I'm hearing conflicting news about tmobile's internation email plan for $20. Does it include data (web browsing, chat) or not? It sounds like data costs $15/mb. Another thread in this forum states that the international add-on does include data but that seems inaccurate.

Secondly, if web browsing is an extra expense, how much data do people actually use? I typically have verichat running all day and this $15/mb makes me think I'll spend thousands overseas!

Thanks

Have you called T-Mobile rather than relying on hearsay?

This is what I heard from a friend who is using T-Mobile. But I think it's worthwhile to call T-mobile to find out.
Then again, I'm using Cingular international unlimited roaming package for USD 70/month, including web browsing.

Is there anybody using T mobile international unlimited? I did call T moblie and their reply has been NOT including web browsing.

On the other hand, email, attachment all very similar to web browsing. an answer from an actual user might be the best answer.

thanks.

Wirelessly posted (8700g: BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Call TMobile. I wouldn't rely on second hand information.

I was in the UK from Oct-05 to Feb-06 using T-MO unlimited intl bb, and never got any extra charges for data( Pocket Express, Verichat, and Internet Browser). I am on BES, and it may be a different story on BIS service.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

I want to hear from users as well.

I have BIS and have recently upgraded to the 8700g. I previously had the 7100t, but for this discussion, I doubt that there is a difference.

I was overseas for 3 1/2 weeks between the end of December '05 and the beginning of January '06. I travelled from Singapore to Sydney on a Cruise Ship with several stops in between. My limited time on shore certainly kept my data rates low, but I was most certainly charged for data at the going rate for each country. I believe that the rate was $15/mb as you have stated. I signed up for the $20/month unlimited International E-mail service as well because I wanted access to send/receive E-mail while I was gone without the worry of how much data would be contained in each message. I basically signed up for 1 month and removed that service upon my return. So, yes, T-mobile charges for International data. Perhaps there is an even better plan that provides unlimited data access as well, but I am not aware of one.

Keep in mind, even though there is a per-MB data rate on chat, I suspect that you will find it to be much cheaper than using the phone or accessing E-mail for messages.

brott, thanks your reply was very helpful.

the main reason i posted was to hear the experiences of tmo customers who have actually used the service. i will still sign up for the $20 add-on when i go abroad but i don't understand how they even distinguish email from other types of data service. also, per what irdiaz said, is there a difference between BES and BIS international data plans?

i do know that cingular's unlimited international data plan includes all data such as web browsing.

i chat and read rss feeds on my blackberry a lot and i have a feeling the $15/mb is going to kill me! haha

I had this discussion with a T-Mo rep when I did my BB upgrade and they told me the international add-on covered both email and internet. Both unlimited and you can turn on - turn off the access plan whenever you want, is prorated based on number of days you have it turned on.

After posting last night I decided to research this with T-Mo since I have had inaccurate information in the past from their reps. Not surprisingly I was told by 2 reps, one standard CSR, the other a BB/data specialist that the international plan ONLY covers email. No browsing, no data transfer (aka no IM clients) no nothing unless you are willing to pay extra. You can receive SMS for free, sending SMS costs $0.35 each.

this is amazing how we all get different answers from the same company. Is it possible that T-mo have changed since Brott's trip?

T-mo has confirmed on the unlimited Email and prorated for the days used, but not sure or don't want to be certain about data. Is there someone just got a bill for April or March?

Thank you for contacting T-Mobile. My name is Agnes and it is my pleasure to assist you today with any issues related to our service.

I understand from your e-mail that you are enquiring about the $10 fee added on to the standard BlackBerry data plans when travel overseas. You would like to know if the $10 fee will include unlimited e-mail and web browsing. I am pleased to assist you with your concerns today.

For our Unlimited International BlackBerry, it includes:

" Monthly Charge: $19.99
" Unlimited International roaming
NOTE: Web browsing is not included. Applicable charges apply for all web browsing.
Customers can send and receive e-mail with no roaming charges as they travel internationally
" Customers must be on a BlackBerry rate plan or have the BlackBerry feature added to their voice plan.
" All accounts with this feature should be associated only with BlackBerry devices.
" This feature cannot be added to accounts that have any other type of data rate plan or data feature on the account.

If you require further assistance, please respond to this e-mail with your case number or you can call Customer Care at 1-800-937-8997. We have Customer Service Representatives available 24/7 to discuss your account.

Thank you for choosing T-Mobile, and allowing me the opportunity to assist you today.

With Regards,

Agnes F.
7265653
Customer Care Specialist
T-Mobile USA

--------------

There you go

Been using for 6 months, probably a dozen countries in Europe and Asia, and have not been charged a penny for data. And I use it a lot, including tethering the 8700 as a USB EDGE modem for my laptop. I do not know if it makes the difference, but, I also have link2exchange BES.

