Global roaming FAQ

[Telekom]

Here is some basic information on global roaming with T-Mobile

1) Contact T-Mobile and request that they add global roaming capability to your account.

When you request global roaming T-Mobile will do a further credit check to see if they think you are worth the "risk" of amassing large global roaming charges. If you are approved global roaming should be added to your account within a few days.

If you find that you may be needing global roaming within a couple weeks after you have initiated service with T-Mobile it may be possible to get global roaming, but they will probably have to do a new credit check to see if your a good risk.

2) rates: If you enabled global roaming prior to November of 2001 you are probably on the old pre "World Class" roaming rates which for many are much cheaper that current World Class rates. If you enabled global roaming after November of 2001 you will automatically get the World Class rates and there is no way to get any other type of global roaming rates.

3) Using the service. If you have a tri-band handset you don't need to do anything as your handset is capable of using the service in North America (at 1900 Mhz) or in Europe and Asia (at 900 or 1800 Mhz.) Dual band 900 or 1900 Mhz phones will also work, but you'll have less choice of networks available to you. If you don't have a dual band or triband phone you'll have to get a Euro/Asian handset that is capable of 900/1800 service. You can either get an unlocked handset in Europe/Asia or you can look on such places as ebay to find a Euro/Asian handset. Be sure that any handset you get is unlocked i.e. it must have any network restriction removed or your T-Mobile US SIM will be rejected.

4) Making calls while overseas: You can dial as the locals dial calls i.e. area code/number or you can dial in the international format. e.g. a London number 020-7654 3210 can be dialed with that sequence or you can dial it in the international format +442076543210. If you have your numbers in your phone directory stored with the +country code/area code/number you can use it to dial anywhere in the world there is GSM service. To use the plus symbol different handset manufacturers use different methods. Some such as Nokia will make the plus symbol by keying the * key twice rapidly. Other phone manufacturers may have other methods such as holding the 0 key for a couple of seconds.

[Telekom]

From: AnshulJain:

And the second installment...

Old(Grandfathered) Intl Roaming Rates:

As many are aware, there used to exist a very different rate for intl. roaming before the WorldClass rates were introduced way back in November of 2001. These rates were grandfathered from Omnipoint(Northeast) to Voicestream and later shelved for WorldClass rates. Any customer who activated intl. roaming and dialing before Nov. 2001 and did not give explicit instructions to change over to theWorldClass rates can get those old rates back intl his account. The best way to check is by logging to myT-Mobile.com and checking the abbreviation beside intl. roaming, if its "INTRLROAM" then u are still with the older rates, if its "WRLDCLASS" then its the newer rate.

If ur rates were changed without ur knowledge or consent, and are unable to get them back through normal channels, send me an email at anshuljain@yahoo.com and i'll get your information forwarded to my contact at T-M who can fix these easily.

[phibeee]

I have "WRLDINTLR" what does that mean?

[shahavchik]

Great Info, thanks! Could you also add some SMS info while roaming internationally?

[furcafe]

Has T-Mobile really abandoned regular int'l roaming (as opposed to the flat-rate WorldClass service) for everyone who subscribed after November 2001? If you go to the bottom of the "International Coverage & Roaming" part of the T-Mo web site (http://www.t-mobile.com/international/coverage.asp), there's a section that says "Variable International Roaming Rates for non WorldClass subscribers . . . To View International Roaming Rates, enter your T-Mobile phone number: " If you enter your phone # in the box, then follow the menu prompts (select home market, country, provider, etc.), the site pulls up the regular non-WorldClass int'l roaming rates. It was my understanding that anyone could still sign up for regular int'l roaming, but I may be wrong (I subscribed back in 2000). I noticed that the flat WorldClass rates can actually be cheaper for those users who make lots of calls *between* countries (e.g., business types), as opposed to make most of their calls *inside* a country. I thought T-Mo was still trying to cater to both markets. If not, do they provide the non-WorldClass roaming rates on the web site just for folks who've been grandfathered in?

[Telekom]

Originally posted by furcafe
Has T-Mobile really abandoned regular int'l roaming (as opposed to the flat-rate WorldClass service) for everyone who subscribed after November 2001? If you go to the bottom of the "International Coverage & Roaming" part of the T-Mo web site (http://www.t-mobile.com/international/coverage.asp), there's a section that says "Variable International Roaming Rates for non WorldClass subscribers . . . To View International Roaming Rates, enter your T-Mobile phone number: " If you enter your phone # in the box, then follow the menu prompts (select home market, country, provider, etc.), the site pulls up the regular non-WorldClass int'l roaming rates. It was my understanding that anyone could still sign up for regular int'l roaming, but I may be wrong (I subscribed back in 2000). I noticed that the flat WorldClass rates can actually be cheaper for those users who make lots of calls *between* countries (e.g., business types), as opposed to make most of their calls *inside* a country. I thought T-Mo was still trying to cater to both markets. If not, do they provide the non-WorldClass roaming rates on the web site just for folks who've been grandfathered in?

My understanding is that only world class roaming is available for anyone who activated global roaming after 2001. After that only world class rates are available.

[martianviking]

Originally posted by shahavchik
Great Info, thanks! Could you also add some SMS info while roaming internationally?

I'm wondering about this too. Are there increased rates for SMS while you're overseas?

[furcafe]

Thanks for clearing that up. I've often wondered about the 2 different rate structures.


"My understanding is that only world class roaming is available for anyone who activated global roaming after 2001. After that only world class rates are available."

[anshuljain]

Originally posted by phibeee
I have "WRLDINTLR" what does that mean?

Hmm...i haven't heard of a WRLDINTLR...i could find out and let u know. When did u activate intl. roaming to ur a/c?

-Anshul

[Telekom]

Originally posted by martianviking
I'm wondering about this too. Are there increased rates for SMS while you're overseas?

I sent a query form into T-Mobile inquring about this and they told me that they don't charge anything extra. However, the foreign carrier may add charges and that they don't have any control over.

[martianviking]

Originally posted by littlefuzzbear
I sent a query form into T-Mobile inquring about this and they told me that they don't charge anything extra. However, the foreign carrier may add charges and that they don't have any control over.

Ah. Good news and bad news, then. Thanks.

[phibeee]

Originally posted by anshuljain
Hmm...i haven't heard of a WRLDINTLR...i could find out and let u know. When did u activate intl. roaming to ur a/c?

-Anshul

I activated it at the beginning of October 2002

[dna48363]

I was in about seven different countries over the summer, and my SMS costs were way over my GPRS costs, and I emailed at least 5-10 pictures with my T68i. It depends on the carrier

[kapha]

Originally posted by phibeee
I have "WRLDINTLR" what does that mean?

this means you have the flat rate/world class rates.

One other thing to keep in mind with Intl roaming. When abroad you may want to consider turning off your voicemail forwarding. Why? Lets say you in th UK, someone from the US calls you and you decide not to take the call/miss it or whatever, that call will then be forwarded to your voicemail which is a US number, so you will be charged a call from the UK to the US.

Obviously if you have a local number in which to forward calls in that particular country you can do that as well.

[econtroller]

We were in Europe this past summer (Switzerland, Germany, France, Norway) and roamed. The SMS costs ranged from $0.15 to $0.25 per message. Switzerland was the most expensive it seemed. But SMS to our son who was in a different part of Europe and to/from family at home were no problem. Coverage was good, but it was a bit odd sometimes--my wife would have one carrier and I would have another.