T Mobile Global data coverage
 

announcement tonight in NYC. I have been shopping for something like toggle but more for data. this may be it.

Shakira is such a tease.

http://www.droid-life.com/2013/10/09...100-countries/

Announced
Official Press release
http://multimediacapsule.thomsonone....arrier-3-event
The 100 countries:
http://www.tmonews.com/2013/10/t-mob...simple-global/

Very nice deal for some. Also makes it tempting to sign on for a T-mobile line occasionally if "unlimited data" bucket is the same as the US based data bucket you've paid for.

It almost sounds too good to be true. Hope to look at more details soon.

Confirmed, this is nuts:D

There's something about a 128 kilobit/s throttle abroad. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-576...al-data-texts/

Still. You won't be watching HD video over this but even Google Earth only requires 128 kilobit / s, I presume Maps requires less. Checking email even less.

T-Mobile has added a FAQ
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-9455

I'm switching. 20 cents a minute for short calls is better than buying a 10 Euro SIM where I use only 3 Euro credit.

You would never have seen this had the merger between at&t and T-Mobile been finalized. I always thought the free Wi-Fi calling was huge when out of the country. I've been a T-Mobile customer for almost a decade and have been happy with them.

I have a feeling this will not be matched by any of the other carriers, or if they do there will be a host of additional surcharges that will negate any real savings. This enhancement really took me by surprise, and a pleasant surprise. Nice to see a company adding value to an existing product.

This is a no brainer for me data wise, but I don't think it would negate my need for local voice service since I'm pushing 8 hours of foreign talk time this month.

It'll be very interesting to see where the other providers go given this.

AT&T do have an unlimited international data plan, but it's only available to large corporate. I presume Verizon has something similar.

Globally other providers are starting to introduce global plans of various forms. eg, Vodafone in Australia does a $5/day fee (only on days you use it) to give no additional fees for international roaming (comes out of your domestic allowance). And then of course there's the European moves to remove roaming fees, at least within EU countries.

I have to say, that is an impressive list that they have put together! I'm looking at countries with a fairly high travel volume from the US not on that list and the only one I have found so far is the Bahamas, who have a wireless monopoly IIRC. The rest of the Caribbean is there (except Cuba obviously), as well as the big countries on the other continents save for Africa, which still has South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, and Kenya.

While the 128 kbps isn't the greatest, this should serve me fine vs. hunting down SIM cards in other countries or worrying about my data bill. The high-speed data packages seem about half the price of Verizon and AT&T.

Texting is huge for me! VZW is $.50 per sent message with no package as far as I can see and AT&T is the same, or packages that lower it to $.10-$.20/message.

While I am already a T-Mobile customer, this is an amazing move, as they previously had no international data packages, just an insane $15/MB fee.

Some more fine print...

No tethering. Not for extended international use; you must reside in the U.S. and primary usage must occur on our U.S. network. Device must register on our U.S. network before international use. Service may be terminated or restricted for excessive roaming or misuse.

http://www.t-mobile.com/Internationa..._RoamWorldwide

I thought this was a game changing announcement until I saw the speeds. Now I'd call it more like bait & switch. :mad:

They are going to win some customers on a temporary basis. Then, the first time they use this, they're going to see what a crap solution it is and tell all their techie business friends.

OverThereTooMuch,

Read more carefully. There's a FAQ on the T-Mobile site that states that T-Mobile will be selling FULL SPEED international roaming packs (whatever the foreign network is capable of either HSPA+21 or HSPA+42 dual carrier, no LTE roaming at this time). Most expensive is $50 for 500MB of international data roaming FULL SPEED for 2 weeks. This is cheaper than Verizon ($25 every 100MB) or AT&T ($60 for 300MB). There is also a slightly cheaper and more data allowance plan restricted to just Canada/Mexico (cross border fiber that is cheaper to deliver versus undersea).

I'm assuming T-Mobile USA upgraded their IT back-end to offer this (IPX, GRX, etc.).

I'm just happy about the 0.20/minute in 100+ countries. All the countries I travel to or wish to visit are on there (Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia). Most of the missing countries seem to be in Africa.