Switching between AT&T's global data plan - permitted?
 

I'm getting fed up with Verizon's lousy global phone selection and thinking of moving to AT&T. Currently, I spend every other month in the US and have Verizon switch me in between a domestic calling plan when I'm in the US and a GlobalData plan outside the US. This works well. AT&T has a similar deal (price-wise) and I have a corporate account. But it's unclear whether you can switch back and forth easily. Anyone have recent experience with this?
Thanks

many (probably almost all) people who subscribe to the $65 unlimited int'l data get it with a one year commitment.

That said, I have never had a problem switching back to the domestic plan. I just call 611 and they switch it back.

the process of putting it on/taking it off, can take anywhere from 10-25 minutes on the phone. So if you are going to be doing a lot of back and forth, I would recommend just keeping it on.

If you have an unlimited global data plan on either network, I would urge you to consider just leaving it on. ATT just cancelled its domestic unlimited data plan and probably reconsidering its international options. If you get it on ATT, there are always issues about whether you are a corporate responsibility account, whether your FAN includes it, or whether you can persuade them without a FAN. If you get it, you've got it unless you cancel it. If you cancel it, you will need to revisit that issue and may not be grandfathered if it is every pulled.

I have to imagine Verizon is reconsidering the unlimited situation as well. Rumors are already floating that Verizon may pull the domestic unlimited plans and copy ATT. While I appreciate the $35 a month savings for many months, figure out the cost of data roaming if you don't have the plan. My most recent trip to South Africa involved 850 megs of data on my iPhone. The rack rate for this would be over $12,000. I'm not going to jeopardize this to potentially save a couple of hundred bucks for the months I don't travel.

I could go with prepaid SIMs (which I often use for voice) when I land, but it is usually a day or two before I get those SIMs, the data plans may not be great deals, and there are frequently Government mandated registration requirements with the SIM.

I frequently can make VOIP calls over 3g and that is a nice savings. I can use GVMobile to trigger callback calls to my roaming SIM reducing my cost for outbound calls to the US to under 20 cents a minute in many countries.

If I were you, I'd leave my plan on 24/7 unless you are really hurting for money.

Totally agree with your points here Stu. I feel the same way. I'd prefer not to give them the extra $35 a month if I don't have to, but if the situation changes I'll certainly lock myself into that.

Right now with Verizon it's easy enough to call and change at-will but if they turned unlimited off, I'd stay 100% on GlobalEmail.

This is slightly off topic, but there any Android phones out there that do US CDMA + quad band GSM and 2100 3G?

AT&T still offers an unlimited domestic plan to corporate responsible business accounts. I just upgraded to an iPhone 4, and I was offered Enterprise 200MB ($25?), Enterprise 2GB ($35?), or Enterprise "unlimited" (aka 5GB) ($40). Then, there's the Enterprise "unlimited" international at $65 with 1-yr commitment, or the other international data add-on packs for the infrequent international traveler.

Sadly no, no dual GSM/CDMA phones and none in the pipeline either. That's the primary reason I'm about to leave Verizon. They have three months until my contract is up!

It's disappointing especially since HTC has a WinMo phone (Touch Pro 2) that can be hacked to run Android. Unfortunately, it won't work with the Verizon SIM card though.

I was told that the Intl unlimited is gone. I'd call to be sure.
Yes, 1 year commits required for this.
I have 2 intl unlimited "iPhones". One just has a much larger screen, no camera and a home made micro sim ;)

Cheers,

Scho

Not for large business customers, as of one week ago. I did my iPhone preorder on AT&T's website on 6/15, and was offered the unlimited international data option.

Actually after stopping in the store today, they reiterated the unlimited global data is gone for most users. Corporate Responsibility Users (ie., direct billed to your company) are eligible for an unlimited Blackberry data plan only although I'd bet they can't really tell if you're using it in another device. So I'm out of luck for now it seems.

Try again ;) And make sure you're talking to the international support people. AFAIK, store employees haven't been able to add it for a while. If you dial 611 from your phone, you can ask to be transferred to the international support folks. I lost the unlimited international data plan when I upgraded to the iPhone 4 and called in to re-add it on July 6th. They were quite happy to add it again with a new one-year commitment, but I had to fight a bit to not be put on a new one-year contract for it (since I'd already had it on my iPhone 3G for more than a year and involuntarily lost it when I upgraded).

^thks to all for the pertinent info available here; are there any minimum voice plan requirements to get this intl data plan?

would like to use the data option only; willing to sign a contract if need be; thx!

My wife has ATT Blackberry International w/o voice. We pay $69 (not sure about the cents) for it opposed to $64 if you had a voice plan. Her account is opened up for PAYG voice. It costs something like $0.45 a minute, but she pays the same roaming rates as anyone else. We may pay an extra $2.00 in service fees for that service, but roaming sims don't have perfect reliability and I wanted her to have a something that worked like a Swiss watch if she got stranded in Timbuktu.

thks for the info; so this is NOT a paygo but a contract; so intl service is guaranteed for the contract term and usage is intl; sounds like exactly what i need since i will rarely use the voice option;

the above mentioned data only plan is strictly for business lines or can anyone get it; i already have access to a at&t family line..

thank you again for your assistance!

HTC has a CDMA phone that works in Canada on TELUS CDMA network; as well as has quad band GSM & European 3G; its the Touch Pro 2 (TP2); the phone is no longer being sold by TELUS but can be found on various phone sites;

(if u cannot find it let me know; i can probably get 1 for you BUT you will need to know if you can add unlocked phones onto your carrier)

Good Luck:)

EDIT: specs for Telus TP2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZLrLcbMU6A
EDIT2: a better site with all the specs including bands; http://www.htc.com/ca/products/touch...lus#tech-specs