£100 for an iTunes download: The real cost of roaming

• Tags:
• Premium Phone Charges,
• Roaming

Matt Loney ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 01 Nov 2005 15:00 GMT

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...none of the operators make the roaming data charges easy to find on their sites. A search on Vodafone's site for its roaming charges used 545.2KB (including a download of the PDF file that held the pricing information) which would have cost over £5 from abroad at the company's standard charge of £10 per megabyte, or £3 if under a roaming deal with one of its partners. Had we not had Adobe Reader already installed then the 27.4MB download, which would have allowed us to view the PDF, could have cost over £270.

It is not just those using mobile data services while travelling abroad who face nasty shocks. ZDNet UK's technology editor Rupert Goodwins got stung by T-Mobile during a trip in the UK.

Goodwins takes up the story of what he considers to be his own Great Train Robbery: "It was too tempting. I'd just got a new phone with GPRS and Bluetooth, I had a Bluetoothed laptop and I was stuck on a train for five hours. Why not see how easy it was to get online and check out how usable GPRS would be? I'd previously used the GNER Wi-Fi service on the journey between London and Edinburgh, but thought the cost of a tenner for the trip was a bit much. I knew that mobile data over the phone was expensive, but a bit of browsing shouldn't break the bank."

"It took me about ten minutes to get the laptop online via the phone — there was a bit of messing about, but nothing unfamiliar to anyone who's experienced with dial-up modems. It seemed quite fast as well; I tried some streaming audio from the BBC, which worked, and a few video clips, which didn't. The VPN to the office was reliable enough for me to check my email, and the usual round of blogs, news sites, Gmail and discussion forums was a great way to pass the time. I logged off after about an hour, having got a bit nervous of the charges. But temptation got the better of me, and I popped on and off throughout the rest of the journey."

"And that was the last I thought about it — until I got a data bill for £150."

 

Operator	T-Mobile	O2	Vodafone	Orange
	Tariff Page	Tariff Page	Tariff Page	Tariff Page 1; Tariff Page 2
GPRS (per MB)	£7.50 inc. VAT	£7.05 inc. VAT (Tier A countries)	£10.28 inc. VAT	£8 exc. VAT
GPRS (per MB) option		£5.29 inc. VAT (Tier B countries)	£5.88 inc. VAT (on preferred networks)	£20 exc. VAT in the US on non-business tariffs
3G (per MB)	£7.50 inc. VAT		£10.28 inc. VAT	£8 exc. VAT
3G (per MB) option			£5.88 inc. VAT (on preferred networks)

 

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