T-Mobile is making some changes to its roaming fees. While Simple Choice customers do get unlimited data and texts in many countries, they do not get free calls. T-Mobile is changing the price on calls, bringing it from $0.20 per minute to $0.25 per minute now. That’s a five-cent raise that is bound to add up. On top of that, T-Mobile is also increasing the number of countries that you can roam in for free with 2G speed, from 154 to more than 200 countries. So it’s more than likely that whatever country you are heading to, you’ll be able to roam there without paying more for data.
Roaming data is free for T-Mobile postpaid customers, but it is pretty slow. It’s about 2G speeds, or a max of around 128Kbps, which in today’s age is pretty slow. But it is free, and that’s something that no other carrier is offering right now. However, if you are in another country, and you need some faster data, T-Mobile does have a few international roaming data packages available. This includes getting 100MB, 250MB or 500MB for up to $50. It’s still pretty pricey, so you are going to want to use WiFi as much as you can, but it is better than having to get a SIM card when you get to that country, as you’ll likely need to hand over your passport for that.
T-Mobile explains that the rise in cost of international phone calls is due to the fact that it needs to raise its rates from time to time. So the company is not sugar-coating it here, they are simply raising rates. But on its Support site, the Un-Carrier does say that it still has one of the most competitive global roaming options available. Which is indeed true, considering this is all built into the plan that you already pay for.