The travelling freelancer is becoming more and more common these days. Whether it be visiting clients, attending conferences, or just taking a holiday, freelancers and contractors are doing more travel than ever before. One ongoing problem is the issue of keeping data connections going while abroad. Roaming data charges are expensive to the point of lunacy, as are most airport and hotel wifi connections.
These days most of us enjoy fairly unlimited data connections on our smartphones, so what is the best way to maintain connectivity when you’re abroad without re-mortgaging your house? The surprisingly simple answer is to get a local SIM card and search out the carrier with the best data rates.
Something that may surprise you is that none of the major UK mobile networks offer packages to reduce the cost of data usage abroad. Nothing whatsoever. So in order to avoid extortionate services like the fairly-scammy Boingo Wireless (who charge up to $4.95 per hour for connectivity, and will re-bill you without warning should you change device or location), you should research your options beforehand, and even consider having a SIM card shipped to your hotel to await your arrival.
T-Mobile US offer $1.49 “day passes” for unlimited data on their Pay As You Go SIM cards. So for the price of one hour on the scam-tastic Boingo Airport wifi, you can get over 3 full days of 3G data. Handily, T-Mobile is the one US network that operates on standard GSM frequencies, so your UK phone will work with their SIM card just fine.
Similarly, if you are travelling to, for instance, Taiwan, get a Pay As You Go SIM from Taiwan Mobile and your data rates will be a remarkably cheap £0.09/MB.
Any other deals to be had at popular destinations? Share your money-saving tips below!
