Data Usage Abroad: Massive Discrepancies Revealed Amongst Top UK ISPs
A research carried out recently by a renowned broadband comparison website disclosed massive differences of costs between the top five UK mobile broadband providers for data usage abroad. The research found out that the customers of UK mobile broadband providers on holiday outside the European Union came to be charged as much as GBP 250 this summer for downloading a minute video clip, as doing the same within the EU invited a bill of up to GBP150.
Orange UK was found to be the most expensive mobile broadband ISP, as it charged GBP 6.32 per MB outside the EU and GBP 3.94 for data usage within the EU. Remember that downloading a 3 minute music track equates with 1MB usage. The cheapest mobile broadband provider, according to the site’s research was Vodafone. The survey revealed that Vodafone charged only GBP9.99 for a day’s consumption of up to 50MB.
To many mobile broadband savvy, the news that Vodafone was the cheapest in this standard, came as a surprise, especially in the wake of the reports that a British man on a skiing holiday was billed around GBP 22,000 for downloading TV programmes using a mobile broadband card of Vodafone. However, this bill amount was later waived by Vodafone.
The mobile broadband expert, Chuck Doherty said that more consistency was expected from the different mobile broadband providers regarding their charges for data usages abroad. He also stressed the importance of communication between the customers and the mobile broadband ISPs, particularly for the reason that mobile broadband charges related information are more often than not, hard to find on most of the ISP’s websites, leaving the users at the risk of excessive charges.
Doherty also advises the mobile broadband users who plan to travel abroad this summer to carefully go through their contract to ward off any nasty spring ups. According to him, light usage such as web browsing and checking emails was ideal during these occasions, as the travelers could gain a lot by avoiding heavy attempts like downloading music or videos.
