A salutory lesson on Data Roaming - 2.5GB for £8000!

For the masses out there who have brought 3G USB Modems (or as some call then "Dongles"), it's time for some sobering advice regarding them.

William Harrison signed up for a 3GB/month Contract with Orange UK for a Mobile Data Plan - so he would have access to the Internet whilst on the move and during his internship in Paris.

Now if was using his dongle in the UK,& 3GB would be plenty for surfing or Skype'ing. However, the moment you pass beyond the borders of the UK - International Roaming rules apply.

This lead to one small problem - a first month bill of £6101.56.  William contacted Orange UK to block the dongle, which he did successfully - after racking up another charge of £1547.21 - taking his bill to £7648.77

I repeat in large letters:

£7648.77
that's about 2.5GB of data!

That's painful in ANY Currency. Orange has agreed to halve William Harrison's bill, and has allowed two years for the debt to be repaid. That's still a lot of dough in anyone's book

Remember that EU roaming charges can vary, and can be expensive depending on the provider.

£3.00 - Orange UK
£3.00 - O2 UK
£1.50 - T-Mobile UK
£1.25 - Three
£5.00 - Virgin Media
£10.00 - Vodafone UK (per 50MB, charged per part)
 
These are EU Prices. Going out of the EU and you can double these prices without sneezing.


SO A WARNING: Unless your contract has provision or an agreement for out of country roaming, expect data bills to be BIG. It'll work out cheaper to find a WiFi HotSpot than to use the dongle. An alternative (which IS viable in the EU mainly) is to pick up a dongle and a Pay-As-You-Go plan when you arrive at your destination.


Links:

The Observer: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/feb/21/broadband-dongle-roaming-bill-shock
The Register: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/02/22/student_hit_with_huge_roaming_bill/