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

[Rawvega]

Understood - but are they freely allowed to travel between USA and Cuba?

 

 

I suppose it ultimately depends on one's definition of "freely", but yes, it's quite possible.

 

http://www.cubaati.com/qualifications_family.html

 

http://havana.usembassy.gov/travelling_cuba.html

 

For Cuban-American dual citizens, the Cuban government requires that the traveler enter and depart Cuba on his/her Cuban passport, even though the traveler will use his/her U.S. passport to depart and re-enter the United States.  The Cuban government requires that the traveler obtain a visa prior to arrival.

 

And of course:

 

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/09/18/US-to-lift-travel-business-restrictions-against-Cuba-for-first-time-in-decades/5511442604750/

[Rawvega]

And I just noticed this:

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/18/cuba-usa-sprint-idUSL1N11O1KC20150918

 

Sprint Corp said it plans to expand roaming to Cuba but did not offer a set time frame or any additional details.

 

A company spokeswoman told Reuters the phone carrier would be expanding to Cuba "soon" after the U.S. government eased restrictions on Friday for American companies seeking to do business in Cuba.

 

I guess I was on the same page as someone in Overland Park.

[jreuschl]

Wow those rates!

 

$2.99 per minute and $2.05 per mb!

 

This might be the one time when I'd actually like to hear what John Legere has to say about the competition. It would be great for both he and Marcelo to provide a much better deal in Cuba than Verizon.

I remember back in analog phone days when US roaming rates were that high!

 

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

[Arysyn]

I remember back in analog phone days when US roaming rates were that high!

 

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I was thinking about that earlier today too, particularly reading those in-store brochures that listed options between analog and digital service, local or national service, and the different areas of roaming, which rates sometimes would vary depending on the selected plan.

 

Sometimes I think about whether the option to bring back local plans with roaming rates would be a good idea or not, though only as an option, not something made standard on all plans.

 

It could be offered for people who don't travel at all and never cost the carriers the high rates they pay to other carriers. In exchange, they can get more data, or data that is less costly than on plans which include roaming.

[bigmachine]

Open World works as advertised in Toronto.  It's nice not having to worry about crazy charges or finding a local sim for a short trip.

[jamesinclair]

I remember back in analog phone days when US roaming rates were that high!

 

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

 

You dont even have to go back that far. Just last year, Sprint offered a worst in the industry rate of $2.29 a minute for roaming in Mexico.

 

Its great to see them go from $2.29 to 20 cents to zero!

 

The old CEO had no interest in global travel, which as the Japanese overlords might say, is very midwestern thinking.

[ericdabbs]

I am hoping Sprint adds more Asian countries in the next Global Roaming update.

[Rawvega]

Portugal and Uruguay added to Open World and Global Roaming:

 

http://newsroom.sprint.com/blogs/sprint-perspectives/sprint-open-world-now-includes-portugal-and-uruguay.htm

[Rawvega]

I guess this explains what Marcelo was doing in Cuba:

 

http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-first-us-carrier-to-sign-direct-cuba-roaming-agreement.htm

 

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), November 02, 2015 - Sprint (NYSE: S) today became the first U.S. wireless carrier to sign a direct roaming agreement with Telecommunications Company of Cuba (ETECSA).

 

“As the commercial relationship between the U.S. and Cuba continues to progress, it is expected that the number of travelers to Cuba will increase exponentially,” said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure. “We want to make sure any Sprint customer traveling to Cuba can use their phone the same way as they do in the United States.”

 

Claure made the announcement at a signing ceremony in Havana as part of the U.S.-Cuba Business Council (USCBC) delegation to Cuba.

 

As the only U.S. carrier with a direct roaming agreement and a direct long-distance interconnection agreement with Cuban provider ETECSA, Sprint is leading the way for U.S.-Cuba telecommunications.

 

More than 3 million people from around the world are expected to visit Cuba this year. Within 10 years, that number is projected to grow to more than 5 million.

 

The USCBC, an advocacy organization housed at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is a formal commitment by the American business community to build a strong and strategic commercial relationship between Cuba and the United States.

