US Roaming - Do I have this right? Is there a better way?

[ceredon]

Rogers is so f&%king lame for charging this much for US roaming... it's pure price gouging

yes it is. I can't think of another business model that so closely matches the definition of price gouging and profiteering, except maybe those that unnecessarily set massive price increases after a natural disaster.

They lock the phones so you have to using roaming to use your own phone out of the country. Then they take advantage of the situation they have created by charging a 20-50X multiplier to their roaming rates.

[NOTORIOUS VR]

yes it is. I can't think of another business model that so closely matches the definition of price gouging and profiteering, except maybe those that unnecessarily set massive price increases after a natural disaster.

They lock the phones so you have to using roaming to use your own phone out of the country. Then they take advantage of the situation they have created by charging a 20-50X multiplier to their roaming rates.

yup... pretty much spot on... I guess the only thing worse (in Ontario) would be the car insurance industry.

[some-gei]

They lock the phones so you have to using roaming to use your own phone out of the country. Then they take advantage of the situation they have created by charging a 20-50X multiplier to their roaming rates.

it really is insane if you think about it. it's amazing they are able to get away with it...

[bongdw]

I thought my discounted roaming SOC was still on the account (shows in the Online profile but not on the billing invoice, it just fell off) and I got dinged $80 for a little bit of roaming through Google Maps. Absolutely sucks. If I had more advanced warning I would have purchased a SIM from AT&T but a relative was sick and we wanted to hurry down to the US.

I can't believe how much Rogers dings customers. I always keep a credit card on file and I've never missed a payment closing in on a decade. You'd think they'd throw a dog a bone but instead they wait for you to bend over like a new prison inmate taking his first shower. Bunch of ravenous buggers. The only thing that keeps me with them is their network. It's admittedly solid as a rock but I can't wait for new entrants to step up their game.

[ceredon]

They get away with it... As long as people keep using it they will keep charging the insane prices

I am not sure that not using it would help get them to lower their rates. Rogers is losing customers in general these days and they aren't lowering rates overall. In fact, they want to raise rates to offset the lost revenue from the lost customers.

Telus has lowered their roaming rates by almost 85% in recent weeks/months. They were charging about the same that Rogers was. When they started dropping their rates, they mentioned that at the rates Rogers was charging, it was over 95% or 97% profit. Telus new rates are still very comfortable for them. They just realized that the old rates, the Rogers rates, were obscene.

[DennyCrane]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry Bold 9900: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9900; en) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.190 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

Then you have the whole BB crowd...

...who don't need to disable their data when they cross the border because their devices compress basic data extremely well

Telus has lowered their roaming rates by almost 85% in recent weeks/months. They were charging about the same that Rogers was. When they started dropping their rates, they mentioned that at the rates Rogers was charging, it was over 95% or 97% profit. Telus new rates are still very comfortable for them. They just realized that the old rates, the Rogers rates, were obscene.

Not quite 85%, but they've definitely made some nice improvements in the international roaming category. Unfortunately the US data roaming rates has increased a bit though, and the US text pass is not longer as good as it used to be. As for the bolded statement, I've never seen any such figure posted anywhere, but would be very interested to read up on it. Do you have a link that would point to this?

[ceredon]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry Bold 9900: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9900; en) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.190 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

...who don't need to disable their data when they cross the border because their devices compress basic data extremely well

Not quite 85%, but they've definitely made some nice improvements in the international roaming category. Unfortunately the US data roaming rates has increased a bit though, and the US text pass is not longer as good as it used to be. As for the bolded statement, I've never seen any such figure posted anywhere, but would be very interested to read up on it. Do you have a link that would point to this?

Sorry 80% since June (on international data specifically).
http://mobilesyrup.com/2012/04/09/te...-drops-to-5mb/

I'll dig around for a link for the other number.

[DennyCrane]

Sorry 80% since June (on international data specifically).
http://mobilesyrup.com/2012/04/09/te...-drops-to-5mb/

Thanks for that...I didn't hear about the latest drop to $5/MB for Western Europe, Mexico, and Ocreania. Wow! I knew about $10, but $5 is great. The funny thing is that TELUS recently increased their US roaming rate from $3/MB to $5/MB. I wonder if they still bill in 20KB increments?

[ceredon]

Thanks for that...I didn't hear about the latest drop to $5/MB for Western Europe, Mexico, and Ocreania. Wow! I knew about $10, but $5 is great. The funny thing is that TELUS recently increased their US roaming rate from $3/MB to $5/MB. I wonder if they still bill in 20KB increments?

Sorry, I can't find the article I read where Telus mentioned or alluded to their approximate markup. So, for now I guess just assume Rogers' is well north of 80%, since Telus could cut that much and keep a decent margin.

[Mark Rejhon]

For a short trip, the data day passes should be OK. Doing a two-day trip, doesn't always warrant the hassle of visiting a U.S. cellphone store and getting a SIM, but it's a good idea if you regularly visit the U.S.

There's also the $10/month U.S. data plan that makes all U.S. data roaming as $1/megabyte. I've been doing things this way for more than two years now, since I visit the U.S. several times a year.

For the data-heavy days, you can buy data passes, which will get used up first, before reverting to $1/megabyte. This works great on BlackBerries which tends to sip data, compared to iPhones.

