Press Room
Post-holiday mobile data blues?
As the summer holiday season draws to a close many families will be hit with hefty bills for mobile data charges whilst abroad. The advent of Smartphones has meant that consumers are used to accessing mobile data in the UK in the same way as they make calls or send texts – without significant cost. However, mobile data abroad is a very different story and there are many instances of users running up huge mobile data bills when using their iPhones abroad on holiday.
If you’ve read recent scare stories of mobile data roaming charges – where naïve users have racked up thousands of pounds on their mobile bills just by using mobile data for browsing the internet or downloading a few files – then you might be worried about taking your iPhone abroad next time.
Apple's iPhone can’t be beaten for mobile data Internet access. Its browser shows you web pages as they were meant to be read, not in some messy cut-down version.
Here’s some basic advice for iPhone users heading out on holiday or abroad for some other reason and planning to use mobile data. O2 currently charges £3 per MB within the EU and £6 per MB outside the EU. Vodafone charges £1 per MB for the first 5MB, and £5 per 5MB thereafter in the EU; for the rest of the world it's £3 for each MB up to 5MB, then £15 for every 5MB after that.
New EU rules also mean that users will be automatically cut off when their monthly bill for using mobile data to access the internet abroad reaches a certain level. However, savvy mobile users can still achieve great savings on mobile data across Europe with a SIM card from 0044.co.uk allowing users to access mobile data rates of £1.53 per Megabyte. With a 0044 payg SIM the user is also always in control because the SIM allows them to top up as they need to. Frequent usage will simply exhaust their credit on mobile data usage rather than present them with a hefty bill.
Angus MacLeod of 0044 Ltd commented, “Most people assume that they can take their iPhone abroad and use it in the same way as they do in the UK for mobile data. That’s perfectly understandable but if you’re not careful mobile data abroad can really create a huge expense. Products like our Global SIM can help control those costs so if you plan to use mobile data when you travel it really is worth checking out.”