The e-book ‘An Insider’s Guide to Low Cost International Roaming is available for $4.99 from Amazon and from Kobo.

Optus (www.optus.com.au) announced that it would replace its five geographical roaming zones by two in September and also reduce rates in those zones.

From November, it will also offer a $10.00/day ‘travel pack’, which gives customers unlimited texts and calls as well as 30 MB of data when travelling in NZ, the Pacific Islands, the UK and Europe, Asia, the US and Canada.

Without a ‘travel pack’, users will be charged $1/minute to make and receive calls, $0.50 for a MB of data and $0.50 per SMS in the above countries (also referred to as Zone 1 countries).

In Africa, the Middle East and Latin America (Zone 2 countries) the charges are $2.00/minute to make and receive calls, $1.00 per MB of data and also $1.00 per SMS. No ‘travel packs’ for Zone 2 will be offered yet.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Carl Moser

GlobalGig (www.globalgig.com.au) is offering a SIM card and mobile hotspot for low-cost data roaming in 36 countries. The SIM card can be bought online at $2.00 and the mobile hotspot for $49.00. Monthly plans start at $5.00 for the pay-as-you-go Flexi Plan. Data rates on this plan are $0.05/MB for use in Australia and 10 other countries (Group 1 countries):

• Austria
• Denmark
• Hong Kong
• Ireland
• Italy
• Portugal
• Spain
• Sweden
• UK
• USA

In a further 25 countries (Group 2 countries, which are Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, NZ, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey) the rate is $0.20/MB.

The Home and Abroad plan for $9.00 a month includes 1GB ($19.00 for 3GB and $29.00 for 5GB) of data for use in Australia, while overseas data use is charged at the same rates as on the Flexi plan.

The Jetsetter plan gives you 1GB of data for use in Australia and in the Group 1 countries for $19.00/month ($35.00 for 3GB and $49.00 for 5GB). Within Group 2 countries the charge is $0.20/MB extra.

Outside the Group 1 and Group 2 countries the GlobalGig service does not work, although new countries may be included in the future.

Also, the service is strictly data-only (no voice calls or SMS supported) and only presently works with tablets and the GlobalGig hotspot. Smartphones or other WiFi devices are not supported. Further details can be found on the GlobalGig website.

Carl Moser

Vodafone Australia announced on Wednesday, 31 July 2013 that a $5.00 a day “Roam Like Home” offer will be available in new plans that Vodafone will release in August 2013. This means Vodafone Australia customers will be able to use their call, SMS and data allowances in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the US just like in Australia for the payment of just AUD 5.00 a day. Please visit the Vodafone Australia website (http://www.vodafone.com.au) from time to time to check if the plan has become available.

Carl Moser