8700c running on TMO using BES and BIS.

I just hung up with a TMO CS rep and she told me that ONLY email is covered in the Unlimited Int'l Data plan. NOTHING else - just email. The $19.99 pricing is pro -rated however.

true... 19.99 int's pakg includes unlimited data. Whenever I go outside the country I always call t-mo and add this to the plan..
come back and remove it... that way they only charge for the usage and not complete 20 dollars..
works fine.

the BB Messenger is the best.. I use that more than the email ..

i called tmobile and they said that the international add on, only covers e-mail. The rep "noted" it in my account (urgh!). I'm traveling overseas in a few days and I was relying on the international plan for data, ( I was also going to tether it to my laptop). I'm using the $19.99 BIS plan. Has anyone on the BIS plan used the international add-on - if so were you charged for data?
This is an odd situation because I keep finding posts where people say that they weren't charged for the data, however they all seem to have BES.

Clear as mudd.......

I just dialed this TMO Int'l Cust Care number: 1 505-998-3793.

This rep tells me for $19.99 all web browsing and chatting and e-mail IS INCLUDED in the plan. ALL DATA is included - unlimited.

I then asked him if it mattered whether you were on BES or BIS and he said ---"NO. It doesn't matter".

I'm inclined to go with this answer as I think this source @ TMO is more reliable than the monkeys who answer the "normal" customer service questions.

I know over here their unlimited is split. Unlimited email (50mb fair use policy) is £10 and Unlimited data (2gb fair use policy) is £7.50 but together is £12.50 or something like that.

Funny, everyone said to call TMO. People did and all we get are confusing answers. That's why we need to hear from actual users and their experiences.

You're also getting conflicting reponses from people who have used the international unlimited plan if you read the thread...

I think that is why the information would be more accurate from people with actual usage and bill or bills. What TMO say and do might be 2 separate things...

One of the reasons that I got the bb was to use with the unlimited international data plan. the other day when i called tmo to activate the add-on (before i posted this thread's original message), the rep told me it only included email and other data costs $15/mb.

it's kind of ridiculous how much confusion there is amongst reps AND users. it looks like only one person (brott) in the thread was actually charged extra for data...

Hi all:

I am running with the unlimited BB plan as well as the int'l roaming package for the past 6 months, and can confirm that web browsing IS included in the data usage. I have been travelling internationally for the past 5 months, and each bill comes up the same: $29.99 for the BB data, and $19.99 for the unlimited int'l roaming. I am only paying roaming charges on voice calls.

Kelvin

THX mucho Kelvin.

Thanks for posting this number to call - much faster response time AND, most importantly, a CSR who confirmed unequivocally that the $19.99 unlimited international data plan covers unlimited international data including browsing, whether you're on BIS or BES. This is what I was told when I bought the 8700 and I would have been mightily po'd if it were not the case. Time will tell, of course, and I have to wait and see what appears on the next bill, but I have a name and badge number to reference so I feel on pretty firm ground.

What's interesting is that TMO no longer references this plan on its website, almost as if they don't want people to know about it and instead to end up paying through the nose. But I'm sure that wouldn't be the case, not from our friends at TMO......

Why can't we just all hop in a plane, tell the pilot to fly it really far, land it and we'll all surf away (blackberryforums.com preferably). 15 minutes later, hop back in the plane and go home and check our T-Mobile account if extras were charged. Who's with me?

I just came back from being overseas for a week and a half. During that time I used my 8700g to surf the net and to im people using Verichat. When my bill comes in, I'll let everyone know how it turned out. I certainly hope it's agood turn out

The BB int'l roaming plan does not include web browsing. However, it does cover all e-mail (whether on BIS or BES). That has been my experience.

I checked on this with a few different people from a friend that works at tmobile, a regular csr, and a bb rep... All three said it covered all data, unlimited. The discrep. Is that they quoted it @ $29.99, not $19.99. My base bberry unlimited data is 19.99. The 29.99 unltd int'l data is in addition. At least that's how I was quoted all 3 times.

The only person that stated otherwise was a friend with an older 6xxx bberry and tmob that says he pays 29.99 total for data incl unltd int'l data and that covers everything no extra charges.

I think that he's confused because of the prorate + turn on/off method tmob uses for billing.

What is confusing me, however, is the $19.99 quotes you all are reporting when I've had 3 tmob reps, including a good friend, quote me $29.99??

