6 months is already outdated. They're a really good company and they work in every country that I've visited.

It all depends on where you live. T-Mobile's coverage is horrible in Berkeley and Los Angeles, the two places I'm usually in, so it's not an option.
 
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Carlanga

macrumors 604
Nov 5, 2009
7,132
1,409
This is a time value proposition, not a money value one. Yes, there are cheaper venues for data, but not everyone has either the time or desire to hunt down a prepaid SIM card or a VPN to make public WiFi use palatable.

...
Most countries I visit they even have local phone services boots on airports. But I guess if you have business decisions to take isn't story when arriving then I could see one using the current world extras from different carriers and not this expensive thing.

If you are saying convenience for pay then just keep the world extra (forget the name atm) from att or similar services w your carrier. My discount includes it for free and I think it charges more or less the same as this thing for data and I don't even have to change my phone number or do anything extra. Calls costs about $0.50 cents per minute on it. Hell even T-Mobile free plan while slow is better than this. Why have high speed if all of it it's going to be consumed by one email attachment.
 

sharkfire

macrumors newbie
Dec 12, 2015
1
0



alwaysonline-250x352.png
Otono Networks today announced the launch of AlwaysOnline Wireless, a global LTE roaming network exclusively for iPads with Apple SIM. The roaming network will be available in 45 countries, but will expand to additional countries in the future.

AlwaysOnline will offer LTE data plans starting from $0.99 an hour for 15 MB, and users can pay by hour, data or megabyte. Otono CEO Emir Aboulhosn says that the company wants to offer short-term data plans for times customers "really need connectivity on-the-go" like if they need to "catch up on email in the car" or "get directions to their next meeting."

AlwaysOnline's roaming network is available in countries like Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia and more. However, the network's plans aren't available to the residents of the majority of the countries listed. The full list can be seen on AlwaysOnline's website.

Last year, Apple introduced the Apple SIM with cellular models of the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 sold in the United States and United Kingdom. The Apple SIM allows users to easily move between networks, taking advantage of short-term data deals when needed. More recently, the cellular models of the iPad mini 4 and iPad Pro have included Apple SIM support. The Apple SIM can now be purchased in 13 countries.

Earlier this year, Apple agreed to a deal with mobile connectivity company GigSky to bring Apple SIM cellular data plans to over 90 countries. While GigSky offers short-term data deals in more countries than AlwaysOnline, the latter offers even shorter-term data deals, enabling users to purchase hour and day-long plans.

Article Link: 'AlwaysOnline Wireless' Debuts New Short-Term Cellular Data Plans for Apple SIM
 

DCJ001

macrumors 6502a
Dec 12, 2007
521
253
I don't wanna put your hopes down, but I did the same thing when I got my iPad Air 2. Last year before I went to go to Canada I bought the $10 5GB too. I'm glad I still got my old GPS because I'm just relying on my phone. I thought I could just tether to my iPad and I'm good to go. I gave them a call and I was been told it's only for a paying postpaid customers.

I use TomTom's USA for GPS on my iPhone 6s and cellular iPad. It is regularly $49.99, but is on sale now for $24.99. It works incredibly well because all of the maps for the USA download to the device when the app is installed so that you do not need to rely on a data connection to download maps as you travel, like with Apple or Google maps. When I drive long distances, I use it on my cellular iPad Air 2 attached to my car's dashboard with velcro.

2014-06-01%2012.22.05.png


TomTom makes similar GPS apps for Canada and other countries around the world.

They even have a version for the USA that you can try for 30 days for $0.99!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/try-tomtom-gps-navigation/id675650879?mt=8
 
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Max(IT)

Suspended
Dec 8, 2009
8,551
1,662
Italy
I use TomTom's USA for GPS on my iPhone 6s and cellular iPad. It is regularly $49.99, but is on sale now for $24.99. It works incredibly well because all of the maps for the USA download to the device when the app is installed so that you do not need to rely on a data connection to download maps as you travel, like with Apple or Google maps. When I drive long distances, I use it on my cellular iPad Air 2 attached to my car's dashboard with velcro.

2014-06-01%2012.22.05.png


TomTom makes similar GPS apps for Canada and other countries around the world.

They even have a version for the USA that you can try for 30 days for $0.99!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/try-tomtom-gps-navigation/id675650879?mt=8
If you like me travel worldwide, TomTom is not a good option (too many maps to be stored locally)
 

Chupa Chupa

macrumors G5
Jul 16, 2002
14,835
7,396
Most countries I visit they even have local phone services boots on airports. But I guess if you have business decisions to take isn't story when arriving then I could see one using the current world extras from different carriers and not this expensive thing.

If you are saying convenience for pay then just keep the world extra (forget the name atm) from att or similar services w your carrier. My discount includes it for free and I think it charges more or less the same as this thing for data and I don't even have to change my phone number or do anything extra. Calls costs about $0.50 cents per minute on it. Hell even T-Mobile free plan while slow is better than this. Why have high speed if all of it it's going to be consumed by one email attachment.

It's just another alternative on the convenience side. Don't bash it just because it doesn't work for you. I'm not even sure it's something I would use as I do just buy an ATT int'l roaming pkg before I leave. But that doesn't negate the use case for other people. Maybe it's a bad idea. The market will tell us. I'm just pointing out this is a product for people who's time with worth more than saving a few bucks hunting down a local prepaid sim. It's not always as easy as you say. Even when buying from an airport vending machine, many cellcos still require a time consuming registration, often only in the native language of the country.
 

