back to article Three touts 'unlimited' Euro data roaming for a fiver a day

Three has promised its contract-bound punters unlimited internet access in the rest of Europe for just a fiver a day. The packaged is called the Euro Internet Pass. The catch is, it needs to be bought on a daily basis, each Pass becoming invalid at midnight on the day of purchase. Three also warned that "Euro Internet Pass is …

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  1. Shane8
    Thumb Up

    Interesting

    Would like to see something like this not only for Europe but for the USA....and not for Three but for O2.

    1. FIA Silver badge

      Re: Interesting

      I'm on a 15 quid a month SIM only iPhone contract with O2, the text I received the other day said:

      O2: From July, we're changing the way you use your mobile in Europe. You'll pay 50p connection charge to make or receive a call, then use your UK call allowance. And no more than £1.99 for a day of data. For more info, visit http://go.o2.co.uk/o2trpm

      Looking at the terms it's limited to 25MB a day though. Still outrageous, but not the daylight robbery it once was.

      1. goldcd

        Vodafone have something similar with their passport

        EU is currently cranking the operators through a set of price caps on roaming at the moment though - last step, same price data roaming as local.

        Feeling gratitude to EU rules is a somewhat novel experience.

  2. Phil W
    Coat

    Can I have a medal for pedantry?

    Midnight on the day of purchase would be before it was purchased surely? 0:00 hours is at the beginning of the day with 23:59 at the end of the day. Invalid at midnight the day after purchase?

  3. DAN*tastik
    Paris Hilton

    Not supposed to use it as a hotspot

    Genuine question, since I may end up using it as such. Is there any way they can find out if I do?

    1. dotdavid

      Re: Not supposed to use it as a hotspot

      Depends. I think iOS uses a different APN if you do. Android doesn't. They might be able to count network hops and whatnot, or inspect the packets to see if you're using data not typically associated with smartphone usage.

      However I suspect it's much harder for them to do so when you're roaming as it isn't their network.

      1. Danny 14

        Re: Not supposed to use it as a hotspot

        I know a few people on 3 that hotspot when they shouldnt (not everyone is on the all you can eat). They havent been told off (all android devices). Im allowed to hotspot on mine and notice no difference in speeds to theirs either.

        They might take more notice if you are pulling from "odd" ports I imagine or seem to be using diablo 3 on a smartphone.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Not supposed to use it as a hotspot

          Three do know you are tethering when you are not supposed to - though I haven't figured out how yet. I'm on a plan with Three that doesn't allow tethering and on the one time I've tried to connect my work Windows laptop to the internet via the Android Wi Fi Hotspot app on my HTC desire any attempt to access the web on either the laptop of the phone resulted in a web [page saying "You may not tether under the terms of your contract". This required me to wait 5 minutes and turn the phone off and on again to get rid of (I'm guessing it requires the phone to disconnect and reregister with the network)

          However, I tether my Android tablet to my phone on a daily basis and this works flawlessly, i'm not sure how they detect my Windows laptop but my thoughts are:

          * they do packet inspection or use a silent proxy to look for user agent strings in HTTP requests (though sometimes I force my Android browser to desktop mode)

          * they look for connections to MS Windows update service or some other non-mobile site.

          I've not really experimented as my tablet suits me fine for mobile browsing but it is interesting. The fact it works with the tablet proves it's not a different APN or detecting NAT.

          It's also worth noting "The One Plan" they push to smart phones users does allow tethering so would not have this restriction.

          If anyone has worked out how they do detect tethering I'd be interested to know!

        2. Great Bu

          Re: Not supposed to use it as a hotspot

          I don't think they would be too worried if you were playing diablo 3 over your 'phone connection, how much data can you possibly get through during the average 22 second per day uptime of the game servers ?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    modem-cum-hotspot

    is that a new xxx fetish site?

