BEWARE International Data Roaming charges!!!

SecretCode said:
Sorry to bump a 6 month old thread, but I want to question this point, v3g, which you made in several posts.

For Vodacom contract customers (I only have prepaid, and MTN contract), do you separately sign up for international roaming data as opposed to voice and SMS? Because if not, your argument is very weak: people sign up for international roaming because they need voice and SMS. They may not be told the costs of data (on MTN, they definitely are not! It takes a long time to find out the costs for data from MTN!).
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Not sure if I understand your question?

But ic summed the status up nicely, I think.
 
There certainly is some confusion ...

ic, I don't think anyone who knows the facts would insist on using international roaming for data - in fact no one who knows the facts would use it at all! But in the first day or two in country X, you're still finding time to call in at a cellular shop (and with some of the networks, waiting for data to be activated on your SIM). It would be convenient to have data on your phone, at a non-exorbitant price, for those couple of days.

v3g, what I'm asking is whether you can enable international roaming because you need voice and/or SMS, but not enable data roaming. I know with MTN you can't, it's one service. I'd much prefer international data roaming to be a separate subscription service (which no one would take). If Vodacom works this way, I'll be looking at porting.

Can you answer that q?
 
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Ha! Well I went to Botswana ... because I was paid to. And by car ... strangely enough there was no cellular shop at the Tlokweng border post :D
 
SecretCode said:
There certainly is some confusion ...

ic, I don't think anyone who knows the facts would insist on using international roaming for data - in fact no one who knows the facts would use it at all! But in the first day or two in country X, you're still finding time to call in at a cellular shop (and with some of the networks, waiting for data to be activated on your SIM). It would be convenient to have data on your phone, at a non-exorbitant price, for those couple of days.

v3g, what I'm asking is whether you can enable international roaming because you need voice and/or SMS, but not enable data roaming. I know with MTN you can't, it's one service. I'd much prefer international data roaming to be a separate subscription service (which no one would take). If Vodacom works this way, I'll be looking at porting.

Can you answer that q?
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OK, a few things.

- Normal Roaming Activation will activate voice, SMS and data.

- We have a 'SMS-only' roaming service that when you turn it on, will disable all services except for SMS.

- You could turn on normal roaming but remove the APN settings on your phone.

- Some handsets now come with options to automatically disable data services while roaming, just like the MMS settings on most phones.
 
Thanks. - In your 2nd point, would that still allow voice and data as soon as you return to Vodacom range, or do you have to manually turn it off?
 
That would work, ic, but I must have something weird going on in my head :) because I want data as normal while in SA, but data roaming blocked at all times (unless I subscribe to it explicitly, sometime if rates are lower). If I travel abroad frequently e.g. to neighbouring countries by car, I don't want to enable / disable something each time I'm at the border.
 
But (more weirdness, a customer thinking he might actually want something) I want international roaming for voice and SMS so people can get hold of me. I'd rather not have to set up complicated things to avoid unexpected charges.

If I want data while abroad, I get a local SIM: agree 100%!
 
Getting a prepaid sim in some foreign countries is a mission. Try e.g. Korea or Japan.
 
ic said:
Can one not call 155 and ask for a SIM Card to be un-provisioned for data? - thereby effectively disabling roaming data as well...
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:) Was my first thought as well, but I checked and they actually cannot turn all the APN's off via their front-ends. Would work though, so we could build a system like this if there is enough requirement.

I suspect the most practical solution will be handsets that are sensitive to the location, just like they are today with MMS (which is data).

Joe, I think you just SMS something to 123 to activate / deactivate SMS-only roaming.
 
LOL

Shameless bumpity bump.

Was googling for vodacom roaming charges since, yes you guessed it the girlfriend is going over seas again...and I found this...please tell me its a typo!!!

Edited to make it look better, can be found on Vodacom's site...

I really hope that is a typo, cause if its not, its nearly 1.2 MILLION RAND for a GIG!!!!

