Up to 97.5 percent cheaper. T-Mobile drastically reduced roaming data

T-Mobile customers who in the past traveled to, for example, Egypt, Turkey, Thailand, Australia or even nearby Switzerland were probably surprised by the prices that the operator charged for mobile data in these destinations. It offered Internet Svět 1 roaming data packages with 100, 250 or 500 MB and 1, 2 or 5 GB in the price range from CZK 199 to 4,999. A rational-thinking customer who did not want to rely only on the hotel’s Wi-Fi, however, probably reached for some local solution. Especially if his phone already supported eSIM (see below).

However, this does not change the fact that the amount for one gigabyte of data in the case when the customer relied on domestic T-Mobile (a 1GB Internet Svět 1 package cost CZK 1,199) was high not only in the countries listed. However, that is in the past.

In the case of T-Mobile, with the newly introduced roaming data packages intended for countries outside the EU, comes a significant reduction in mobile data costs. The offer of packages across zones, which are now three (countries are divided into them according to the popularity and costs of local partners), has also been unified. There are now only two available, with 1 and 2 GB of data. They also differ in their validity, the lower one is on a weekly basis, the higher one is on a monthly basis.

The 1GB package starts at just CZK 199 (compared to the past). That is, on the amount for which a customer only recently received only 100 MB in selected countries. Now it has ten times more data for the same money. For this amount, a gigabyte package is available in data zone A, which includes, for example, Japan, Canada, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Ukraine, the USA, Northern Cyprus (the Turkish part of Cyprus) or the aforementioned Thailand, Turkey, Australia and Switzerland. Instead of spending almost two thousand in extreme cases (if the customer were to repeatedly activate a 100MB package), the consumption of the same volume of data will now cost two hundred.

In zone B (e.g. Algeria, Egypt, South Korea, Qatar, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore or Tunisia), the weekly roaming package will cost 259 crowns, in zone C (e.g. Bahamas, Monaco, Oman, United Arab Emirates) or Tanzania) the customer pays CZK 699 for 1 GB of data. In all cases, it is a marked reduction of the original costs for the customer.

New roaming data packages bring drastic savings even in Tunisia, which is also a popular destination for Czech tourists. Previously, T-Mobile offered packages with 50, 100, 200 and 500 MB and 1 GB, charging for them from 799 to 9,999 CZK. Now 1 GB of data here costs 259 crowns, which represents roughly 2.5% of the original cost (9,999 CZK).

Depending on the data zone, the price of the higher, monthly roaming data package also varies. It brings a double portion of data, i.e. 2 GB. It costs CZK 379 in the basic zone (A), CZK 485 in zone B, and CZK 1,279 in the highest zone (C). Previously, for example, in Egypt, Thailand, Turkey or Switzerland, two gigabytes of data cost CZK 1,999 (2GB Internet World 1 package), and in Tunisia even an incredible 20,000 crowns (2x 1GB Internet World 2 package).

Customers who do not have time to resolve their data needs before departure will receive a welcome SMS upon arrival in the country in question with price information and a link to a free welcome page on the T-Mobile website, where the relevant offer of data roaming packages will be displayed. Let’s add that all new packages, which according to the operator are compiled on the basis of internal data and reflect the current preferences of the customers of the destination parties, are not automatically extended. Thus, if the customer needs another data package, he must reactivate it, so there is no risk of unintentional data overcharging.

What about the competition?

Vodafone, for example, offers a roaming package in Egypt, Thailand or Switzerland for 199 crowns. However, it is a combined Roaming package for the day, which from the name already shows that it is on a daily basis. For less than 200 crowns, it offers a day of unlimited calls and unlimited SMS and 500 MB of data. One gigabyte will cost the customer 398 crowns (2x 199 CZK). But such a data volume is available to him only twice in a 24-hour period.

It makes no sense to think about data outside of the mentioned package, because at the standard rate of CZK 7.70/1 MB, one gigabyte of a Vodafone customer would cost a dizzying CZK 7,700. But in Tunisia, for example, if the customer does not have a smartphone with an eSIM, he has virtually no other option, as Vodafone does not offer the aforementioned daily roaming package there. And the Connection from abroad package offered on the website for this country is not a solution either. This would bring him only 150 MB for 1,369 crowns. One gigabyte would thus cost him even more, at 9.5 thousand crowns.

O2 does not offer roaming packages at all. Thus, its customers in all the countries we mentioned for Vodafone will spend 3,900 CZK (3.90 CZK/1 MB) for 1 GB of data.

It is perhaps only a matter of time before these operators also react with some kind of roaming price adjustment. T-Mobile’s step may have something to do with the current trend in the form of an ever-expanding range of smartphones with eSIM. An electronic SIM allows its user to upload practically any tariff to the phone. That is, not only domestic, but especially foreign. In addition, one can purchase one before departure/departure from the Czech Republic, so the customer can start using the services of the local operator, which are much more affordable, immediately after arriving at the destination, and thus not be bound by the high roaming prices of the domestic operator. However, he often does nothing with them, in many countries, and often those that are attractive to tourists, because the operators there keep prices high on purpose. This is their important income.