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

[S4GRU]

Sorry, thought you post was about Sprint roaming in general.

 

Sent from my M8

Sorry for the confusion. My posts were in response to jamesinclair regarding international roaming on a Sharp Aquos Crystal.

 

 

Posted using iPhone 5s on Tapatalk

[mmark27]

This is a fantastic plan that takes care of the most likely travel destinations firstly (Mexico and Canada). It's super frustrating to be in Toronto and be able to see the US and not be able to use your phone!  

 

Plus you can still use that data in Europe and such too.  I'd much rather have the LTE and pay that $30 after 1GB used.  Have you tried to get SIMs or MiFi devices in Europe?  It's an expensive disaster with confusing contracts, shipping, drop-offs, etc.  Most places have free WiFi now when I travel abroad (even trains), but the places in between would be nice to not have to wait for 2G to load a map or a google search. 

 

Signed up online easily with the add-on.  Well done, Sprint! 

[S4GRU]

This is a fantastic plan that takes care of the most likely travel destinations firstly (Mexico and Canada). It's super frustrating to be in Toronto and be able to see the US and not be able to use your phone!

 

Plus you can still use that data in Europe and such too. I'd much rather have the LTE and pay that $30 after 1GB used. Have you tried to get SIMs or MiFi devices in Europe? It's an expensive disaster with confusing contracts, shipping, drop-offs, etc. Most places have free WiFi now when I travel abroad (even trains), but the places in between would be nice to not have to wait for 2G to load a map or a google search.

 

Signed up online easily with the add-on. Well done, Sprint!

Agreed. By the time I go through the trouble of shopping for carriers that provide coverage, do the cost benefit analysis of which one to use and then buy a SIM card, load it up and pay $50-$100 and then end up buying too much data that I don't use completely...well, on Sprint I can just use 2 or 3GB for the same price and not have to go through all that. And pay only for what I use.

 

I helped a friend arrange a 3 nation tour a few months ago and he had to get three separate SIM cards. One he paid more than $30/GB. It took me an entire day to figure out everything he needed and pre-order them. In one country, he could not preorder and had to buy after arrival.

 

Sprint's solution with a reasonable roaming data fee and just be able to use your own device and not change SIMs is very convenient and useful.

 

Using Nexus 6 on Tapatalk

[joshuam]

Agreed. By the time I go through the trouble of shopping for carriers that provide coverage, do the cost benefit analysis of which one to use and then buy a SIM card, load it up and pay $50-$100 and then end up buying too much data that I don't use completely...well, on Sprint I can just use 2 or 3GB for the same price and not have to go through all that. And pay only for what I use.

 

I helped a friend arrange a 3 nation tour a few months ago and he had to get three separate SIM cards. One he paid more than $30/GB. It took me an entire day to figure out everything he needed and pre-order them. In one country, he could not preorder and had to buy after arrival.

 

Sprint's solution with a reasonable roaming data fee and just be able to use your own device and not change SIMs is very convenient and useful.

 

Using Nexus 6 on Tapatalk

Agreed! I travel overseas for work frequently, sim swapping is a pain. Those things are tiny, a pain to deal with, and often inconvenient to find. These roaming agreements are MUCH more preferred by me. Sometimes it takes a while just to figure out where to buy sims locally...especially if you don't speak the local language. I have a time or two where it was impossible to find one. Thankfully for imessage and facetime calling over WiFi, I made do.

[Paynefanbro]

I'm sorry but I can't get as excited about these roaming plans as I want to be because of the lack of Caribbean networks included. Personally, I've only been to Mexico once and I've never been to Canada, buy I've been to the Caribbean dozens of times and each time I have to be careful to not incur roaming charges.

[sbolen]

I'm headed to Santiago, Chile for a MBA residency sometime in 2016... It'll be great not needing to buy a burner phone or SIM card and being able to Skype/FaceTime with my family back home.

[WiWavelength]

I'm sorry but I can't get as excited about these roaming plans as I want to be because of the lack of Caribbean networks included. Personally, I've only been to Mexico once and I've never been to Canada, buy I've been to the Caribbean dozens of times and each time I have to be careful to not incur roaming charges.

 

I cannot get excited either.  Where is Yemen?!  I have traveled to training camps there numerous times.

 

Back to being serious, some people will always be displeased with these roaming plans because they do not include certain countries.  My reaction -- who cares?  Unless you are a global jet setter, you use your wireless service 99.999 percent of the time in the US, probably very close to home.  That is my pressing concern.  International travel is way, way down the list.

 

AJ

[DanielB]

I cannot get excited either.  Where is Yemen?!  I have traveled to training camps there numerous times.

 

Back to being serious, some people will always be displeased with these roaming plans because they do not include certain countries.  My reaction -- who cares?  Unless you are a global jet setter, you use your wireless service 99.999 percent of the time in the US, probably very close to home.  That is my pressing concern.  International travel is way, way down the list.

 

AJ

 

I was a global jet setter until we had kids. Now I like to play pretend. lol

[mmark27]

I'm sorry but I can't get as excited about these roaming plans as I want to be because of the lack of Caribbean networks included. Personally, I've only been to Mexico once and I've never been to Canada, buy I've been to the Caribbean dozens of times and each time I have to be careful to not incur roaming charges.

 

You'd have to assume that this will get expanded as new agreements are negotiated.  I think that Marcelo knows people like to travel to the Caribbean as well as other countries not listed.  I tend to travel 3+ times a year to the Netherlands, which isn't listed for the data portion, but I'm sure it'll get added at some point.  I'm impressed at the countries already on the list, but I'm sure that will grow as long as this plan seems sustainable for Sprint.

[S4GRU]

 

 

I tend to travel 3+ times a year to the Netherlands

You don't have to go to the Netherlands anymore. Now you can just take a quick flight to Colorado or Washington State.

 

Using Nexus 6 on Tapatalk

[mmark27]

You don't have to go to the Netherlands anymore. Now you can just take a quick flight to Colorado or Washington State.

 

Using Nexus 6 on Tapatalk

 

After I wrote that, I knew this would be a comment at some point. 

[Rawvega]

I'm sorry but I can't get as excited about these roaming plans as I want to be because of the lack of Caribbean networks included. Personally, I've only been to Mexico once and I've never been to Canada, buy I've been to the Caribbean dozens of times and each time I have to be careful to not incur roaming charges.

 

Yes, Marcelo's current focus is on Spanish speakers which isn't too surprising since he's indicated as much in the past. Currently the only Open World covered country in the Caribbean is the DR which, of course, is Spanish speaking. 

 

I didn't see it mentioned in the thread but Sprint indicated which countries should be added to Open World (and presumably Sprint Global Roaming) Soon™: http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/our-world-just-got-bigger-and-more-affordable.htm?previousArticle=0&nextArticle=11969&gotoArt=%2Fnews-releases%2Four-world-just-got-bigger-and-more-affordable.htm

 

Bolivia (no shock there), Ecquador, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

 

When those countries are added Sprint will cover all of the continental countries of North America, Central America and South America except for Belize, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname. Naturally, none of those countries are officially Spanish speaking nations. To be fair, neither is Brazil, but I imagine Brazil is too large to be ignored. 

 

To be clear, I have no problem with the strategy. I just hope that once the Spanish speaking nations are all covered that agreements can be worked out for the Caribbean nations and beyond at an equally brisk pace.

 

As an aside, the travel tip on the map in the link above for the Palestinian Territories is quite helpful... 

[WiWavelength]

As an aside, the travel tip on the map in the link above for the Palestinian Territories is quite helpful... 

 

What is the travel tip?

 

"Do not go!  Are you crazy or an insurgent?"

 

 

AJ

[Arysyn]

 

You don't have to go to the Netherlands anymore. Now you can just take a quick flight to Colorado or Washington State.

 

Using Nexus 6 on Tapatalk

Excellent!!! ????

[TheCUJuan]

So out of curiosity, the promotions call it "3g data". Does this not include LTE?

[lilotimz]

So out of curiosity, the promotions call it "3g data". Does this not include LTE?

 

Most international nations run on different bands that US / NA does not support and thus subsequently devices destined for US are not designed or tested for like LTE bands 3/8/18/19/28/33/34/39/40 etc. In those areas Sprint will access the much more common WCDMA Band 2/4/5 networks which most devices worldwide support. 

[Ascertion]

Most international nations run on different bands that US / NA does not support and thus subsequently devices destined for US are not designed or tested for like LTE bands 3/8/18/19/28/33/34/39/40 etc. In those areas Sprint will access the much more common WCDMA Band 2/4/5 networks which most devices worldwide support.

I didn't know Sprint devices supported WCDMA B4. Do they?

 

Sent from my M8

[lilotimz]

I didn't know Sprint devices supported WCDMA B4. Do they?

 

Sent from my M8

 

Varies depending on device. 

[WiWavelength]

So out of curiosity, the promotions call it "3g data". Does this not include LTE?

Most international nations run on different bands that US / NA does not support and thus subsequently devices destined for US are not designed or tested for like LTE bands 3/8/18/19/28/33/34/39/40 etc. In those areas Sprint will access the much more common WCDMA Band 2/4/5 networks which most devices worldwide support. 

 

Outside of North America, the most common W-CDMA is band 1 (i.e. W-CDMA 1900+2100).

 

AJ

[Rawvega]

Outside of iPhones and Nexus phones, I would've thought that any quad band W-CDMA phones for Sprint would support Band 8 as opposed to Band 4. Who knows though...

[ingenium]

Most international nations run on different bands that US / NA does not support and thus subsequently devices destined for US are not designed or tested for like LTE bands 3/8/18/19/28/33/34/39/40 etc. In those areas Sprint will access the much more common WCDMA Band 2/4/5 networks which most devices worldwide support.

Do you think devices which support international LTE bands, like the Nexus 6 and I assume the iPhone 6, will be able to use them while roaming instead of WCDMA?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6

[lilotimz]

Do you think devices which support international LTE bands, like the Nexus 6 and I assume the iPhone 6, will be able to use them while roaming instead of WCDMA?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6

 

Depends on the band support of said devices and if the said international networks use a band said devices support. iPhones generally support almost everything. Android devices are more tricky since they are more focussed on specific regions due to carrier specifications. 

[jamesinclair]

 

except for Belize, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname.

 

 

These countires also have very strong ties with Europe. Knowing absolutly nothing about their telecom area,  I woldnt be surprised if their ownership and technology is europe-focussed rather than usa-focussed like the rest of the americas (aside from Brazil that leans Japan)

[S4GRU]

except for Belize, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname.

 

 

These countires also have very strong ties with Europe. Knowing absolutly nothing about their telecom area, I woldnt be surprised if their ownership and technology is europe-focussed rather than usa-focussed like the rest of the americas (aside from Brazil that leans Japan)

If this doesn't cover my next trip to Jonestown, I'll simply just die.

 

Travel Tip:  Decline if you are offered grape Kool Aid.

 

Using Tapatalk on Nexus 6

[soloakewlstick]

Just wanted to report that Open World worked perfectly in Buenos Aires. I was on 3G on Movistar. No speed test, unfortunately.