Oh, the R250,000 for a GIG is still just a little excessive. And before you flamers start; think if you earned a Director's salary of say R1mil a month before tax, +- R680,000 after tax and you get billed R250,000 for a GIG, would you be upset? ;)

Note there is Vodafone Live passport which is "reasonable".

...so sorry for MTN customers who can't use the Vodafone passport, if they have to pay the same price.

http://www.vodacom.co.za/rchp.do

My original point...WTF even offer a "service" like this...
---------

Use data services (Internet access & sending photo's)

AUSTRALIA HUTCHISON 3G
(Frequency: 3G)

Data Roaming Options
Standard Rates Data & Blackberry
GPRS charge(Per MB)
3G Data Downloads(Per MB) R 1155.22
Vodafone live! Browsing(Per MB)

AUSTRALIA OPTUS
(Frequency: 900/1800)

Data Roaming Options
Standard Rates Data & Blackberry
GPRS charge(Per MB) R 154.04
3G Data Downloads(Per MB)
Vodafone live! Browsing(Per MB)
Receive a Video Call

AUSTRALIA TELSTRA
(Frequency: 900)

Data Roaming Options
Standard Rates Data & Blackberry
GPRS charge(Per MB) R 246.46
3G Data Downloads(Per MB) R 246.46


AUSTRALIA VODAFONE
(Frequency: 900)

Data Roaming Options
Activity Flat Rate Roaming
GPRS charge(Per MB) R 17.50 R 17.50 N/A
3G Data Downloads(Per MB) R 17.50 R 17.50 N/A
Vodafone live! Browsing(Per MB) R 17.50 R 17.50 N/A
Receive a Video Call R 17.50 R 17.50 N/A
 
He's 100% accurate. The VC website (a few clicks from his link) says that you will pay R 1 155.22 / MB for 3G data. Or R 1 155 220 per GB (R 1 182 945.28 per GiB) roaming on Hutchison 3G. Ouch.
 
I do not use Data roaming, WI-FI are open here in Europe :)
Direct from the phone companies :)

Oh Yeah... - And remember to stop at the airport and hire out a 3g card as well for like 40 euros unlimited data transfer and no cap restrictions
 
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RichardG said:
Oh Yeah... - And remember to stop at the airport and hire out a 3g card as well for like 40 euros unlimited data transfer and no cap restrictions
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@RichargG, is the 40 euros offer restricted to a single European country? I have to travel to Europe soon but will be hopping between France, Netherlands and the UK in a matter of a few days.
The only solution I see is to use the Vodafone passport (R17.50/MB) option.
 
ic said:
Who or what and where is Hutchinson 3G?

If dracolusus has a problem with what this Hutchinson 3G charges, then dracolusus had better take it up directly with Hutchinson 3G instead of complaining here that Vodacom is providing him with info about Hutchinson 3G that any sane person would use to make an informed decision to boycott Hutchinson 3G.
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Hutchison 3G is obviously a Aussie cellular network. Seriously ic, have you never roamed?

The VC rate card is filled with anomalies like this, on data and voice, and avoiding them is a bit of a game. VC sim cards will normally connect to VC partners wherever you are, thus avoiding "penalty rates" like these. However, when you enter an area which only has Hutchison 3G coverage, your phone will switch to that network without even notifying you.

Obviously Hutchison 3G doesn't want VC customers using its network, and their price is set accordingly. Unfortunately some countries don't have VC partner networks, and roaming subscribers don't have a choice.

Also, there are separate rate cards for every service (voice and data) on every network in every country. There might be different 20 different rates to examine, per country. A short trip through Europe could easily involve over 200 different rates. And while one network may be cheaper on incoming voice, another might be cheaper on data, a third cheaper on international outgoing voice and a fourth cheaper on local outgoing voice.