    1. Andy Miller

      Re: modem-cum-hotspot

      It's a small village in Somerset, and they are fed-up of people taking the mick.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    fiver goes a long way

    if you spend this locally on a pay as you go access. For example, in Poland, you can chose from a few offers for "unlimited" access for about 6 quid. This is PER MONTH, thank you very much.

    and I would expect prices in other EU countries not to be much higher than that. But hey, if you can't be bothered, and prefer to spend your holidays staring at the screen and counting those MB against the time left til the end of the day, fiver a day, well, enjoy.

    1. Bassey

      Re: fiver goes a long way

      Yep, when I visit the UK I switch my local SIM into a dumb phone so that I can still recieve calls from home. I then stick a UK SIM (T-Mobile) in my smartphone and get Unlimited* data for £5 a month. I usually just pop into the nearest supermarket and get a SIM with £10 of credit. The £5 left over usually does me for making calls whilst I'm there and I throw the SIM away on the way home.

      It seems daft paying roaming charges when you can pick up a local PAYG SIM for nothing but the credit you charge it with.

      * Where unlimited is very much limited.

      1. Danny 14

        Re: fiver goes a long way

        indeed. telefonica have cheap deals that you can get in the airport. You generally need to hand over passport details then 15eu sorts you out for surfing.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: fiver goes a long way

        Silly question - why throw the SIM away? Why not just reload it on the next trip?

        1. Bassey

          Re: fiver goes a long way

          > Silly question - why throw the SIM away?

          Not a silly question. They get locked after Six months of inactivity. It is probably horribly lazy of me but I've found it to be far more hassle trying to get the damn things re-activated - which I want to do before I get back to the UK and so have to ring an international number - than to just buy a new one. If I know I will be back in the UK soon I will keep it but that is rare.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: fiver goes a long way

            Does that also apply to PAYG SIMs for the UK? I infrequently go there for business, and have been looking at a PAYG SIM for data for my smartphone while there - it looks like I could get a SIM for about ten pounds and get about 500M of data - plenty for a week's business trip. If the SIM goes dark after 6 months that's worth knowing.

            1. Bassey

              Re: fiver goes a long way

              "If the SIM goes dark after 6 months that's worth knowing"

              That certainly applies to T-Mobile UK. Not tried any of the others as T-Mobile have always had good coverage and excellent Data Rates on PAYG for the areas I visit. "3" are looking more and more tempting cost-wise but they have too many coverage holes.

  6. M7S

    midnight where?

    In the UK (if that's the home country of the contract), or where you are?

    What if I'm in somewhere observing Eastern European Time, midnight passes and I hop over the border into a country observing Central European Time, do I get reactivated for the remainder of the hour where I am?

    Not trying to be unhelpful, just want to know if they've allowed for all the possible permutations.

    1. Gerard Krupa

      Re: midnight where?

      According to what I read on Engadget, it's midnight UK time

  7. Gordan

    Dual SIM Phone

    Sadly, until the data allowances cover roaming usage, the only sane solution is still a dual SIM phone.

    Thankfully, there are plenty of cheap, decent Android phones available with dual SIM capability because of the demand for them in Asian countries where cross-network calls even within the same country can be prohibitively expensive.

  8. Wize

    Bit poor if...

    ...you start using it at 11pm. It would make more sense to do 24 hours from the start, but then they wouldn't get an extra day's worth of money out of everyone.

    1. Alan Edwards
      Happy

      Re: Bit poor if...

      If it's the same as the 50p-a-day data on pre-pay, it's actually midnight on the day after. If you time it right, you can get 2 days use out of it.

  9. Andy ORourke
    Happy

    Still Pricey.....

    I just got back from Tunisa and I slapped a Tunisia Telecom SIM in my iPhone, topped up 20 Dinar (about 9 quid) and managed to get 500 Meg per 24 hours for 1 Dinar a day (about 50p) Still got a few Dinars credit left after my 12 nights

    The network also allows for cheap calls to UK as well

    Much easier and cheaper to use local infrastructure when you can. That also allowed tethering as well.

