Filed under: iPhone
TimesOnline: Why you'll be paying a lot for iPhone 3G roaming
Remember when the first generation iPhone was released and people found themselves traveling overseas only to return to a large bill from AT&T? Well, TimesOnline is weighing in on the possible problems of data roaming and the iPhone 3G. As it turns out, 3G bandwidth is, shall we say, expensive. TimesOnline said O2's (Apple's iPhone carrier in the UK) 3G data roaming charges go up to almost £3 (~ $6 US) per megabyte when downloaded from a country within the EU; worldwide roaming is almost £6 (~ $12 US) per Mb.
So, to put things into perspective, if you go overseas and download a 50MB file via your phone (such as audio or a short movie) then you will be spending over $600 US for that file. TUAW would like to take a moment and remind everyone about the Data Roaming Off switch in your settings. This can save you an expensive mistake (i.e. having to sell your kidney to pay your iPhone's roaming bill).
[via MacRumors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Biggie_Robs@gmail.com said 10:09PM on 6-22-2008
Are we so far into the future that people don't know it's expensive to roam in foreign countries?
Reply
punkassjim said 11:44PM on 6-22-2008
Not only that, but who goes on a Mobile iTunes downloading spree while they're in a foriegn country?
And Cory...downloading videos over the air isn't a feature yet, and I don't think they'll be introducing that with 2.0 (haven't seen any jailbreak apps that make it a realistic endeavor, either).
kurt.tappe said 10:27AM on 6-23-2008
Are we so far into the past that users are still getting r*ped for $12/Mb? For you to blame the users for being abused like this is for you to be in collusion with the telecoms.
dabido said 12:20PM on 6-24-2008
punkassjim-
you can always download videos from any website via EDGE or 3G
Barry Brown said 10:14PM on 6-22-2008
That's one of the reasons I'm going to keep my original iPhone and unlock it for use overseas.
Reply
3G Rocks said 11:53PM on 6-22-2008
simple solution: unlock the phone, put in a local SIM
Reply
Ed said 4:25AM on 6-23-2008
Still, you won't get unlimited free data - even local data on pay as you go is expensive.
Bob S. said 1:01AM on 6-23-2008
In most of those countries selling a kidney won't be an option anyway, since they'll steal it and leave you in a bathtub full of ice as soon as you get through Customs.
Reply
delvach said 10:36AM on 6-23-2008
mentalsticks: WOP stands for "Without Passport". So if those people come over here and try to get past the Statue of Liberty without a passport while emigrating here then yes, they are WOP's.
Sorry, who needs an education?
Kev Orng said 10:50AM on 6-23-2008
@mentalsticks; while that's really funny and I might use it myself next time I come across a typical US-centric outbursts, I think in this case the original comment was sarcasm. Making fun of a particular urban legend that surfaces every few years and the people who believe it. Look it up on Snopes.
mentalsticks said 12:04PM on 6-23-2008
@Delvach:
Wop is an English pejorative ethnic slur for a person of Italian descent. It is derived from the Neapolitan word "guappo", meaning a person who flaunts an overbearingly cocky and swaggering attitude. Contrary to popular belief, it is most likely not an acronym for "With Out Papers" or "Without Passport", one of the most famous examples of folk etymology or backronym. The reason for this is that the term was already in popular use as early as 1910, a period in which no immigrant needed papers to enter the United States (passports and visas were not required of immigrants entering the country until 1921).
Sorry, but _you_ need an education.
@Kev Orng:
Yeah, on second thoughts you're probably right. Bob S., I sincerely apologize if that's the case. Still, if you're being ironic/sarcastic you gotta make sure it's recognizable as such.
John Coxon said 8:05PM on 6-23-2008
@Kev Orng: It may have been sarcasm. Does being sarcastic make casual racism acceptable? Certainly not, in my view.
@mentalsticks: Your reply to the wop comment made my day, thanks so much!
@TUAW: It's actually The Sunday Times (insert a 'London' in that title where necessary) that said that, you're just reading it from the online version of the article.
Squid7085 said 1:19AM on 6-23-2008
Are we talking 3G Data Roaming, or Data in general. Basically, could you only use "EDGE" while roaming and have cheaper Data Rates. Ugh, I am waiting for the day of the one true "International" carrier with no roaming, period. I sure hope the 3G iPhone gets "Unlocked" soon. I have no intention of breaking my contract with AT&T, I will pay for everything, I just don't want to get raped with charges when I start traveling in the coming years.
Reply
Tony said 4:00AM on 6-23-2008
This is Europe. Only in the US do they charge more for 3G. Data is data and costs the same wherever you go.
Wifi hotspots are rare enough that using it exclusively would be limiting yourself to the occasional Starbucks and inside your hotel (provided it's a large hotel).
Andreas said 1:38AM on 6-23-2008
Well, I live in Sweden and just made the mistake of bringing my 3g modem too close to the border of Norway.
Mail.app was running and connected to Gmail and downloaded about 400Mb of spam, which cost me more than 7000 SEK ($1,160 USD).
The problem is that with the high speed connection you get with 3G, you really can waste several thousand dollars in a few minutes of your not careful..
I havnät paid the bill yet.. NOT looking forward to it.
Reply
Chris said 10:47AM on 6-23-2008
How in the heck can you get that much spam? Are you that much of a internet noob? I'm getting about 30 spam messages per month and they go directly to my spam folder. It just takes a little planning and diligence.
Andreas said 12:17PM on 6-23-2008
We'll, I've had the same e-mail address for eight years, have catch-all configured for my entire domain, and have registered (unwisely) on a lot of sites and mailinglists over the years. I get maybe 1-2 spam messages per minute, and a suspect that a lot of those contain embedded files.
I didn't notice them before I switched to the Gmail-IMAP and Mail.app combination. The problem now is that there is no way (that I have found, anyway) to get Gmail to automatically just discard the messages, and since you cannot configure Mail.app to not subscribe to the spam folder it has started to become a real problem.
Jimmy said 1:50AM on 6-23-2008
Or just turn off data roaming & use only wifi? I mean it's not that difficult to figure out. They have options for those on the iPhone 3G for a reason. Plus, it's not only the iPhone, it's all phones. Data roaming has been around for a long while. It's simply not news.
Reply
Daniel said 3:14AM on 6-23-2008
That makes the 3G iPhone cheaper than the first model in the UK. It was £7.50 ($15) per MB when using a UK iPhone in Europe so although it's still expensive, it will be more than 50% cheaper!
Reply
James Donevan said 3:32AM on 6-23-2008
It's actually a rather silly report in the Times wherein they state the obvious (about expensive international roaming) and try to attract readers by focussing on the iPhone. The info is no more related to the iPhone than any other 3G device, but who would read the item if 'iPhone' wasn't in the title. And which Mac sites would obligingly link to the article without the iPhone tag.
The Times (both hard copy and online) has made a practice of doing this in recent years. One of their reporters, keen to earn their stipend, pens a totally pointless ramble wrapped around an attractive product. Not good journalism but, as evidenced by the TUAW coverage, apparently getting hits.
Reply