One of the classic problem every time I need to travel overseas is Internet access. While the cost of roaming for voice call and SMS have became slightly better now, the cost of data roaming is still unbelievably high. Some telcos offer their own “cheaper” way to access Internet while overseas. Optus, for example, offers Prepaid Travel Pack for $45 just for 90 MB. That’s bloody expensive. Telstra is slightly better, $29 credit in its prepaid can buy international data pack for 100 MB data.
When traveling to one country, it is always better to buy local SIM card there and enjoy local rates. The problem: not every country allows visitors to purchase prepaid SIM card. Another problem is when we need to travel to multiple countries, spending 1-2 days in each country. Buying local SIM card in each country is not only inefficient, it will also waste our precious time.
After searching for possible solutions, I end up with GlobalGig. I bought the starter SIM for $2 from Dick Smith. It’ is one SIM card that allows us to enjoy Internet access in 40 countries (including Australia). Bear in mind that this is NOT a prepaid service. This is a post-paid service, but without any contract so we are free to cancel our service anytime. Also, this is a data-only SIM. We can’t make traditional voice call or sending SMS using this SIM. I personally use it in my iPad mini. If you put the SIM card inside your smartphone, you can use it to browse the Internet, but no calls or text messages.
There are 2 choices of plans: Flexi and Home&Abroad. For Flexi plan, we pay $5 per month for subscription fee. Then we pay data as we use it. The rate is 2c per MB for data usage in Australia; 5c per MB for countries in category A (USA, UK, Ireland); 10c per MB for countries in group B; and 20c per MB for countries in group C. For Home&Abroad, we pay $10 per month to get 1 GB data that we can use in Australia, USA, UK and Ireland. Any excess usage is charged 2c per MB. If we travel to other countries, we pay on top of this $10. The rate is 10c per MB for countries in group B and 20c per MB for countries in group C. We only pay what we use.
Countries in group B: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Italy, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Vatican City.
Countries in group C: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey.
* This list of countries and the rate is correct at the date of this article and might change in the future.
The process of activation is reasonably easy. They charge the first payment upfront ($5 or $10, depends on the plan we choose) then will use our credit card data for future payments. There is some APN settings we need to do in our device. In Australia, this SIM will be connected to OPTUS network and we have to use CONNECT as the APN. In all other countries, we need to change the APN into mbb.voiamo.net
It’s worth to notice that to use this SIM card in smartphones, there are additional steps we need to follow (available in their website). Since I use it in iPad mini, simple change on the APN is sufficient.
Even though GlobalGig provides good data roaming rate in many countries, it only allows us to connect to 3G network. No 4G for us. For me, this is not a problem as 3G is generally good enough for Google Maps and some instant messaging services. These are my main usage of Internet while traveling overseas.
Another catch is their website. It’s good and informative to introduce people to their product, but it provides almost nothing for current customers. We can’t check our data usage through their website. And since we can’t send SMS from the device, our only option to check our usage is sending them an email or calling their call center. Their call center sucks. I waited more than 1 hour in the queue and still didn’t get connected. But their customer service through email (and social media) is good. I got timely response, and I’m very happy with that.
According to them, we will receive an email once our usage exceeds $50 and $100. I try to keep my usage even under $50, so their automated email won’t help me at all.
So far, I get good 3G connection in Australia. Will test this overseas soon and write about my experience later.
Disclaimer: I’m not affiliated in any way with GlobalGig. I’m just a normal customer feeling satisfied with their service so far.
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