While I was not positive, I wanted to the say that the International benefit started along with the service, but I see that another poster called in and confirmed it.
I am very impressed with T-Mobile had an issue in Germany and they were very proactive in wanting to fix the issue and even called me back so as not to cost my Brother In-Law the expense of long distance charges back to the USA.
The agent actually said, please let me call you back, you should not have to pay for an issue on our end, now what number may I call you back at? He spent over 35 minutes on the phone with me, trouble shooting the issue and in the end discovered something configured improperly on his end, corrected it, and then called me on my mobile phone to ensure it was fixed and then gave me a bill credit, even though I was NOT upset and did not ask for any sort of compensation.
He said that he felt wrong about it and wanted to do something for me, even though I did not ask for anything.