Roaming contracts...Are EE any good?

[Blinkz]

Hey folks,

Just started a new job where I will be spending a lot of time in mainly the US, but also the Caribbean, UAE and occasionally India. Looking to get a new contract which has a good deal for roaming.

EE seems to have a good package with the roaming contract including unlimited calls and texts in most of Europe as well as a few others including the US.

Are they any good? I heard that some people have been having issues with signal on EE?

EE seem to have recently changed all there plans too! I think they are still the best for roaming tho.

Any info or recommendations you guys have would be great!

 

[Myshra]

Signal strength i assume you mean with regard to issues on EE in the UK isn't a big deal but then again, it isn't a big deal really for any networks in the UK. All networks have nigh on 99% population coverage now and in metro areas any network will usually be OK. As for the countryside, best check with some free PAYG SIMs or the like - it's going to be hit or miss there.

Roaming is extremely complex from a network perspective, i never really appreciated it's design until I worked for a telco. By and large all UK networks will roam with the same quality outside the UK. In the US you'll likely roam with AT&T, UAE will be Du/Etisalat and Caribbean will Digicell/Lime. All the UK networks have roaming partner agreements with these big companies and you should expect good roaming service. Really when working abroad I would advise against using your home phone - your company will likely allow you to make the odd call on it anyway (and they might even let you use a bit of data).

Roaming in terms of issues is fairly clear - the only minor (and it is minor) problem is networks don't really like each other so if you're on EE and are roaming on Du in Dubai for example, faults take up to a day to fix. This will be a universal issue, not dependant on your home network. India is a HUGE pain in the ass - it's broken down in 11 different sub-regions and they act like their own little Telcos, if you're going to have issues it will be here (I'd stick on Airtel or Voda here)

You should be aware that if you have your phone stolen abroad you need to immediately (and i mean really quickly) report this. Have the international number for your telco written down. People love to steal roaming phones and call premium lines right now, big problem for the industry.

In terms of price I will likely dodge this as a I work for one of the big 5 but I would suggest you check out each telcos specific roaming plan (you might find them in the business section).

 

[Morfik]

EE seems to have a good package with the roaming contract including unlimited calls and texts in most of Europe as well as a few others including the US.

The big issue is Data isn't included, which for me is the main thing I need abroad for Maps, Emails etc.