

Carriers Must End Absurd Intl Data Roaming Fees, Before Apple Does It for Them - mgertner
https://medium.com/@salsita/carriers-need-to-end-absurd-international-data-roaming-charges-5cb808343ee1

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Someone1234
> Of course there is no real technical justification for roaming data charges
> that are many multiples of domestic prices.

No, but there are "technical justification" for why they charge more: It costs
them more.

Operating on a first party cell tower is significantly cheaper than operating
on someone else's as a guest. Not only in the literal sense, but also the cost
of tracking it, and setting up the contracts initially in 190+ countries.

However things are improving massively in the last few years. T-Mobile in the
US now gives you free international roaming at 56K modem speeds (no overage),
and 4G speeds for only a relatively small fee. AT&T's data roaming packages
(that now include unlimited texts) aren't bad either.

~~~
mgertner
Fair point about setup costs, but the marginal cost (which is what really
counts over the long term) is negligeable in both cases.

Things are improving as I say in the piece, but it's worth noting that here in
the Czech Republic I still have to pay nearly $200 for a month of data roaming
in the US with a 200Mb cap. And that's if I go to the trouble of signing up
for a special roaming plan, otherwise I could easily spent 10x that.

