Europe SIM Card Options
 

I'll be traveling to Budapest, Vienna and Prague from 7/15 through 7/25. I have an unlocked Galaxy S7.

I've read that there are new roaming rules for the EU that went into affect recently. Am I now able to get a single SIM card in Budapest that I can use to get 4G service in all 3 countries that we are visiting?

For example, Vodafone
http://www.vodafone.hu/eng/phones-pl...s-you-go-plans

Can I just go into a Vodafone store and get a SIM only Max M plan and pay 2946 HUF one time and that's it? That would then give me 4.1GB of 4G data for my trip? I would get 4G speeds in all 3 countries?

How would the 100 minutes of voice calling work? I assume I must get a Hungary number, so what happens if I call a local number in Vienna?

I have T-Mobile in the US (I'm not on a plan that gets me free international roaming) and T-Mobile now has T-Mobile Digits. What's great about this is that I can have a foreign SIM in my phone and run the T-Mobile Digits app and still receive phone calls and texts to my US phone number. That would work perfectly for me.

Theoretically. In practice? There has been reports of ...... data speeds all over the place. I know my Three UK card last year theoretically offered free data roam on other Three networks but a dial up modem from twenty years would've been faster so such throttling wouldn't surprise me.

Well actually I am in Malta with my Italian sim and the package is not only fully recognized but the speed is absolutely fantastic (4G) with no throttling at all.

check these

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens...s/index_en.htm

https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-...licies/roaming

those articles also state example of users on Pay As You Go plan.

was supposed to go into effect on jun 15, but i was getting 'traditional' roaming rates on the 15th AND the 19th in FR and DE.

yesterday in HU I was notified of a new unified EU-rate...although the fair use surcharge is 9.24EUR/GB instead of the 7.70EUR stated in those articles.....so im still a bit skeptical of the implementation of these things.

as far as 4G speed if your phone has compatible bands you should get it. although if you have a US phone, some bands you dont receive. but unless youre trying to stream 1080p movies i dont think its such a big issue

Roaming is in effect. I am actually on holiday in Malta and my Italian voice/sms/data plan is fully recognized. I am surfing with full 4G speed and paying nothing here for roaming since I already pay in Italy 6 euros/month for 400 minutes, 400 sms and 18 gb.
Check the options active on your sim card cause there could be some conflict or maybe your carrier has asked the Authority to delay the roaming cancellation since it is possible and a couple of operators here in Italy have asked and obtained this benefit for one year.

Wow, this is really confusing and new, so I guess there are still a lot of questions.

I'm from the US and would really love to be able to use a single SIM in my travels to Budapest, then to Vienna and then to Prague and get 4G data all along the way, do I have options that will allow me to do that? Will the Vodafone plan in my original post work that way? Or will I pretty much have to go into a store in Budapest and talk to the rep and hope they understand what I'm trying to do and sell me something that will do it?

To the OP - just read the small print of the page you linked in, your answer is there

"4GB Summer Data option is automatically activated for new voice prepaid customers after topping up in a single transaction, and can be activated free of charge by existing voice prepaid customers via m.vodafone.hu, and through 1270 between 5th June and 31st July 2017.
The 4GB of data becomes available immediately after activation and can be used for 30 days prior to using the data allowance included in the plan or orderd as an extra option, only once per prepaid account. The data can be used in Hungary and from EU countires."

Yes, but does that mean I definitely would get 4G speeds in each country? And I also thought I've seen discussion that there are situations where non-EU citizens can't buy the same type of service as EU citizens.

I'm hopeful this plan would get me 4.1GB of 4G data that can be used in each country. That would be perfect.

Looking at the EU policy, there really isn't anything that mandates that your carrier must offer roaming at the same speeds as you'd get in the "home country". Having been a Three customer in the UK in the past (before the rules took effect) and used their "At Home" free roaming abroad, I can say that speeds are usually limited to 3G even when I have a 4G bundle in the UK. So this may be a carrier-dependent thing. The best thing to do is to go into a carrier store or phone them and ask about speeds.

Regarding non-EU vs EU citizens, I would say the only thing that comes to mind is certain packages are unavailable if you don't possess a local national ID or residence permit. Some countries do require certain packages like long term contracts or non-PAYG to be registered to local residents so that would necessarily limit your choice to tourist packages or PAYG bundles. But tbh I doubt that's a huge concern.

I have a 20gb data package.

Checking my carrier app, it apparently shows now a meter of 11gb of 'home data' and 9gb of 'home + eu data'

So apparently their definition of fair use is either 9gb...or a rough 50/50 split of existing allowance

I live in NL, and have a Vodafone SIM, I've been to Italy, Poland, Spain & Sweden since the regulations came into effect, and in all of them I had 4G or 4G+ on my phone, I didn't run a speedtest to check what I actually got, but I had no troubles whatsoever to use the internet the same way I do in NL.

Obviously 4G wasn't/isn't available *everywhere*, but I've seen no indication of any "throttling"

If you look at the EU policy in the link given above, the fair use policy for data is very clearly spelled out for different contract type:

- If you are on PAYG, then you should get at least as much data as your remain credits divided by the wholesale price cap on data which is €7.70/GB

- If you have a bundle with unlimited data, then your roaming limit should be at least twice the amount you get by dividing your monthly charge by the wholesale cap of €7.70/GB

- If you have a bundle with limited data and the cost per GB is lower than the wholesale cap, the calculation is the same as for unlimited data.

All prices exclude VAT. The wholesale cap decreases to €6 in 2018 and will be lower after that.