Someone should start a website that databases all the mobile Internet tariff’s because it’s getting very hard, even as a knowledgeable customer, to see what the latest deals are.
There are three types of deal in Europe that are common.
- Add-on packages to voice contracts.
- Pay as you go options
- SIM-only data contracts
Add-on packages tend to be the cheapest if all you need is mobile Internet on your handset. You can add a flat-rate proxied HTTP service for as little as 10-euro. In some countries the service isn’t even proxied and with 3UK I’ve found that it’s open-port access with very little restriction although reports of backbone overload seem to be appearing more and more with this network. This sort of service is ideal for a mobile phone and, if you use a fairly open smartphone, you can generally find an application suite that works over HTTP. Although the T&C’s disallow it, you can probably get away with short-term PC connectivity through the mobile phone. You just need to remember to configure the proxy settings in your browser and it works well. Be careful to use the correct APN though as it can cost a bomb if you get it wrong!
Pay-as-You-Go options vary between day-flat and per-MB costs. Day-flat is very useful if you’re away for a weekend at a conference or exhibition. 5 Euro per day usually nets you a full, open, business class Internet service. Per-MB pre-pay data rates with voice are down to $0.24 in Germany with the initial SIM card cost starting at around 7.50 with no contract.
SIM-only data contracts are the ones too look for if you need to add a SIM card to your ultra mobile PC or MID. I currently pay a fairly hefty 20-euro per month for a business-class (non-proxied, most ports open) 200MB per month on a 7.2mbps network from Vodafone but there are some new deals around that are better. This deal from virtual service provider MoobiAir is particularly interesting. You get a 6-month contract on the T-Mobile backbone in Germany (widely considered to be the best here) for just 34Euro per month. That’s un-proxied, no-limits, 7.2mbps Internet access.
There are other deals too and if I had time I’d love to create a list of the best deals in some of the bigger countries. U.S. Canada, UK, Germany, Italy, Holland, France. If you can help me though by putting information in the comment here though i’ll probably be able to find time to collate it into a post for other readers. What deals are going on in your area?
“You get a 6-month contract on the T-Mobile backbone in Germany (widely considered to be the best here) for just 34Euro per month. That’s un-proxied, no-limits, 7.2mbps Internet access.”
That`s not correct. If you cause too much traffic, the transfer rate gets reduced to gprs-speed. Afaik the limit is 10GB. The same goes for moobicent which offers the same for the vodafone backbone for 39€/month (although it`s unclaer when they start reduction of bandwidth here).
But 10GB are more enough for my mobile needs.
However, there is a big issue:
As soon as you leave your country, mobile internet gets really, really expensive. Roaming costs really are way to high. In most cases an unlimited high-speed internet access via cable/dsl costs less than to download 10MB in a foreign country with your phone. It`s a shame!
Just checked the webite of moobiair.
Reduction to 64kbit/s after 10GB/month and voip and instant messaging(!?!) are not allowed!
And for moobicent:
Also reduction to gprs after 10GB/month (they didn`t have this when I suscribed one year ago).
You can get the same conditions at vodafone or t-mobile.
OK 10GB is a huge amount but yes, you are right about the limit.
I always wondered what they mean by VOIP. Skype and SIP perhaps? IM blocking is almost impossible as there are some nice solutions that run over IP. Gizmo project and Meebo spring to mind.
Thanks for the feedback.
Steve.
Blocking skype is also nearly impossible.
Imho they just introduced these passages, so they could easily get rid of customers that cause too much traffic.
I got 512/512 HSPDA for 26,70 euro a month, the cool thing is that they don’t enforce the speed limit so i get about 2000/512 on my eten phone. And they have also removed the 10 GB limit, and now it just say that u may not use the line for hosting a fileserver. And the 10 GB was in the first place, only a soft limit.
This is Denmark, and 3mobile.
All the major mobilphone companies in Denmark, have an flat-rate option for data now. Last year only 1 had it. So it’s going the right way, now we just need some price wars.
Been trying to find out info about mobile broadband options in the US. I wanted something for the summer, but it doesn’t seem promising:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=32565
The cap their is about 5GB, and you only have 1 HSDPA provider; AT&T. T-Mobile just started providing HSDPA, and I think they only released it in NY not too long ago.
Other 3G providers all use EV-DO.
To make it worse, I also believe they only offer 3G connections with a contract, so no pay as you go option!
I agree that the services Victorvox (they are behind “Moobi”) offers (MoobiAir using T-Mobile or MoobiCent using Vodafone) currently give you the best value for your money (even if they limit usage to 10GB/month – almost everybody else is limiting this to 5GB) if you stay within Germany.
However, they really “kill” you with their roaming charges which -depending on the country – are between €0.39 and €0.79 per 50kb – don’t even think about downloading that email with the few pictures attached – unless you really want to spend €5 to €10.00 for that single email.
These roaming prices are only for MoobiAir. I have searched the whole MoobiCent website, looked into all the fine print and all I could find regarding roaming is that it is not activated as part of the standard service but that it can be activated at the requeest of the client (or without special request if the client is “behaving well”) and that additional charges will apply.
It would be really interesting to have a database of pay-as-you-go or prepaid providers in all countries so that if someone is spending a longer time there (e.g. backpacking in Australia), they could just look the country up and find a provider where they don’t have to sign an n-month contract and still be able to go online with a decent speed at a decent price.
Regarding VoIP and IM: Interestingly enough this is only forbidden in MoobiAir, there is nothing about this in the fine print for MoobiCent.
b.t.w., Skype and SIP are typical examples of VoIP and afaik they are using different ports than http, ftp, pop, imap, etc., so in theory those ports could be monitored and also potentially blocked.
Mobile broadband prices will constantly drop just like sim only calling and text tariffs. The best for your wallet is buying a sim only contract these days. It will save you lots of money. There also are European webshops for sim only contracts.