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Friday, May 16, 2014

What does my roaming data cost me?

What does my roaming data cost me?

Let’s take a look at the amount of data it takes to perform some common tasks on your smartphone/tablet when roaming in the USA based on charges from your Cellular Carrier (Canadian). Unfortunately, data is not free and its understandable that cellular carriers need to make a profit and it is actually cheaper than back in 1999 when data was $750/MB   yes per 1MB of transit.

Sending an all-text email: 1 to 10 kilobytes. 50 cents however, when you sync and download 10MB of emails and attachments it just cost you $50

Sending an email with high-resolution photo attachment: 2 to 5 megabytes. $10-$25

A single web page visit: 1 megabytes $5

Uploading photo to a social media site: 1 to 5 megabytes, depending on resolution. $5-$25

Uploading a 3-minute video to a social media site: 5 to 15 megabytes. $25-$75

Making a 10-minute video call: 24 megabytes. $120

Watching a 30-minute standard-definition video: 30 to 90 megabytes. $150 - $450

Sending a SMS message: 75 cents

Usage is based on a $5/MB data rate

How can I save money?

  • Enjoy your trip without the data plans
  • Enjoy a coffee and free Internet at coffee shops and restaurants
  • Buy Travel packs and plans to lower your costs
  • Unlock your phone and buy a local SIM card with a local plan
  • Use a burner telephone from Radio Shack and prepay by the minute and MB
  • Use a national hotspot service like Boingo for a reasonable monthly fee $8
I just got off the telephone with my provider and their rates have dropped again and that will entail some analysis however, not sure how that plays out in Tokyo

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