iPhone International Travel Tips for Data Usage
Plan to travel internationally and want to bring your iPhone along? If you not careful, you may end up with a surprise when you return in the form of a $10,000 phone bill. Think I am kidding? On my recent travels to India I heard about a colleague who did not contact their mobile provider before the trip -- made a few calls and used data for about 10 days. And that phone bill approach a 5 figure total, crazy as that may seem! In case you are wondering, why does your iPhone use more data than other devices? Here are a few of the reasons
Recently, I received an email with a number of tips from AT&T that I thought I would pass along with a few tips of my own. From my experience, if you are traveling internationally and plan to use your iPhone at all for calling -- it is best to pay up front and know what to expect when you get your next bill from AT&T.
The first is to turn on International Roaming for your phone for making calls. By following the link, you can compare the rates between international roaming and standard rates. In most cases, you save at least 30% with International Roaming instead of standard rates.
The second is to consider and international data package. There "Data Global" packages for the iPhone that offers a pre-set amount of 20MB / 50GB for $24.99/$59.99 respectively. In many cases this will be sufficient for a trip lasting 1-2 weeks, depending on your usage.
If you are not keen on calling AT& T, then you can try and reduce the amount of data that your iPhone will use while you are roaming internationally. Some key ways to minize your international data usage include:
Be sure to download and install the latest version of iPhone software from iTunes. These software updates will enable the ability to turn on/off data roaming when traveling outside the U.S. By default, this setting will be in the "OFF" position.
Settings>General>Network>Data Roaming
Data usage from email can accrue quickly. Check email manually using WiFi instead of having emails downloaded to your iPhone automatically. This way you can control the flow of data coming to your iPhone.
Settings>Mail>Auto-Check and select Manual
When you arrive overseas, you can track estimated data usage in Settings.
Here are the current list of countries in the international roam zone for AT&T:Country Carriers Technology Frequency AUSTRALIA Hutchison 3G UMTS Only 2100 VodaFone GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100 AUSTRIA Hutchison 3G UMTS Only 2100 ONE GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 1800; UMTS 2100 BELGIUM BASE NV/SA (KPN ORANGE) GSM/GPRS/EDGE 1800 Proximus GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900; UMTS 2100 CANADA* ROGERS WIRELESS GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS 1900 FIDO (MICROCELL) GSM/GPRS/EDGE 1900 CHINA CHINA MOBILE GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900 COLOMBIA Columbia Movil GSM/GPRS/EDGE 1900 Movistar GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/1900 CZECH-REPUBLIC OSKAR MOBILE A.S. (VodaFone) GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800 DENMARK 3 (Hutchison 3G) UMTS Only 2100 TELIA GSM/GPRS/EDGE 1800 EGYPT VODAFONE GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900; UMTS 2100 FRANCE BOUYGUES TELECOM GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS GSM/GPRS/EDGE 1800; UMTS 2100 VODAFONE SFR FRANCE GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800; UMTS 2100 GERMANY E PLUS GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 1800; UMTS 2100 O2 GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 1800; UMTS 2100 VODAFONE GERMANY GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800 GREAT BRITAIN(United Kingdom) O2 (UK) LIMITED GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100 Hutchison 3G UMTS Only 2100 Vodafone GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100 GREECE VODAFONE - PANAFON GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900; UMTS 2100 GUAM Guam Cellular and Paging (HafaTEL) GSM/GPRS GSM/GPRS 1900 Pulse Mobile GSM/GPRS GSM/GPRS 850/1900 HONG KONG CSL GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800; UMTS 2100 SMARTONE Vodafone GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100 HUNGARY VODAFONE GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100 INDIA VODAFONE (formerly HUTCHISON) - Andra Pradesh, Chennai, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh East, Uttar Pradesh West, West Bengal GSM/GPRS 900 IRELAND Vodafone GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100 O2 GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800; UMTS 2100 Hutchison 3G UMTS Only 2100 ITALY VODAFONE OMNITEL S.P.A. GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100 H3G (HUTCHISON 3G) UMTS Only 2100 JAPAN SoftBank Mobile (J-PHONE) UMTS Only 2100 LIECHTENSTEIN SWISSCOM GSM/GPRS 900/1800 MEXICO* TELCEL GSM/GPRS/EDGE 1900 MONACO BOUYGUES TELECOM GSM/GPRS 1800 VODAFONE SFR FRANCE GSM/GPRS 900/1800 NETHERLANDS KPN MOBILE NETHERLANDS BV GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800; UMTS 2100 Telfort GSM/GPRS 1800 VODAFONE NETHERLANDS GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100 NEW ZEALAND VODAFONE NEW ZEALAND LIMITED GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900; UMTS 2100 POLAND PTK CENTERTEL (Orange) GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800; UMTS 2100 PORTUGAL VODAFONE GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100 ROMANIA VODAFONE GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900; UMTS 2100 SAN MARINO VODAFONE GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100 SINGAPORE MOBILEONE GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100 SOUTH KOREA KTF UMTS Only 2100 SPAIN VODAFONE GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100 SWEDEN 3 (HUTCHISON 3G) UMTS Only 2100 TELE 2 (Comviq) GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900; UMTS 2100 SWITZERLAND ORANGE COMMUNICATIONS (SWITZERLAND) GSM/GPRS/EDGE 1800 SWISSCOM GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800; UMTS 2100 TAIWAN TAIWAN MOBILE GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 1800; UMTS 2100 VATICAN CITY VODAFONE GSM/GPRS/UMTS GSM/GPRS 900/1800; UMTS 2100
*Countries and carriers included in the DataConnect North America Roam Zone.
Important Information: Available countries and carriers are subject to change without notice.
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