 

Earlier this year, Sprint launched Sprint Global Roaming and in August launched Sprint Open World, an industry-leading plan for connectivity in Canada, Mexico and most other countries across Latin America. The agreement signed today with ETECSA makes it much more convenient for Sprint customers who plan to work, study or visit family in Cuba. Offer details and timing of availability will be announced soon.

 

[TheCUJuan]

So I just got back from Brazil and once again had issues with incoming calls going straight to voicemail. Data, texts and outgoing calls worked well, but had to tweet to marcelo and sprint to get the sprint care people to look into it instead of having me "call the international desk". I had told them I didn't have time to sit there for an hour trouble shooting the issue and that they should just send the info to the desk. 

The international desk called me after looking into it and said there had been some issues with the settings on their part. You'd think by now it would all be working well. 

Does anyone know in what countries you actually get LTE as the option for the open world data?

[jreuschl]

So I just got back from Brazil and once again had issues with incoming calls going straight to voicemail. Data, texts and outgoing calls worked well, but had to tweet to marcelo and sprint to get the sprint care people to look into it instead of having me "call the international desk". I had told them I didn't have time to sit there for an hour trouble shooting the issue and that they should just send the info to the desk.

The international desk called me after looking into it and said there had been some issues with the settings on their part. You'd think by now it would all be working well.

Does anyone know in what countries you actually get LTE as the option for the open world data?

A few Samsung phones received an update today and one of the enhancements was global roaming. Probably not for that issue but just an FYI.

 

 

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[RCM]

It took a week for my phone to finally register on Movistar network in Mexico. After a few days I started a chat session with international help. I was told the first to verify my roaming settings (which I did to Sprint Int'l specifications when I landed). I told them I already did, nothing worked. Then she asked if I had wifi access and to update the profile. I tried to update the profile but authentication failed. She gave me the roaming setting instructions which I told her I've already done that multiple times to no avail. She asked if I had a good wifi signal which I barked back wifi has nothing at all to do with the phone not authenticating with the cellular network. Believe it or not, her reply was to recheck my roaming settings AGAIN. I said eff this and ended the session.

 

A couple more days later, I set my phone back to Global mode from UTMS/GSM and it registered with the network - which is exactly how Sprint told me *not* to do it.

 

The first time I was in Mexico I was charged for all of my calls under Open World. I did receive a credit but 2 out of 2 times traveling with Open World I have encountered problems. I'm not terribly impressed and will be looking for roaming charges on the next bill. I took some heat in the pre-trip meeting because I said I had a Sprint plan with free international coverage and didn't need a company phone. The other guys with their Verizon phones with no problem using it made me a look a little dumber (and I don't need any more help with that )

[TheCUJuan]

It took a week for my phone to finally register on Movistar network in Mexico. After a few days I started a chat session with international help. I was told the first to verify my roaming settings (which I did to Sprint Int'l specifications when I landed). I told them I already did, nothing worked. Then she asked if I had wifi access and to update the profile. I tried to update the profile but authentication failed. She gave me the roaming setting instructions which I told her I've already done that multiple times to no avail. She asked if I had a good wifi signal which I barked back wifi has nothing at all to do with the phone not authenticating with the cellular network. Believe it or not, her reply was to recheck my roaming settings AGAIN. I said eff this and ended the session.

 

A couple more days later, I set my phone back to Global mode from UTMS/GSM and it registered with the network - which is exactly how Sprint told me *not* to do it.

 

The first time I was in Mexico I was charged for all of my calls under Open World. I did receive a credit but 2 out of 2 times traveling with Open World I have encountered problems. I'm not terribly impressed and will be looking for roaming charges on the next bill. I took some heat in the pre-trip meeting because I said I had a Sprint plan with free international coverage and didn't need a company phone. The other guys with their Verizon phones with no problem using it made me a look a little dumber (and I don't need any more help with that )

I think they need to get some issues ironed out soon. I have only used the program in Brazil so far, but not too impressed with having to contact sprint twice regarding incoming calls not working realiable. They really need to get this fixed...

