At an event featuring a performance by pop star Shakira Oct. 9, T-Mobile announced free unlimited data roaming in more than 100 nations for its subscribers. This means when T-Mobile subscribers are in a qualifying country, they will not have to pay extra money to use data.
“Today’s phones are designed to work around the world, but we’re forced to pay insanely inflated international connectivity fees to actually use them,” John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile USA, said in a press release. “You can’t leave the country without coming home to bill shock. So we’re making the world your network — at no extra cost.”
Texting will be unlimited, and voice calls will be 20 cents per minute for phone calls when in these same countries. This feature will become available Oct. 31.
The company also announced availability of plans for those in the United States trying to contact people in other countries. For $10 extra per month, T-Mobile customers can send unlimited texts, but they will have to pay up to 20 cents per minute for phone calls.
“I don’t make too many international calls, and I’m happy with my plan,” said Adam Lourenco, a BYU senior studying mathematics and a T-Mobile subscriber. “It sounds like this could net them some more customers, but there’s always Skype.”
T-Mobile USA is owned by Deutsche Telekom, a German company.
