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Mobile Broadband
Mobile broadband abroad
If you're heading off on your holidays but want to stay connected to the internet, you might want to pack your mobile broadband dongle along with your sun block and flip flops.
However, there are a few things you need to know to make sure that you don’t come home to a hefty “bill shock” at the end of the month.
Roaming charges have come down a lot since mobile broadband first became popular in the UK. A number of stories emerged at the start of the mobile broadband craze, with consumers coming home to bills in excess of £10,000 for downloading a few TV programmes - but newspapers, Ofcom and even the European Commission got involved and roaming costs, especially in Europe, are now far more reasonable.
Top tips for using mobile broadband abroad
Mobile broadband abroad charges
Even though prices have come down, you still need to keep an eye on how much you’ve downloaded. The price you pay for your mobile broadband will vary depending on your provider and the country that you're travelling to. Check out our table below for an idea of the standard rates charged for using your mobile broadband abroad, but remember that almost all providers also offer bundled add-ons that can cut costs.
| Spain | USA | Australia | India | |
| 3 Mobile Broadband | £1.28 per MB | £3 per MB | £3 per MB | £3 per MB |
| O2 Mobile Broadband | £3.07 per MB | £6 per MB | £6 per MB | £6 per MB |
| Orange Mobile Broadband | £3.07 per MB | £8 per MB | £8 per MB | £8 per MB |
| T-Mobile Broadband | No internet access in Europe without a Euro Internet Booster, for £1 (3MB), £5 (20MB) and £10 (50MB) | £7.50 per MB | £7.50 per MB | £7.50 per MB |
| Virgin Media Mobile Broadband | £5 per MB | £5 per MB | £5 per MB | £5 per MB |
| Vodafone Mobile Broadband | £1 per MB up to 5MB, then £5 per 5MB | £3 per MB up to 5MB, then £15 per 5MB | £3 per MB up to 5MB, then £15 per 5MB | £3 per MB up to 5MB, then £15 per 5MB |
Mobile broadband travel tariffs
A growing number of mobile broadband providers now offer roaming add-ons that allow you to go online abroad without having to worry about running up high bills.
T-Mobile Broadband (www.T-Mobile.co.uk) offers the cheapest data roaming bundle on the market, starting at just £1 for 3MB. It gives you access for 24 hours, though your 3MB allowance would only last you around 15 minutes on a laptop.
It also offers a 20MB allowance for £5, a 50MB allowance for £10 or a generous 200MB allowance, which is valid for a whole month, for £40. Great value when compared with T-Mobile’s old prices, where 1MB in Europe would have set you back £1.50, using 50MB of data would have set you back £75 - rather than just £10 when you buy a Euro Broadband Booster.
T-Mobile does offer the best value package, but it’s not the only ISP to offer roaming bundles that cut the cost of going online abroad.
Orange Mobile Broadband (www.Orange.co.uk) offers a £3 for 30MB bundle (valid for 1 day) and numerous others, but these are opt-in discounts, if you don’t get in touch with Orange before you go, you'll pay a much higher rate of £3.07 per MB.
Virgin Media Mobile Broadband (www.Virginmedia.com) customers can buy one of its Travel Passes, which offer one or three day mobile broadband roaming access, or even weekly or monthly options for a set fee. They start at £10 for a day, with a 10MB allowance, going up to £15 for three days - with a 15MB limit. Alternatively you can buy a 30MB allowance for £30 over seven days, or a 60MB allowance over the course of 30 days for £60.
Vodafone Mobile Broadband's (www.Vodafone.co.uk) customers can buy Vodafone's Data Traveller packages for their mobile starting from £2 a day for 25MB for use on a mobile in Europe. Price plans with a least 1200 minutes give you Vodafone Data Traveller in Europe at no extra cost.
If you are heading outside of Europe you can extend Vodafone Data Traveller for just £5 a day for 25MB. Pay as you go customers automatically benefit from Data Traveller plans, you just pay £2 or £5 a day depending on your location each day you use it.
For frequent travellers in Europe you can get Vodafone Data Traveller for £10 a month instead of paying the daily rate.
If you want to use a laptop, iPad or tablet abroad you have the option of using up to 100MB a day for £8 in Europe, or 100MB a day for £25 for the rest of the world.
O2 Mobile Broadband (www.O2.co.uk) puts a £40 charge cap on your overseas data usage, which means they will stop charging you for data used when you reach £40 (inc VAT). You can then use up to 50Mb without additional charge, however at 50MB your data service will automatically stop.
O2 Mobile Broadband also offers a Web Daily Europe service costing £1.50 per day for up to 15MB on your mobile. Opt-in to this before you go.
Pay-as-you-go mobile broadband abroad
Because of the high cost of going online abroad, many pay-as-you-go mobile broadband dongles have to be activated for roaming before you can use them abroad. If your ISP offers a data roaming bundle you should enquire about whether you need to buy this before you leave, or whether you can simply buy a data bundle abroad. Make sure you top up before you go though, as the cost of any data bundle will come out of your credit.
Data roaming bundles mean that you can essentially use your mobile broadband on a pay-as-you-go basis abroad, only topping up your roaming allowance as and when you need to. However, you will be charged your provider’s standard rate, which can be as high as £8 per MB in some countries, once your bundle has run out, so make sure you keep track of your allowance in your online account.
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Comments
Thank you for getting in touch with Broadbandchoices.co.uk. If you wanted to use your iPad abroad the cheapest way would be to buy a pay-as-you-go contract free iPad sim when you get to Spain as this would avoid incurring data roaming charges in your bill.
However if you are only in Spain for a short amount of time and don’t want the hassle of buying another sim you can use your current sim when you go out there. New rules now cap the cost of internet roaming charges in the EU with most providers stopping your connection once you reach £57 to avoid any nasty surprises when you get your bill.
Finally if possible I would suggest turning your 3G connection off and just logging on to the free wi-fi in cafes and bars.
To find out more about using your iPad abroad take a read of our guide: http://bit.ly/v98UCZ
I hope that helps,
Chloe, Broadbandchoices.co.uk - Nov 15 2011 10:32AM
However, to connect there is almost impossible if there isn't a phoneline at home. This he cannot have and in fact doesn't need because he spends most of his time roaming Europe.
Is there a chance. Can he connect independantly? - Dec 21 2010 1:03PM
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