4G SIM NewsSummer is here and as we jet off to all manner of exotic locations our friends and families can expect more holiday selfies, snaps of flip-flopped feet, and piccies of those amazing cocktails than ever before. With developments in mobile technology we want to stay connected even when we’re abroad, but what about the cost of roaming with 4G? Let’s take a look at how some of the major 4G networks deal with 4G roaming ahead of the peak holiday season:
4G roaming with Three
Three’s Feel At Home service allows customers to call or text to the UK from abroad at no extra cost and to use their 4G data allowance when they are out of the country. This service is available in 18 countries including Australia, France, Spain, the United States, Sweden, and Hong Kong.
In fact Three has just launched a major new marketing campaign called #makeitright, featuring a fluffy purple puppet called Jackson, which pledges to make unfair roaming charges right by allowing its customers to use their phones abroad at no extra cost. Roaming charges do apply in countries not covered by the Feel At Home service however.
According the Dave Dyson, CEO of Three, “We want to entertain people with this advert, but also want to introduce a more serious message with the #makeitright campaign. Jackson might be a loveable puppet – but he was once downtrodden and treated unfairly – just like many mobile customers. At Three our purpose is to change that. We’re taking a stand to #makeitright by not charging our customers to use their phones abroad in even more destinations, for example”.
4G roaming with EE
4G is available for EE customers to use in more than 40 countries that have partner networks. Customer need to buy a data add-on when travelling to these countries, and their device should connect to 4G automatically. If they are in an area with no 4G they will connect to 3G instead. The cost of data add-ons varies by country for example in European countries you can buy 50MB data to use in 24 hours for £3 or 500MB data to use in seven days for £25.
4G roaming with Vodafone
Vodafone has a variety of service available for travellers wishing to use 4G abroad:
- EuroTraveller costs just £3 per day and allows customers to take their UK minutes, texts, and data allowance with them to the majority of European countries.
- WorldTraveller costs £5 per day and allows customers to take their UK minutes, texts, and data allowance with them to ta number of popular non-European countries including the United States, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand.
- DataTraveller costs £5 per day and allows customers 25MB of data each day in the same countries as the WorldTraveller.
4G roaming with O2
The O2 Travel service offers customers who are travelling within Europe unlimited data for £1.99 per day. They say “Relax. When on Pay Monthly O2 Travel you can use your mobile in Europe without worrying about huge bills. Talk for longer and use the web without worrying about over spending. Put yourself in control.” This service applies automatically to customers that have O2 Travel on their account, but can be opted out of and a cost of 19.6p per MB can be applied instead. O2 customers travelling outside of Europe will be charged £6.00 per MB for data.