In short, if you can't afford roaming, don't roam. Personally, I roam extensively, and have appreciated being in contact with the outside world more than any bill has scared me. (Especially in middle Africa.)
 
ic said:
How so?
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dracolusus said:
AUSTRALIA HUTCHISON 3G
(Frequency: 3G)

Data Roaming Options
Standard Rates Data & Blackberry
GPRS charge(Per MB)
3G Data Downloads(Per MB) R 1155.22
Vodafone live! Browsing(Per MB)
Click to expand...
ic said:
Why are they anomalies? - if the pricing info is correct in terms of what the foreign network charges international visitors, then you cannot accuse Vodacom of providing incorrect info to Vodacom customers.
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1. They're anomalies because they don't follow the trend, and stick out like sore thumbs when compared to the data points around them. They're not wrong, just different.

2. Hutchison doesn't charge all international visitors this rate, just VC customers. MTN doesn't say what it's customers will pay, but it'll be different because these roaming agreements involve a lot of politics and are concluded individually.

ic said:
The key there would surely be that one's phone's network roaming settings should not be set to "Automatic", instead one should lock the phone to the specific network that one actually wants to roam on.

IOW, your bad - if you don't set your phone properly then you will have to pay the price.
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Different countries, different services, different rates. Do you set your phone to the cheapest incoming voice, or outgoing international voice, or outgoing local voice, or outgoing SMS, or 3G data or GPRS data, or do you just change it every time you use a different service, checking your 17 pages of rate cards each time?

ic said:
A bit exaggerated IMO - pre-paid SIM Cards will be available in all but the most backwater countries, so I would say that people do have a choice - they are just too lazy to exercise that choice, obviously countries that don't have pre-paid SIM Cards are choice-less.
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Lazy or uninformed? I'd rather have my options open when I'm stuck in some third world ****hole (like Australia), than be stuck to a network that only covers half the country. And yes, I'm willing to pay for that privilege. Third world ****holes stress me out enough, and if I can make my life easier by just paying a few extra $, I'm not going to argue.

I never said that VC should just cut off subscribers, rather than roaming them to Hutchison, I just said that the bill could give you a heart attack, if you didn't know what to expect.

And all this doesn't even affect me, because my phone is definitely 2G only, but I know what a mission these rate options can be, because I've been through it with voice many times. In the end you need to decide how much effort you want to put into saving a few Rand.

I think that this million Rand per gig rate should be given the same award that the R 1 500 per roll toilet paper from Want It All got. It's just an anomaly, and will only catch the truly ignorant.
 
ic said:
Ok, does your post mean that you agree that the problem with what Hutchison 3G and other international networks charge for roaming on their networks, is not something that Vodacom sucked out of its fingers, but rather something the foreign networks expelled from their arses?

As a consumer, I like to stick to my principles, so on principle, I would not use international roaming if there was a cheaper alternative available to me [pre-paid SIM Cards], this is my way of telling the foreign networks where to shove their ridiculous roaming charges.

PS: Admittedly I didn't pay much attention to the latter half of dracolusus' post - if I cannot make sense of a post at the start of that post I request more info and ignore the rest until more info is provided.
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No network is going to allow VC customers to roam on their network without a watertight contract being in place, with Vodacom, to ensure that they'll be paid. So no, Vodacom is not some innocent bystander; they signed the roaming contract with Hutchison (after some negotiation, I'm sure), and they decided to allow their customers to use the service. It's expensive, (******* expensive) but I'd rather have the choice, than be told that I can't use the service because it's too expensive.

Like I said, data roaming doesn't affect me, but I've used VC's R 20 per minute voice roaming to book a "get me out of here, NOW" flight. If you need it, you need it. Make a bit of an effort to get roaming rates before you leave home, and make your decision. Advise other of the costs, but don't complain about your bill. That is exactly what dracolusus did, so I agree with his post.
 
ic said:
For the record, I was not flaming you,
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Ok...

ic said:
This thread has also evolved beyond the narrow context of your post#1, perhaps if you had been following the thread, you would have understood why your post was so confusing in the context of what had been posted recently.
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ok...

ic said:
PS: I suggest that you obtain a legal opinion where international roaming is concerned and the new credit act obligations on a cellular service provider are concerned, let us know the outcome.
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Mkay...Sorry for all the confusion.

I did read the thread, thats why I said "shameless bump" I'm not all that great on Forum etiquette.
 
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