_Refurbished_

macrumors 68020
Mar 23, 2007
2,333
3,013
Tmobile lets you borrow an iPhone to try out their network. Their coverage has expanded by nearly 400% in my area ever since John Legere became CEO. They just surpassed Sprint to become #3 in the amount of customers that they have. Any rumor that you heard about Tmobile that is older than 6 months is already outdated. They're a really good company and they work in every country that I've visited.

Came from Verizon, happy T-Mobile customer.

T-Mobile's coverage isn't up to Verizon's in desolate areas. If you don't visit desolate areas, the rumors are true. T-Mobile's network in populated areas is what's improved (not necessarily cities), but they still lack coverage compared to the big guns.

The difference between the companies is the way T-Mobile values its customers and the constant improvement to the T-Mobile experience. With Verizon or ATT, you feel like you're on a downward spiral. With T-Mobile, on the other hand, you get great bang for your buck with features being added every few months.Personally, I'm OK with T-Mobile's lack of coverage in specific areas. Most of the Uncarrier moves are useful features and not corporate marketing bs.

I paid for T-Mobile's lack of coverage two months ago on my trip from California > Texas. 20 hours of driving with VERY little signal on a major interstate. The ATT / Verizon phones had significantly more coverage. Other than that, there's a very small difference in everyday usage between my GF's Verizon iPhone and my T-Mobile iPhone. Both allow you to use your phone in most places, and well.

I pay less, get more, and deal with an occasional "no service" indicator. People make it out to be a bigger deal than it really is. I'm happy where T-Mobile is going and am confident they'll make a huge dent in the mobile space over the next five years.
 
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Richdmoore

macrumors 68000
Jul 24, 2007
1,956
355
Troutdale, OR
It's just another alternative on the convenience side. Don't bash it just because it doesn't work for you. I'm not even sure it's something I would use as I do just buy an ATT int'l roaming pkg before I leave. But that doesn't negate the use case for other people. Maybe it's a bad idea. The market will tell us. I'm just pointing out this is a product for people who's time with worth more than saving a few bucks hunting down a local prepaid sim. It's not always as easy as you say. Even when buying from an airport vending machine, many cellcos still require a time consuming registration, often only in the native language of the country.

Actually, these new sim plans might be good in my case, depending on the cost. I do wish it was easy to look up the rates however.

I am a fractional industry pilot who a few times a year will overnight outside the US. I usually get these trips with short notice (12 hours notice at the most, sometimes as close as an hour before departure.).

I have not stayed longer than 14 hours at any foreign country for the last couple of years. It is also very inconsistent, I will go months sometimes without leaving the us.

Since we clear foreign customs at private terminals rather than the airline terminal, SIM card shops are not available there.

My employer's expense department is very, very specific about personal charges like wifi on a company issued card. It becomes a hassle trying to put personal charges on one credit card, and room charges on my work credit card at hotel checkout.

These plans may actually be good for me, depending on the rates. I get automatic separation of personal Internet useage, no need to find a SIM card for a short overnight.

Of course, if I had longer stays, or knew the dates of my trips outside the country with more notice as most people do, an ordinary prepaid sim would be a much better way to go.
 

Carlanga

macrumors 604
Nov 5, 2009
7,132
1,409
It's just another alternative on the convenience side. Don't bash it just because it doesn't work for you. I'm not even sure it's something I would use as I do just buy an ATT int'l roaming pkg before I leave. But that doesn't negate the use case for other people. Maybe it's a bad idea. The market will tell us. I'm just pointing out this is a product for people who's time with worth more than saving a few bucks hunting down a local prepaid sim. It's not always as easy as you say. Even when buying from an airport vending machine, many cellcos still require a time consuming registration, often only in the native language of the country.
It's not that it doesn't work with me, but that the market has easier and cheaper options been with the carriers that one is currently tied to. If this thing was way cheaper then yes, but they are shooting themselves in the foot before even starting it with their prices.
 

sudo1996

Suspended
Aug 21, 2015
1,496
1,182
Berkeley, CA, USA
System services will eat those 15 MB in 15 minutes. What a load of crap.
Have you tried checking the stats? I wish iOS would show what I've used in the past X minutes instead of the amount since the last manual reset. I don't think it's even close to that. Otherwise, my data plan would be eaten every month just by system services.
 

Chupa Chupa

macrumors G5
Jul 16, 2002
14,835
7,396
It's not that it doesn't work with me, but that the market has easier and cheaper options been with the carriers that one is currently tied to. If this thing was way cheaper then yes, but they are shooting themselves in the foot before even starting it with their prices.

How's that? ATT's (my carrier) least expensive international roaming plan is $30 for 120mb. My math says Always On @ .99/15MB is less expensive ($15 for 150mb).
 

mrmcgoo

macrumors newbie
Apr 23, 2010
17
8
You have to have a billing address in;
Dominican Republic, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Thailand.

So it's not really targeted at the majority of North American or Western European customers.
 

joshontheweb

macrumors newbie
Dec 13, 2015
2
0
Dude, just about every T-Mobile US plan besides the one for $30/month gives you free overseas data.

That is definitely how they sell it. It isn't technically untrue but I was only getting 2g data speeds in Australia. I called them to complain and they wanted to charge me something like $50 for 500MB. They also wouldn't let me unlock my phone so I could get a local sim card while I was traveling. Pretty raw deal.
 

gimikinc

macrumors regular
Sep 28, 2008
109
44
Bay Area
This is awesome for those that travel abroad and need to get connected without having to pay an arm n' leg. Although wifi is available for free at many coffee shops and restaurants, this still provides a lot more flexibility.
 
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