Data Plans

[Marc]

Hello all,

I am already grateful for the advice I've found on this site regarding SIMs useable in more than one country.

Is it really the case--as the small number of posts (only 2 came up when I searched) on the subject would suggest--that there are no equivalent prepaid cards/plans for data transmission rather than voice. I'm happy to have found ways to make my in-country calls much more cheaply than T-Mobile offers in its tender mercy (and to be able to use the same card throughout Europe). But I'd be doubly happy if there were some way for me to use GPRS throughout Europe (or even country-by-country, if necessary) at rates lower than T-Mobile's international data roaming.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Marc

[RTuesday]

GT-sim (see the threads on here) has gprs roaming to some countries at Euro 1c/kB (US$0.012/kB, I don't know how that compares with your T-mobile rate). They say the countries they cover so far (more "coming soon") are:

GPRS RoamPartner for GT-SIM Cards

Base Belgium
Rogers Wireless Canada
Bouygues France
Orange France
02 DE Germany
D2 Vodafone Germany
Cosmote Greece
Cable & Wireless Guernsey UK
HK CSL Hong Kong
O2 Ireland
TIM Italy
Jersey Telecom Jersey (UK)
P&T Luxembourg
Optimus Portugal
Singtel Singapore
MTN South Africa
Telefonica Spain
Vodafone (Airtel) Spain
Sunrise Switzerland
Etisalat UEA
O2 UK
Orange UK
T-Mobile UK
Vodafone UK
AT&T USA
T-Mobile USA

I've also used it for GPRS on Vodaphone Ireland and Manx Telecom, so that list is not complete.

Another option is a Virgin Mobile SIM from the UK, that has good GPRS roaming (more than the above) at a flat global rate of 0.5p/kB (US$0.00875/kB).

[Marc]

Hi RTuesday,

Thanks for the quick reply. For comparison, T-Mobile's international data roaming is priced at $0.015/KB in all countries besides Canada. So the GT-sim would be a small improvement; the Virgin Mobile a substantial one. Though neither is as good as the in-country data plan rates we can find here. (Mostly with pretty slow connections, it must be admitted.)

I'll look into Virgin.

Thanks again.

Marc

(It's silly, I know. But it gives me great pleasure--the Internet does these things, I'm aware--that this first reply came from the Isle of Man. I love it that these irreducible small outlying nations and counties--Liechtenstein, Iceland, Jersey, the Isle of Man--are such big players in telecommunications. And then there's also the fondness my wife had for her Manx cat when she was a young girl.)

[Effendi]

Marc one good solution could be the Italian Wind prepaid card with the "Mega No-Limit" option: paying Eur 20.00 per month you get 1GB of data while in Italy, or 200MB while outside my homecountry. So it would be Eur 0.0001 per KB if you plan to use it all.

[Marc]

Salve Effendi,

Thanks very much for that tip. Now, that's a distinct improvement--especially those months I will be in Italia.

Tante cose.

Marc

[Effendi]

Oh, if you plan to come to Italy that's really the best choice, 1GB for 20 euros is really good, and you can use it on UMTS network too. Wind is also upgrading its GSM network to use EDGE, just in these days I knew they started EDGE in some city in southern Italy, I hope very soon they will open it throughout the peninsula. Also because UMTS still have big problems (mainly for voice calls, not for data).

[VladS]

Did anyone try the EUR20 Wind data service in the US or Canada? EUR20 for 200MB is quite good for Canada. Is it a limited time or a permanent plan?

[Effendi]

Yes, Wind has GPRS roaming agreements with both Rogers and Microcell (which are now the same thing, aren't they?), so you should use that option with no problem.

By now it's not permanent, July, 31st 2006 is the last day it can be activated for other 30 days, but we all hope they will let use use it for more...

[VladS]

This is great.

How can I get my hands on Wind card? Do any of their dealers ship overseas? Also can top-ups be purchased online with a non-italian credit card?

[Effendi]

I fear the answer is no to both the questions, but it's better to ask Andrea, he know it much better than me!