PrePaidGSM.net Forum (Archived) - View Single Post - Is the need for an intl SIM card nearing an end?

snidely · **Is the need for an intl SIM card nearing an end? -** 28-05-2013, 23:06

I don't think it will be "soon". However,
(1) Don't members of EU countries now get favorable rates when roaming within the EU?
(2) For U.S. users, it's a slow start, but all carriers now have an "add-on Canada" option to allow calling and roaming in Canada. Until recently, roaming in Canada was very expensive n all carriers. So was calling. (Knowledgeable users knew/know they could seamlessly call Canada for free by using the Google Voice app.) Many years ago, some carriers did have Canada options but those were abandoned.

(3) The 3 major carriers now, in recent months, have an option to let you data roam in over 100 countries for about $25.00 for 100mb. They were all charging $15-$20 per mb before the recent change. Cost is now about 1/60th of what it was before!! I don't think any "international roaming card" can match this.

(4) All U.S. carriers still charge a fortune to voice roam overseas, starting at $1/min. for most of Europe to $3/min. in China and lots of other countries and even more in others. So, it will still pay to use Piranha which charges 1/10 of that.
(5) Years ago, T Mobile U.S. charged 29¢/min. to roam (incoming) in lots of countries. About 6 years ago they decided to match ATT and raise their rates substantially.

(5)One problem for me is that TMobile is my U.S. carrier and their low intl. data rates are only available to people they classify as "business" users. I am hoping they make the new intl. data roaming rates available to all users.

mike

	(#1)
snidely (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 451 Join Date: 09 May 2005 Location: Berkeley, California and Miami Country:	Is the need for an intl SIM card nearing an end? - 28-05-2013, 23:06 I don't think it will be "soon". However, (1) Don't members of EU countries now get favorable rates when roaming within the EU? (2) For U.S. users, it's a slow start, but all carriers now have an "add-on Canada" option to allow calling and roaming in Canada. Until recently, roaming in Canada was very expensive n all carriers. So was calling. (Knowledgeable users knew/know they could seamlessly call Canada for free by using the Google Voice app.) Many years ago, some carriers did have Canada options but those were abandoned. (3) The 3 major carriers now, in recent months, have an option to let you data roam in over 100 countries for about $25.00 for 100mb. They were all charging $15-$20 per mb before the recent change. Cost is now about 1/60th of what it was before!! I don't think any "international roaming card" can match this. (4) All U.S. carriers still charge a fortune to voice roam overseas, starting at $1/min. for most of Europe to $3/min. in China and lots of other countries and even more in others. So, it will still pay to use Piranha which charges 1/10 of that. (5) Years ago, T Mobile U.S. charged 29¢/min. to roam (incoming) in lots of countries. About 6 years ago they decided to match ATT and raise their rates substantially. (5)One problem for me is that TMobile is my U.S. carrier and their low intl. data rates are only available to people they classify as "business" users. I am hoping they make the new intl. data roaming rates available to all users. mike Make use of T-M's UMA/wifi free calling from any place in the world with access to wifi. I use an LG G6, wife an S7) A/o Oct 20, 2013 no need for intl prepaid as T-Mobile U.S. includes voice roaming at 20¢/min (in and out)., unlimited text (in and out), and unlimited data in 140+ countries. My Plan -[6 lines] U.S. T-Mobile unlimited minutes (incoming and outgoing), unlimited text, fast data on each line. that $145/mo. total! . (In U.S. no surcharge for calling a cell.) If a line exceeds 2G of data in a month, pay $10 more for that line. [That only happens a couple times/year.