Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2013/08/28/three_slashes_roaming_costs/

Three axes data-roaming fees in SEVEN countries

Calls and texts home no more costly than they are in the UK either

By Tony Smith

Posted in Networks, 28th August 2013 13:03 GMT

Mobe operator Three has abolished roaming charges. Well, in seven countries, at least, and only on calls and texts sent homeward bound.

All Three customers who travel to Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, the Republic of Ireland or Sweden will be able to make calls to Blighty, send texts to the UK and – crucially – access the internet for the same price they pay back home, the network said today.

“This applies to everyone on our network, whatever type of plan or tariff you have,” it added.

Caveats apply. Tethering will be blocked, as will calls to premium rate numbers. You can still access VPNs and stream content, but the speeds will be throttled. If you use more than 25GB of data, send more than 5,000 texts or spend more than 3,000 minutes yakking per month in any two months within a year, you may be blocked from using these services, Three warned.

Busting your tariff's monthly limits will naturally see you pay more, but Three pledged that these costs would be lower than roaming elsewhere. Airtime will cost 20p per minute, texts 7p to send and data will be billed at 10p per megabyte. Travel to France, say, rather than Italy – one of the seven – and you’ll pay 45.8p per megabyte, 7.8p per text and 24.5p to make a call.

The "Feel At Home" service only covers calls and texts made and sent to Britain. Contacting local numbers in other countries will be billed at the usual roaming rate.

Three said it was hoping to extend the number of countries Feel at Home takes in. “We are working hard to add more countries to this list and will let you know as soon as we do,” it promised. ®