One problem facing international travelers is arranging for text and data service in the country you're visiting. Typically this means an expensive roaming plan with your USA carrier, or purchasing a new contract with a foreign carrier (plus a new SIM card in most phones).
T-Mobile plans to address this problem by offering unlimited text and data in "more than 100" countries worldwide if you sign up for a Simple Choice contract in USA. While traveling outside USA, voice calls from your phone will cost 20 cents a minute. The Simple World plan goes into effect Oct. 31.
There are a couple of caveats. You'll have to have a phone compatible with GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). And your data rate will be limited to 2G speeds (100 to 200 Kbps), ok for email, Twitter and texting, but pretty painful for web applications. Higher data speeds are available in some markets, at extra cost.
The T-Mobile web site hasn't been updated with details quite yet. I'll post a link to the worldwide coverage map and to more information shortly.
[Update And here's the list of 115 countries where T-Mobile has roaming agreements that give you free text and data]. http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans/simple-choice-international-plan-countries.html
It looks like almost all countries in the Western Hemisphere are included. Exceptions at this writing are Belize, Honduras and Paraguay. A few island nations in the Caribbean also are not included (e.g., Cuba).
Here's another example. The Range Rover adventure drive from England to India passes through 14 countries. (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/115359-Range-rover-diesel-hybrid-on-the-Silk-Road) T-Mobile has Simple World roaming agreements in all but Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Nepal. China, Russia, and India are part of the plan.
East and Southeast Asia nations also have good coverage, from Japan down to Australia. The only nations missing from the list of partners are Laos, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea.
T-Mobile plans to address this problem by offering unlimited text and data in "more than 100" countries worldwide if you sign up for a Simple Choice contract in USA. While traveling outside USA, voice calls from your phone will cost 20 cents a minute. The Simple World plan goes into effect Oct. 31.
There are a couple of caveats. You'll have to have a phone compatible with GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). And your data rate will be limited to 2G speeds (100 to 200 Kbps), ok for email, Twitter and texting, but pretty painful for web applications. Higher data speeds are available in some markets, at extra cost.
The T-Mobile web site hasn't been updated with details quite yet. I'll post a link to the worldwide coverage map and to more information shortly.
[Update And here's the list of 115 countries where T-Mobile has roaming agreements that give you free text and data]. http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans/simple-choice-international-plan-countries.html
It looks like almost all countries in the Western Hemisphere are included. Exceptions at this writing are Belize, Honduras and Paraguay. A few island nations in the Caribbean also are not included (e.g., Cuba).
Here's another example. The Range Rover adventure drive from England to India passes through 14 countries. (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/115359-Range-rover-diesel-hybrid-on-the-Silk-Road) T-Mobile has Simple World roaming agreements in all but Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Nepal. China, Russia, and India are part of the plan.
East and Southeast Asia nations also have good coverage, from Japan down to Australia. The only nations missing from the list of partners are Laos, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea.