If you want to browse on an iDevice on roaming, use a data-compressing browser such as Opera Mobile, which is also available in the iPhone App Store. That will save quite a bit of data.

[Mark Rejhon]

I thought my discounted roaming SOC was still on the account (shows in the Online profile but not on the billing invoice, it just fell off) and I got dinged $80 for a little bit of roaming through Google Maps. Absolutely sucks. If I had more advanced warning I would have purchased a SIM from AT&T but a relative was sick and we wanted to hurry down to the US.

You can call Rogers and get this reversed. Although they can't do things retroactively, some CSR's will understand your situation and adjust your bill "as if" it was a mistake and that the SOC was still valid.

With a little but of haggling (though I sometimes occasionally had to call back in a few days, at a different call centre, during business hours, to get a more understanding CSR).
After all, I have paid Rogers well over $10,000 in the last 5 year, they ought to be happy to make an occasional $50-$200 downwards adjustment an average of once a year for me. (Since approximately 2008, they have honored all my bill adjustment requests, including mistakes with data roaming setup)

[some-gei]

For a short trip, the data day passes should be OK. Doing a two-day trip, doesn't always warrant the hassle of visiting a U.S. cellphone store and getting a SIM, but it's a good idea if you regularly visit the U.S.

Except you don't have to "visit a US cellphone store" every time you go to the states - you only have to do it once.

Then all your advice becomes moot - because the only thing you have to do is pop in the US sim card and regardless of what ridiculous "travel packs" Rogers offers, it will still be cheaper with the US sim.

[Mark Rejhon]

Except you don't have to "visit a US cellphone store" every time you go to the states - you only have to do it once.

Then all your advice becomes moot - because the only thing you have to do is pop in the US sim card and regardless of what ridiculous "travel packs" Rogers offers, it will still be cheaper with the US sim.

Yes, that's exactly what I said, if interpreted this way. You only need to get a SIM once.

That said, if you're a stressed-out IT worker a well-paid mobile software development programming job, and only have time to do two short visits to the USA per year, then you don't always have time to divert your time for 2-3 hours to an off-airport carrier store (not all airports have them) just to pick up a SIM card, including time waiting in crowded lineups, especially near launchdays of popular devices. It's cheaper from a personal time to focus on your R&R time.

That said, I *do* highly recommend getting a USA SIM card, as you can re-use it during future visits.

P.S. Disclaimer: I have often paid less than $10 in bandwidth everytime I visit USA. (500 kb/day at approx 50 cents per day, keeping BBM running 24/7) .... BlackBerry rulez for bandwidth efficiency during roaming! (But BlackBerry sux for everything else these days -- I prefer Android now, but I had to say that BlackBerry makes great cost-saving roamers. They *do* shine in that department.)

[GVRD777]

I'm still puzzled for the need for wireless roaming in the USA with the exception of maybe sending SMS for the typical traveller. If you're a business user were every minute is vital, then for sure you need a decent roaming plan.

However, with WIFI hotspots especially with McDonalds and Starbucks and VOIP apps, roaming could almost be a thing of the past. For both Android and iPhone there are free apps and to use called Netalk and Heywire for sending SMS messages via WIFI.

Ideally, an unlocked device with a local SIM is the best option but the SIM has an expiry time from what I was told. There could also be an activation fee for the SIM as well. There is a newer company in Canada called Roammobility: http://www.roammobility.com/ that offers roaming from $3/day.

When I am in the USA, I keep my phone on and then call back the people who called me from a WIFI hotspot using the Netalk. If I get a text message, I typically will send them an email instead.

[some-gei]

That said, if you're a stressed-out IT worker a well-paid mobile software development programming job, and only have time to do two short visits to the USA per year, then you don't always have time to divert your time for 2-3 hours to an off-airport carrier store (not all airports have them) just to pick up a SIM card, including time waiting in crowded lineups, especially near launchdays of popular devices. It's cheaper from a personal time to focus on your R&R time.

I think you grossly overestimate the difficulty of getting one. 2-3 hours out of your way? I've never made a trip to the states and NOT come across a T-Mobile or AT&T booth. They are literally everywhere. As for lineups - I have never seen any. I had mine purchased and activated within 10 minutes (at most) the first time I bought one.

And as others have mentioned, you can also order one online and have it delivered to your house.

I'm still puzzled for the need for wireless roaming in the USA with the exception of maybe sending SMS for the typical traveller. If you're a business user were every minute is vital, then for sure you need a decent roaming plan.

However, with WIFI hotspots especially with McDonalds and Starbucks and VOIP apps, roaming could almost be a thing of the past. For both Android and iPhone there are free apps and to use called Netalk and Heywire for sending SMS messages via WIFI.

It's not imperative - and I probably COULD get by on just wifi if I really wanted to, but it's so simple there's no reason not to.

Since I already own a T-Mobile SIM, if I'm down in the US for a weekend I simply pop in my T-Mobile SIM, forward my Toronto # to it, and I'm done. It's about 5 seconds of work for potentially massive savings.

For $2 per day you simply can't go wrong. For just over the price of a 1 second call with my Rogers SIM, I get unlimited voice and 2g data for the day.