If you’ve ever traveled internationally and been unlucky or unknowing enough to keep on using your smartphone’s data as if you were still in the fatherland, you’ll know that watching a single YouTube video on a foreign network can result in a few hunded dollars being added to your bill.
International roaming charges are so insane that the European Commission is actually planning to abolish them altogether. But looks like T-Mobile beat them to the punch: the uncarrier is now promising free global data in over 100 different countries, no extra charge.
Starting October 31st, T-Mobile will give global data to all subscribers in almost half of the world’s nations. You should probably expect EDGE speeds — enough for email and Twitter — but not 3G or, ha ha ha, LTE…. unless you pay. From Engadget:
The new global data offering will go into effect starting October 31st, and T-Mobile says customers with qualifying plans won’t need to sign up or pay a fee to access basic service. Legere declined to detail free speeds, but we’d expect 2G performance — enough to use text-based apps like Twitter and email, but insufficient for media consumption. Power users can boost speeds with any of three paid passes: one day and 100MB for $15, one week and 200MB for $25 or two weeks and 500MB for $50. Once your plan runs out, you can buy another, or revert to free service.
In addition, T-Mobile is planning a new $10 plan that gives customers International Talk and Texting for $0.20 per text or minute, and free call to landlines. Not bad. T-Mobile’s looking better and better every day, isn’t it?
