Getting screwed with international smartphoning
I’m headed to a working trip to Germany for Tekom. This time I’m not connecting up to the voice and data packages offered by AT&T for my iPhone. I learned my lesson last trip to Europe.
I’ve avoided using my cell phone on trips outside the US because of the rip-off prices that the carriers charge for roaming. I already pay for a premium broadband connection, two smartphones with data plans and Boingo. I really don’t need more charges for what is essentially the same fucking service. I can only use one data stream at a time. I’m paying for massively parallel service. But I digress.
A couple months ago I found out that AT&T would pro-rate international charges. I figured I would try it out on an eight-day trip to Stockholm. I know how to manage my data right? I have the AT&T app. And the iPhone has a usage meter. And I have controls to turn things off when I want.
So I signed up for the voice package, the 20 MB data package, and the text messaging. I also had them schedule it to be turned off 8 days later when I would return to the US. I thought I had it all wired. During the trip I did a few modest phone calls to home and a few local calls in Stockhom. I used mapping features, a couple of news apps, and email. I sent about 20 text messages.
I found that I hit the data max by the third day of the trip. I dutifully set all the data controls to OFF and didn’t use any more apps or maps.
When I returned I checked my bill:
Voice roaming surcharge $29.70
Voice package pro-rated $2.60
Text package pro-rated $4.67
Text surcharge $4.40
Data package pro-rated $11.60
And the kicker: a data surcharge for $143.00.
Despite my diligent effort, my phone sucked down an additional 17 MB at $5 per megabyte. It never did register properly on my usage meter or in the app. Plus I didn’t figure on the 20 MB cap being pro-rated in addition to the days I had the service being pro-rated. So it was $5 per meg for another ten or fifteen megs. The customer service person helped me reduce the bill by changing my data to a full month plan. $59 for 50mb. So that saved me eighty bucks but I was still steamed.
The end result was $112 in addition to my monthly bill for what I consider to be minimal usage.
One other thing. I always need to get broadband access for most of my trips. In this case it was the ass-clenching price of $20 per nite for five nites. European Internet access sucks the big one. High prices for shitty bandwidth. Another hundred bucks. I guess this would offset the Smartphone charge if you used one or the other. For me, I prefer to sacrifice the mobile for the broadband.
One tip: check the iTunes store for a mapping app for your destination. If it is a big city you are probably in luck. That way the maps are cached in your phone and there is no data charge involved. Just the two or three bucks for the app.
You also can’t beat Skype, especially if you have a Skype Out account. I’ve been using that for a couple of years on trips and it is so cheap and effective.
The only thing I miss is the ability to make local mobile calls. One solution I’ve used is to buy a cheap sim wherever I am at and put it in an old feature phone. But it is always a pain in the ass to shop for the sim and then try to get it installed while listening to foreign language instructions on the phone.