Ant

Interesting, how this thread reflects EXACTLY my experience in the last two weeks. I have been trying to confirm if web browsing is included or not and was getting conflicting reports...
I had one CSR from TMO say- your internet plan covers both US and international, no add-on needed (I wish....)
I had a second CSR rep say- you need an add-on plan for $19.99 per month to get unlimited international access to internet, including browsing, chat, email ( not as good as first rep, but livable...)
I had a third CSR rep say that the $19.99 only covers email (really disappointing now... (Thinking maybe I should not call more as with every call, the offer gets worse...)
I called the fourth TMO rep and asked for an "official document" to be emailed to me , so I have written proof. They said OK, but did not send one...
I called a fifth TMO rep today, and complained I did not get the document. Turns out they are not allowed to email.... (really annoyed by now: a communications company that can't send email, where have we gotten to ???)
The fifth rep started checking on this. This was obviously not known to her, she was going back and forth. After one hour on the phone, she confirmed with another person, that if I have the data plan which gives unlimited internet, AND I add the international no roaming for $19.99, then browsing internationally IS INCLUDED. Since she could not send me an email confirmation (sucks), I asked her to note my account. Now we'll have to see what actually happens after I come from my travel....

What we need to do is:
1. Request TMO to allow their reps to email clients (can you believe a business without email capabilities???)
2. Request TMO to have their site updated with ALL the plan details
3. Demand that we get a written contract with all the details of what is included and what is not. We are not requesting to get everything for free, but we want to know IN WRITING, if something is included

Finally we as a community need to record the rep-ids so that we have a documentation of the conflicting information. This, if nothing else, should serve TMO to better train their reps.... unless they are interested in keeping the grounds muddy so that they can change their offerings....

I would suggest posting only the names and badge numbers of the reps who tell us what we want to hear (that browsing IS included)!

I bought a Blackberry yesterday and was told by a "Senior Retail Sales Executive" at T Mobile Store that the T Mobile Blackberry International Plan did include web browsing while overseas. This was misinformation. It does NOT! The $19.99 plan is called the "BlackBerry Unlimited International E-mail Add-on". After talking to a representitive at the T Mobile International Services phone number, I spoke with a supervisor who informed me that all data transfer is at a $15.00/MB rate. A view of the web site reveals that T Mobile is less than candid in the way they describe the plan coverage. Obviously the T Mobil company stores don't have the correct information.

T Mobil doesn't have any documentation they would send me regarding this rate. The way this rate is being advertised and sold may not amuse several of the states that have strict laws regarding the sales of cellular devices and services. T Mobile needs to clean up it's act and place "This service does not include web browsing or data transfer" after the "BlackBerry Unlimited International E-mail Add-on" both in print and on their web site.

I am seriously considerating refering T Mobile current marketing practices with it's confusion and lack of transparency to the proper state agencies in California.

Tom, obviously it is upsetting- but don't be so sure. If you read my post, the rep said that IF you have the unlimitted-internet data-plan AND IF you ADD the $19.99 international no-roaming, it will result in international unlimitted browsing. This coincides with other users not being charged and some being. I am travelling tomorrow, so when I get the bill, I will report to confirm.

I just got my bill on Tmo and the price does include internet. I will try instant messaging this month to see, since Tmo uses SMS for IM. Not sure if it is included in the Unlimited international.

Surf away!!!!!

When I traveled, and got this same runaround, t-mo gave me a $50 credit towards my data charges to offset their conflicting information. Just so you know...

PLEASE post if you get any definitive anything and it is reflected in your bill the way it was supposed to be.

How uncommon can this be? I just don't understand.

I am based in NY, NY, have the BB Minutes and Mail plan, and have the 19.99 unlimited add on. I went back to my bill and checked the Data Roaming Charges. I was on a 7290 during this trip, so was just doing minor minor data, like looking at the FT headlines, etc.


Below is the relevant portion of my bill, as you can see, in the charge column, there is just a dash ("-"). I was not charged anything for this data usage, other than the $19.99 unltd. add on I already pay for.

I am heading back up to our place in Quebec for the holiday weekend tomorrow, and now that I have the 8700, I will be using much more browsing. I am sure the charges, based on the below, will include webbrowsing. I'll post back when I get the bill.


Hope this helps.


Date Service Megabytes Total
QUEBEC CITY (Canada (Rogers Wireless))
4/15/06 RIM Blackberry 0.6670 -
4/17/06 RIM Blackberry 0.5840 -
Sub Total 1.2510 -
TOTAL 1.2510 -

I'm still confused by $19.99 vs 29.99 which is it for unlimited int'l data using tmob bis service? I've been told by every rep I've talked to and even the bb specialist reps that its 29.99 and they prorate it based on how long you're out of country (you call and activate/shutoff on departure/return)

Ok good news - I'm on the BIS plan and I got my bill and it turns out that while i was overseas I was not charged for international data while i was on the international email plan.

This is great news concidering the fact that before i left the rep told me that i would be getting charged for the data. Unfortunately the rep screwed me in other ways, but that's another story