  10. jonathanb Silver badge

    O2 doing it as well

    A message I got yesterday

    "O2: From July, we're changing the way you can use your mobile in Europe. You'll pay a 50p connection charge to make or receive a call, then use your UK call allowance. And no more than £1.99 for a day of data. For more info (including standard tariff alternative), visit http://go.o2.co.uk/o2trpm"

    When you follow the link, you find that "unlimited" means 25MB, about 1m 15s of iPlayer streaming.

    1. Ale

      Re: O2 doing it as well

      A big yawn for O2 then, that's what Vodafone are already charging for roaming in Europe. Even on pay as you go sims.

      It's very convenient if you use google navigation for short trips to the continent, as that rarely uses more than a few MB. Even a day's driving across France doesn't suck in more than the 25MB limit.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: O2 doing it as well

        The wife and I went to Dover the other day, we both got "Welcome to France..." messages. I'm on T-Mobile and she's on Tesco/O2. My message was £1 for 3Mb, hers was £3 for 1Mb!

        > After that date, carriers can charge no more than €0.70 (£0.56) a megabyte for data roaming in Europe.

        I like this ruling, but it is still too much. Obviously it's more than I would have paid (£0.33p/Mb) but that's not my point.

  11. Captain Scarlet Silver badge
    Coat

    Spits Tea at Screen

    £1 a megabyte!!!

    Has this been priced up by Wonga.com (3000% APR :O or something in that range)

    /me renames get my coat to someone nicking your wallet from your coat.

  12. UKRicardo

    Vodafone doing it better:

    £3 a day with Vodafone allows you to use your UK price plan in Europe. That includes incoming and outgoing calls, text and data including tethering at no additional charge. If you have it included, then you can use it. Go over and you pay your standard rates...

    In fact incoming calls/text doesn't even trigger the £3...

    O2 and Three are a little backward with their "new" offering - Vodafone have been doing that for years.....

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Three are rubbish

    3 Mobile are complete rubbish, their customer service is appalling and they changed what was provided with their service part way through my contract and, contrary to that contract, refused to let me out of it. They didn't reply to a letter I sent them (instead, texted me to say they wouldn't reply!). I've never known a company as bad as 3 - even Pixmania bother to reply when you contact them.

  14. Hayden Clark Silver badge
    Happy

    Any recommendation as to the best way of buying mobile data in France?

    Going on holiday soon......

    1. h3

      Re: Any recommendation as to the best way of buying mobile data in France?

      There isn't one without getting totally raped financially.

      If you can read/write French I guess you could get a 30 day contract. (Probably cost about 30 EUR dunno if you can get one month ones though)

      There is nothing like the £5 Tmobile deals in France. (Only SFR and Orange have decent networks the other one has no signal anywhere pretty much).

      Depends how much data you need as well.

      1. Hayden Clark Silver badge
        Happy

        Re: Any recommendation as to the best way of buying mobile data in France?

        Just found LeFrenchMobile. If you buy a 30EUR bundle, you get 300MB of data.

  15. 4.1.3_U1

    My prediction

    ... is that data roaming will never be a good idea beyond an emergency:- individuals at the moment should always source a local option for data beyond some minimal limit (5Mb per annum?), companies seek a deal if it goes above this.

    The pain of sourcing a local SIM (several hours of bureaucracy in some jurisdictions) will outway the costs after, say, this 5Mb.

  16. pullenuk

    Some of the networks in the UK are the same aboard. So really, it shouldn't cost any different! Eg. Orange UK and Orange Fr (France). Same company, so why can't they simply allow a time period charge but keep all your usual charges the same. So if I go to France for two weeks, then charge say 5 pounds for the two weeks then I'm billed on what my usual contract is.

    1. Bassey

      Same network, different country

      I'm on Sure - Cable and Wireless and, not only can I roam to other countries within the same network but numbers in those countries are included within my "Free" minutes; along with Ireland, for some reason. Quite handy, though, as the wife's family are from Dublin.

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