International data overseas: How the U.S. carriers stack up

Oh, you'll have to pay extra for roaming data outside the U.S. the question is how much

We're headed over to Germany next week for IFA and we're also doing a bit of talking about carriers and how they work this week as part of Talk Mobile 2013, so it seemed like a fine time to take a look at how the major U.S. carriers stack up when it comes to data overseas.

It helps to remember how all this stuff works. Back in the early days of cell phones, you'd be (more or less) confined to a restricted region. Stray outside that region, and suddenly you're "roaming." What that really means, in a nutshell, is that your carrier then has to pay another carrier for your phone to work. And that costs money.

Fast forward a few years, and those roaming charges disappear. "Free roaming." Now, we just use our phones wherever the hell we want to in the United States. And that's the way it should be. But head outside the U.S. of A., and suddenly you're roaming again. And that means it's time to pay the piper. You might get slightly lower rates in Canada or Mexico (thanks, neighbors!), or you might not.

International data isn't cheap. Your best bet is to find a local prepaid SIM card. But that's not always easy and there's really something luxurious about stepping off a plane, firing up your phone ... and it just works.

And so we've gathered up the international data rates for the four major U.S. carriers Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. These are all with various international "plans" that you'll add to your account (with one pay-as-you-go exception for Verizon), and so if you're not consistently heading outside the U.S. on a monthly basis, you'll need to be sure to turn off the service once you're home.

Here's how it stacks up:

AT&T

• $30 for 120 megabytes
• $60 for 300 megabytes, plus 1 gigabyte of AT&T International Wifi
• $120 for 800 megabytes, plus 1 gigabyte of AT&T international Wifi
• No overages, you just get charged for another cycle's worth of data.

Sprint

Canada/Mexico

• $30 for 55 megabytes
• $75 for 175 megabytes
• $125 for 325 megabytes
• $4 per megabyte if you go over

Multiple-country pack

• $40 for 40 megabytes
• $80 for 85 megabytes
• $10 per megabyte if you go over

T-Mobile

• $10 per megabyte in Canada
• $15 per megabyte everywhere else

Verizon Wireless

• $25 per 100 megabytes
• No overages. You just get charged another $25.
• If for some reason you want to pay as you go, it's about $2 in Canada, $5.12 in Mexico and $20 per MB in the rest of the world.

The bottom line

Again, folks, when traveling outside the United States, it's cheaper to get a local SIM card, if you can. We also recommend staying on Wifi whenever possible.

If you just have to have roaming data, though and there's nothing wrong with it so long as you're willing to pay up it's important to do the math. Sprint and T-Mobile are significantly more expensive than AT&T and Verizon. Not that you'll likely have much of a choice when it comes to switching carriers just for overseas use, but comparisons are good.

And as always, if you have any questions about using your phone overseas, check with your carrier. Here's where we compiled these pricings from:

• AT&T Wireless International Services
• Sprint International Roaming
• T-Mobile International Calling Rates
• Verizon Global Services

Via: International data overseas: How the U.S. carriers stack up