Tech
Surf worldwide: Provider in comparison
Going online with your smartphone in France, Italy or Spain? Since 2017 it’s no longer expensive fun: The EU had the then Roaming surcharges abolished. With the new roaming policy, browsing the EU since July 2022 Even more convenient: Users with a permanent contract in other EU countries usually have the same data quota as in Germany without paying more. The surfing speed also remains the same.
But all of that only applies within the European Union. Outside lurk against it massive cost traps. Because there is no uniform regulations or restrictions. Providers are free to set their prices. These differ greatly, depending not only on the provider but also on the country.
That is informed one SMS in the destination country via the Costs, but these are usually given in cents per KByte. 15 cents per 10 KB doesn’t sound expensive at first. Converted to one MByte, that’s 15 euros.
In some cases, the network operators are charging heavily and collect up to 24 euros for a single MByte. Is this Data roaming not disabled, quickly accumulate a few MB – even without surfing. Because smartphones usually go online independently as soon as they have reception. Apps then make updates or call up data in the background unnoticed.
Thankfully, thanks to one global cost brake no horrendous sums of data roaming come together. As soon 59.90 euros in the Non-EU countries were “surfed”, providers must disconnect. You can only go online again if you expressly agree that you want to continue surfing.
Caution also within Europe
However, international roaming does not only affect distant travel destinations such as Thailand, Egypt or Canada. Even within Europe, surfing can cost a lot of money if the country does not belong to the EU – like Switzerland, Monaco, Andorra or San Marino. And what about Great Britain?
The former EU member state handle the providers until the end of the year like before Brexit. As in the 27 EU countries, the principle “Roam like at home” applies. Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, as parts of the European Economic Area (EEA), are also treated like EU countries when it comes to data roaming: Users can surf the web like at home, without additional costs.
To avoid nasty surprises, do some research before you go on holiday, like the ones conditions for the destination in your contract are. The providers divide countries into different zones, for which specific prices then apply.
However, these zones are not uniform among the companies. Incidentally, it is also possible that the provider has not entered into any cooperation with a local network operator. Then data roaming is not possible at all. However, this only applies to particularly exotic regions.
Data roaming packages
in the Non-EU countries just surfing away is not a good idea. Then it can get really expensive. It is better if necessary paid add-on package for the data roaming to be booked with your provider, beforehand or at the holiday destination. It allows you to surf for a certain amount of time using a data quota. After that, the connection is terminated.
But don’t get too excited: 500 MB per day is enough to check e-mails, send a few photos via WhatsApp or look up the route. However, you cannot use it to stream a Netflix film.
What did we compare?
We wanted to know what costs travelers will incur. That’s why we have them conditions in contract tariffs of the three big providers Telkom, Vodafone and O2 examined more closely. For the comparison, we have selected the cheapest package option for popular long-haul destinations and European countries.
In each case included in the comparison daily packages for the Switzerland, Monaco, United States, Turkey, Thailand, South Africa and Cuba. they include 50, 100 or 500 MB data volume – or the option that Tariff like at home to use.
extreme differences
With the packages and conditions differentiate the Prices significantly depending on country and provider. This is particularly noticeable in two countries: Switzerland and Cuba. Telekom treats Switzerland like an EU country when it comes to data roaming. This means that customers can surf the internet without any worries, just like with their contract at home.
Also Vodafone customers surf the country like at home if you wish, i.e. at your normal contract conditions. However, this costs EUR 5.99 per day or EUR 19.99 per week, with the special Easy Travel Day option. at O2 it gets more expensive, unless you only use a few MB: 1.99 euros are due for 50 MB.
When you travel to Cuba you have to be careful: At the telecom get the DayPass M package with 500 MB for EUR 4.95 per day. at O2 you pay almost the same price per day in the Data Pack World with 4.99 euros, but only get 50 MB.
You can have a nasty surprise at Vodafone experience: For 10 MB of data volume, the provider charges EUR 29.99 for the Reisepaket Data. However, if you did not book this, it would be much more expensive: Vodafone then charges 4.13 euros per MB, billed in 1-KB increments.
conditions in comparison
Aside from the extreme examples, they differ conditions clear.
- the telecom offers the same packages for all countries in our comparison except Switzerland: Per day there is 100 MB for 4.95 euros; per week With 1 GB will 29.95 euros due. In the United States there is an optional unlimited data volume for 14.95 euros per day.
- Vodafone on the other hand, offers the same contract conditions for popular travel countries as in Germany – including surfing, telephoning and SMS. Easy Travel costs 5.99 euros per day. The option applies to all newer tariffs, for example in Switzerland, Turkey, the USA and Monaco. This applies in 100 other countries ReisePackage World, including in Thailand and South Africa. For 7.99 euros per day you get 500 MB and on top of that 50 call minutes and SMS.
- O2 treats all countries in our comparison equally, apart from Switzerland. in the Data Pack World costs 50 MB for EUR 4.99 per day – without phone calls and SMS.
Who has the best conditions for roaming outside the EU?
For our Tariff check we have a usage scenario of 500 MB per day accepted and compared the costs in seven example countries. In the Switzerland has the telecom ahead, there you can use your data volume like at home. O2 is, however, in almost all countries expensive than the competition.
For Monaco, United States and Turkey is the offer of Vodafone Best of all: Although you have to pay a little extra, you can then also use the usual data quota. In South Africa and Cuba, you can also get 500 MB at the cheapest rate from Vodafone.
Satisfy you 100 MBpay at the telecom at least. Only on a trip to Cuba is Vodafone the most expensive. Overall, the provider still gets the win: In five of the seven compared countries Vodafone the best conditions for data volume.
Here is an overview of the providers’ international packages in comparison to the download:
