Sprint "Open World" plan (replaces International Value Roaming)

[RAvirani]

Sprint just announced a major expansion of their international roaming programs, adding 36 cities. The list is really all over the place and quite impressive. The only significant hole that I can tell is the GCC at this point.

 

http://m.androidcentral.com/sprint-adds-36-more-countries-its-international-roaming-add-ons?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Yea this puts them at 110 countries. Almost to tmos 140...

[Rawvega]

Very impressive update. At this point, the only glaring omissions in Sprint's international lineup are China and India. I'm sure those will come sooner rather than later.

[RAvirani]

Very impressive update. At this point, the only glaring omissions in Sprint's international lineup are China and India. I'm sure those will come sooner rather than later.

Can't wait for India!!!

[jeffcarp]

Very impressive update. At this point, the only glaring omissions in Sprint's international lineup are China and India. I'm sure those will come sooner rather than later.

The entire Middle East is missing as well. Dubai, UAE etc are still an advantage in T-mobile's program.

[ingenium]

The entire Middle East is missing as well. Dubai, UAE etc are still an advantage in T-mobile's program.

Yeah I have a long layover in Dubai in a few months. Would be nice to be able to use my phone while there.

 

I'm guessing that the roaming partners are Softbank's preferred partners? For example, I looked up South Africa, and it looks like Softbank will roam on all their carriers but they charge different rates. Vodacom is the cheapest rate, and seems to be the only one that has what I'm guessing are data packages for purchase ("packet flat rate"). http://mb.softbank.jp/en/global_services/global_roaming/area_id.html?country=6&id=20131004000000440 So I assume this is who Sprint would roam on there?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P

[jeffcarp]

Yeah I have a long layover in Dubai in a few months. Would be nice to be able to use my phone while there.

 

I'm guessing that the roaming partners are Softbank's preferred partners? For example, I looked up South Africa, and it looks like Softbank will roam on all their carriers but they charge different rates. Vodacom is the cheapest rate, and seems to be the only one that has what I'm guessing are data packages for purchase ("packet flat rate"). http://mb.softbank.jp/en/global_services/global_roaming/area_id.html?country=6&id=20131004000000440 So I assume this is who Sprint would roam on there?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P

I believe there is free public Wi-Fi in the Dubai Airport. I have not been there since 2012 but I remember making a Facebook post to notify my family that I arrived.

[Rawvega]

If you go to sprint.com/international Sprint has recently added international coverage maps. You can see areas of no coverage, areas where you'll be covered by Open World & Global Roaming coverage (light green and dark green) and areas where you'll be charged ($$$$) for casual roaming (light and dark purple). This is a very welcome addition!

[jeffcarp]

If you go to sprint.com/international Sprint has recently added international coverage maps. You can see areas of no coverage, areas where you'll be covered by Open World & Global Roaming coverage (light green and dark green) and areas where you'll be charged ($$$$) for casual roaming (light and dark purple). This is a very welcome addition!

I'm suspect of that new map because I just looked up Nassau Bahamas and it shows only purple coverage there which implies high cost paid roaming. However, the Bahamas is a partner country in Sprint's roaming programs.

[Rawvega]

I'm suspect of that new map because I just looked up Nassau Bahamas and it shows only purple coverage there which implies high cost paid roaming. However, the Bahamas is a partner country in Sprint's roaming programs.

 

You are correct. My guess is a bug or an oversight since this is so new.

[ingenium]

If you go to sprint.com/international Sprint has recently added international coverage maps. You can see areas of no coverage, areas where you'll be covered by Open World & Global Roaming coverage (light green and dark green) and areas where you'll be charged ($$$$) for casual roaming (light and dark purple). This is a very welcome addition!

It looks like it also shows which carrier you'll roam on.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P

[Paynefanbro]

I just came back from a 12 day service trip in Jamaica run through Boston College. Before I left for Jamaica, I made sure that I had Global Roaming on my Sprint account which I did. I also switched my phone from "LTE, EVDO, 1x" mode to "Global" mode in settings and turned on the data roaming option. Upon landing in Jamaica my phone had trouble connecting and showed no bars. It kept saying there was a problem registering on the network. A quick power cycle later and my phone latched on. Additionally, you are able to choose which network you want to be on in settings.

 

The 2 choices in Jamaica are Digicel and Flow (formerly known as LIME). At first my phone defaulted to Digicel but later connected to Flow and stayed there for the duration of my trip. Service was fine for doing nearly anything except media intensive tasks like viewing photos on Instagram or watching videos. I found myself using Tapatalk, Reddit, and Chrome effortlessly. To get around the calling rate of $.20/min, I used WhatsApp calling which was clear as day.

 

Takeaways in terms of network performance: It was throttled what seemed to be only on the download portion. Download speeds never crossed 50kbps but uploads could easily be in the 500kbps to 1Mbps range. Jamaica also had insane site density with some sites being 2 blocks apart in Kingston. Also, because they don't have many big towers, antennae on a site can be on different levels and sometimes, sites get extremely overcrowded with multiple antennae of varying sizes being littered all over a single mast. Most sites have their RRU's mounted extremely close to the ground to provide more space for the antennae at the top.

[pokefan02]

I was recently in Cozumel with Open World and had problems making phone calls but not using data. My phone kept saying that I don't have a Wi-Fi calling account. After I got back to Texas, I tried making a call and had the same problem. I found that my phone somehow had Wi-Fi calling on all data sessions instead of for internet calling only.

 

Sent from my 831C using Tapatalk

[Rawvega]

http://newsroom.sprint.com/blogs/devices-apps-and-services/sprint-open-world-and-sprint-global-roaming-continue-to-expand-1.htm

 

More Global Roaming/Open World countries:

 

 

Whether you are traveling to Central America, Europe, Asia or other parts of the world, Sprint makes it easy and affordable for customers to stay connected. With the addition of eight countries to Sprint Open World and Sprint Global Roaming, we now cover more than 120 destinations worldwide.
 
The new destinations:

• Bahrain
• Czech Republic
• Ecuador
• India
• Jordan
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Venezuela                    

 

[Deval]

http://newsroom.sprint.com/blogs/devices-apps-and-services/sprint-open-world-and-sprint-global-roaming-continue-to-expand-1.htm

 

More Global Roaming/Open World countries:

 

INDIA! That is freaking awesome!!

[RAvirani]

INDIA! That is freaking awesome!!

OH MY GOD FINALLY

[Deval]

OH MY GOD FINALLY

 

If I ever go back to India, I'll gladly pay $30 for an extra GB of HSPA+. 

[shaferz]

Did they yank the International Coverage Maps?  I cant find them anywhere now.  

[Rawvega]

Did they yank the International Coverage Maps?  I cant find them anywhere now.  

 

  Just checked, they're still there.

[shaferz]

Can you link to them? I dug all over and could not find the maps.

[Grabber5.0]

Just go to http://sprint.com/sww and select travel internationally, then enter a destination and pick a device.

 

Or if this works, http://support.sprint.com/support/international/roaming/Paris%2C%20France/dvc9670001prd

You can pick a new destination from there.

Edited February 19, 2016 by Grabber5.0

[jamesinclair]

Anyone here withe experience using Global Roaming in Thailand?

[sleet]

I just was on a trip and had the global roaming enabled before I left.

London, UK and Helsinki, Finland worked great. Estonia was supposed to work but no luck there. A bit upsetting but not much I could (or knew I could do) in Estonia.

[twospirits]

hmmm I find it odd that with each and every country I selected (that I plan on visiting in the next 24 months) both the new Galaxy S7 Edge and S7 shows up in the selection but for the Gran Canary Islands, only the S7 does. 

 

TS

[jeffcarp]

Global roaming is working great in the Bahamas (Nassau and Paradise Island) on two LG G4's, a Samsung S6 and an iPhone 6s. We all got the 3 welcome texts before we even got our bags at the airport and it's been very solid service since. Of interest is that Paradise Island is not listed as having service despite Nassau having it. That seemed highly unlikely and it turns out it was.

[gman1000]

It's working great south of Cancun as well. It turns out to be very helpful to have when luggage is lost for three days. It's very nice combined with wifi calling.