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3.1. ADVISORY: Avoid Excessive International Roaming Fees
Recent experience and a number of news articles have highlighted the excessive fees that cell phone carriers are charging for using handheld devices and wireless broadband cards outside of the US.
Rates charged by the cell carriers vary dramatically as you move from country to country and your device could be roaming and racking up charges just because it is turned on and searching for a network to connect to.
If you are planning to travel outside of the US (and outside the US typically means outside of the 48 continental states, but varies by carrier), find out in advance what your carrier charges for international roaming for phone calls and data access.
Our Recommendations
- Turn off your handheld's wireless connection. Only turn it on when you need to check email or place a call. Find out what the roaming charges are for the country you are in before you leave home.
- If you have a Verizon Wireless BroadBand Access card, don't use it. Verizon charges by the kilobyte at extremely high rates.
- If you have an iPhone, set it to Airplane Mode to disable all wireless connectivity until you need to use it. If you plan to place calls or want to be reachable, sign up for an international roaming plan with AT&T before you leave the country and check the roaming rates before you leave. Limit your email and web surfing, since it is metered by the kilobyte. Don't email photos.
Resources Online
Fun, Tours, and a $3000 Bill for Hardly Using an iPhone
by Katie Hafner
The New York Times, September 10, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/technology/10iphone.html
EV-DO and the Promise of Always-On Remote Access
by Rik Ahlberg
SearchMobileComputing.com, August 17, 2007
http://go.techtarget.com/r/2080335/6174194
Cell Phone Carriers
T-Mobile International Roaming Rates
AT&T Wireless International Roaming Rates
Verizon Wireless International Roaming Rates