Could T-Mobile (U.S.) new global plan doom the global SIM card business?

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by Stu

Vlad is correct. Calling +1-212-555-1212, ext 1 rings my mobile, ext 2 rings my wife's, ext. 3 rings Joe Bloe. Calls from a specific mobile (determined by caller-id) drops you to a US dialtone, etc.

Wow. Thanks for clarifying. I really thought it was the one I suggested.
Now I know more than yesterday.

[Stu]

Another acronym is DISA -- Direct Inbound System Access. Since I have an Asterisks box (like Vlad and some others on this forum), it is often a good deal to temporarily purchase an inbound number in a country and be my own calling card service.

There are area also a number of free DIDs available for residents of various countries, but it is often a chore to get them when you aren't a resident. Additionally, you often have more capacity than you need. For example, my pay Australia DID which I use for calling card services for my brother can handle ten simultaneous inbound calls. It would be child's play to loan a connection to someone visiting Oz with a Piranha or Telna SIM which allows SIP URIs. At the same time, I don't want to go in business and want to know who I am dealing with.

[snidely]

just wanted to report T-Mobile roaming is working perfectly in China. 7 family members 5 of which are on TM. Texting a lot. Data works better/faster than I thot. Voice is excellent both to u.s. and local.

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by snidely

just wanted to report T-Mobile roaming is working perfectly in China.

That is good to hear.

In response to the original question.
Only for people in the USA with T-Mobile.
But it seems to be a really good value for them.
Will people in the US switch for this? Perhaps some.
Will non-USA people be able to get it? Not too easily,
although perhaps for some Canadians it will be worth it.

Will/Can any other american carrier match this?

[DRNewcomb]

Originally Posted by rfranzq

Will people in the US switch for this? Perhaps some.
........
Will/Can any other american carrier match this?

Cheap international roaming has not been much of a selling point for US wireless carriers in the past. International roaming been almost an afterthought and treated as a luxury item. American consumers have been willing to accept overpriced international roaming (with the exception of a few you find here). I think the word will spread but understand that T-Mobile's rates are not always the best. On some cruise ships they are much higher than ATT's.

Almost any carrier can match these rates. The only question is if they will choose to.

[davidtheprof]

This might help T-Mobile compete better in more affluent segments and business customers who travel more. I've always gone with T-Mobile because of cheaper plans and ease of switching sims (easy unlock policy), but it's generally been seen as second tier carrier, with Verizon being 'premium' - despite their US only (almost!) non-GSM technology.

[kctopitz]

As I see it, this is a great perk if you're a US resident already on or considering T-Mobile's monthly plan ($50/month), especially for it's unlimited data. Even if it isn't at full 3G speeds, that alone would allow you to check email and do all the basics without concern of how much data you're using and the associated cost (previously very expensive). No other international SIM card can offer that as far as I know, and I can see this hurting those guys as far as U.S. customers go. Hopefully this will force them to be more competitive and start rolling out their own data packages, rather than offering data by the megabyte.

[Bossman]

I agree - Even as a non-tmobile customer (I only have prepaid for my kids with them), I am considering giving this a try when next I travel out of the country. I will just sign up for their cheapest monthly plan that includes this, I think it's $50, and then cancel after 1 month.

[powerlifter]

Look at the www. Milepoint.com in the technolgy forum there is a guy who called T-mobile to make sure he was on the correct plan. He spent a few hrs in the UK and two days in Belgium. He came home to $1500 phone bill. He explains it very well on the forum. So before you commit to this look at this person experience with this product.

[Bossman]

Thanks for the heads-up. It certainly a glitch in their system. And his account is being credited for all charges. Hopefully, tmobile fixes all these glitches in the next few months.

http://milepoint.com/forums/threads/...n.73757/page-2

Originally Posted by powerlifter

Look at the www. Milepoint.com in the technolgy forum there is a guy who called T-mobile to make sure he was on the correct plan. He spent a few hrs in the UK and two days in Belgium. He came home to $1500 phone bill. He explains it very well on the forum. So before you commit to this look at this person experience with this product.