Beware the Cost of Mobile Data whilst Roaming
by Ewan Spence
As the airplane hits the tarmac at Nice, and I make my way to Monaco for Mobile Messaging’s coverage of the Global Messaging 2007, I have to remember to do one thing. Switch my mobile phone off 3G data, stop the push email client from grabbing my email, and remember that, metaphorically, I’m not in Kansas anymore.
Because now I’m roaming, the convenient functions of my mobile that are normally left switched on by default are a crippling cost drain. Switching from a $30 all you can eat data plan, to roughly $10 per megabyte, means that to stay in touch is an expense few people can bear. While the phone watchdogs in Europe continue to try and drop the price of roaming calls to something realistic, there’s very little highlighting of the insane prices charged for data.
Back in March I spent a month in the US. In the UK I have a 3G datacard for my laptop with T-Mobile. So I reasoned that they should be able to offer me something for my time in the US. Nope. T-Mobil (UK) won’t touch anything T-Mobile (US), can’t offer me a US data plan, nothing. “You’ll incur mobile roaming charges, Sir.†Err, no I won’t. I’ll just not use my phone while I’m away, thank you very much. In the end I picked up a Pay as you Go Sim card for calls, and bummed off Wi-Fi hotspots with my smartphone.
One of the big problems of mobile data uptake is the reluctance of people to do anything with data because they don’t know how much it will cost them – and a lead time of up to 4 weeks in the billing cycle before discovery doesn’t help. It’s one reason flat rate data will help the take-up of mobile data (and thus mobile messaging). But for those of us traveling – to even consider roaming would be like getting on a pogo stick and bouncing through a minefield.
