Roaming Prices for Mobile Calls Drop in Europe

Rates for mobile phone roaming charges in the EU dropped for the fourth consecutive year today.  Meanwhile, the European Commission is preparing to announce new regulations aimed at closing the gap between domestic and “foreign” call rates to virtually zero by 2015.
The planned cuts will bring charges for making a voice call while abroad in the EU down to €0.35 from €0.39, and €0.11 from €0.15 for receiving a …

Traveler Alert: Roaming Charges for Unanswered Calls

Business travelers traveling overseas with a mobile phone that supports international roaming should be aware as to how some calls are billed. Many people assume, incorrectly, that if they allow a call to ring and then go to voicemail, they won’t be charged.  In actuality, such inaction might result in a billed call due to a phenomenon known as “tromboning,” a process where the call goes through an extra circuit …

Traveler Alert – Data Roaming and the T-Mobile G1

We’ve recently heard from multiple business travelers who used their T-Mobile G1 smartphones on overseas trips.   All had a common complaint: they followed T-Mobile’s recommended guidelines to turn data roaming off yet they still received a bill for hundreds of dollars of data usage during the trip.
A report from our client RJ, a road warrior who flies to Europe several times per month, was typical.  After purchasing his new G1 …

Avoiding a $5000 Phone Bill on Your Trip

Whether you know it or not, your smartphone may be surfing the Net – and running up your bill – during trips abroad.  Discussion forums are full of reports from business travelers with high phone bills due to unintended data access: comments such as “one day, $768,” “one trip, $4800″ abound.
This can happen even if you don’t think you are using any data services.  For example, users of SimulSays, a …

T-Mobile Hotspot @Home

The landline phone, while nowhere near extinction, is something that fewer and fewer people rely on.  Where are all of your phone numbers stored? Your mobile phone, of course.  How do your friends reach you? Same answer. Besides, you can’t send a text message to a landline phone.
But what if your mobile phone gets poor reception at home or the plan you are currently on doesn’t support hours of catching …

Extreme Road Warrior Part III

16 days later, I’m back.  (See Part I as well.)   I found a few things rather useful for those traveling on business and wanted to share these with you.

Skype Pro
Skype Pro is a relatively new offering that costs only $3 per month but offers many features particularly useful to the road warrior.  Most notable is the international traveler calling plan.  Users pay no per minute charges for calls to …