Mobile data roaming charges

Overseas roaming charges are no longer as expensive as they were in the past and the mobile phone is now a feasible method of keeping in touch whilst travelling overseas nowadays. In fact, this summer networks like Vodafone are effectively offering roaming calls at no extra cost, due to their summer roaming promotion combined with the Vodafone Passport. Unfortunately newer data services like HSDPA mobile internet access are yet to catch up with the price decreases for the better established mediums of calls and text messages.

One of the main problems is that a high number of countries do not offer 3G roaming. GPRS is more widely available but is not built to handle 3G data services. 3G should be available in most European countries but further afield isn’t really an option yet. Costs are relatively high. For example, Vodafone offer 24 hours worth of internet access in a range of participating countries (mostly European destinations and well developed countries such as South Africa and the USA) for a flat rate of £9.99. This might seem expensive to some people, but unfortunately mobile internet abroad is still a bit of a luxury.

Good news for consumers who are looking to use data services abroad came last autumn though, when the European Commission announced that it would be looking into data rates charged whilst roaming. Better awareness and caps on the price per megabyte of data used are to be introduced on the 1st of July 2009 in an attempt to make charges fairer. This development should kick-start the growth of what is still a developing area of telecommunications.

No doubt availability will increase and prices come down as the technology becomes better established. What’s available is undeniably useful though. Laptops can be taken online through a mobile phone in the modem mode, which could be necessary for those needing to work whilst abroad. The latest handsets, such as the iPhone 4 on Vodafone, are great if it is just emails that need to be checked. Some networks will have a maximum daily charge for data usage so that can restrict the costs of data roaming, but it is strongly advised that all charges are understood before using mobile internet abroad.

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