[RCM]

I looked at my usage so far.

 

. 1xxx gb international roaming data used out of 1 gb allowed

(x) international roaming text messages used out of unlimited

256 minutes of international roaming calls out of 0 allowed

 

*sigh*

[TheCUJuan]

It always says that. You won't be charged anything.

[snowmobiler487]

Sprint roaming in Mexico is working well right now for me on Movistar.

[jamesinclair]

Went to Mexico last week. Connected to Movistar as soon as I exited airplane mode. I switched to GSM only and that was perfect as well, no extra battery drain.

 

In Chiapas, I connected to a Guatemala cell tower which was extremely fast. Also completely seamless.

 

The full speed experience was fantastic. Was able to use my cell normally as I would in the US. Google Maps, Yelp etc all worked perfectly. Much better than the unlimited 2G, although I did have to keep my eye on the data usage.

 

Oh, one interesting bit...when I switched to GSM, my android data usage thing reset to zero, so I had a perfect track of my GSM data usage. Fantastic!

 

 

Edit: Oh, one thing I found odd. All my text messages sent normally, but to make any phone calls from my contacts I had to go in and add the +1 to them so the call would go through. That is, when texting a US number, I did not have to edit the number at all, but to make a call, I had to manually add the +1.

 

Why is that?

[jamesinclair]

On another note, I just checked my bill and the Sharp Aquos was charged for a few texts and calls in Mexico. That makes no sense. That phone only works in Mexico on wi-fi calling because it doesnt have GSM - which is why it cant get Open World. Im going to have to call and clear up those charges ($3.50).

[greenbastard]

Went to Mexico last week. Connected to Movistar as soon as I exited airplane mode. I switched to GSM only and that was perfect as well, no extra battery drain.

 

In Chiapas, I connected to a Guatemala cell tower which was extremely fast. Also completely seamless.

 

The full speed experience was fantastic. Was able to use my cell normally as I would in the US. Google Maps, Yelp etc all worked perfectly. Much better than the unlimited 2G, although I did have to keep my eye on the data usage.

 

Oh, one interesting bit...when I switched to GSM, my android data usage thing reset to zero, so I had a perfect track of my GSM data usage. Fantastic!

 

 

Edit: Oh, one thing I found odd. All my text messages sent normally, but to make any phone calls from my contacts I had to go in and add the +1 to them so the call would go through. That is, when texting a US number, I did not have to edit the number at all, but to make a call, I had to manually add the +1.

 

Why is that?

Open World or Sprint Global Roaming?

[Rawvega]

On another note, I just checked my bill and the Sharp Aquos was charged for a few texts and calls in Mexico. That makes no sense. That phone only works in Mexico on wi-fi calling because it doesnt have GSM - which is why it cant get Open World. Im going to have to call and clear up those charges ($3.50).

 

Probably still some Iusacell CDMA broadcasting that it connected to.

[jamesinclair]

Open World or Sprint Global Roaming?

 

Open World

[nexuss4g]

Saw this on Reddit

 

 

Effective 12/21/15, all customers who have LTE GSM-capable devices will have Sprint Global Roaming enabled. Customers currently on another international roaming option will remain on what they have selected and will not have this available by default.

 

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sprint/comments/3vyive/sprint_global_roaming_update/

[nexuss4g]

And also my experience a few days ago.

 

Anyone experienced issues on the MXPE while using Open World?

 

This is the first time using my phone over in Mexico with Open World, previously had Global Roaming on my Moto X 1st Generation and had no issues. This weekend had to visit Mexico for a few hours and my phone took a while to connect to Movistar after turning off the phone a few times. Voice and text was working well but data was not registering as I had the exclamation mark show up. Support advised to go into settings and select the carrier "Movistar" manually in order to register data. After 2 tries, data started working fine. 

 

Under Cellular Networks> System Select you have to select Automatic and under preferred Network Type select Global and turn on data roaming.

 

I believe the MXPE is compatible with Movistars LTE but was connected to HSPA all the time.

 

[Paynefanbro]

Saw this on Reddit

 

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sprint/comments/3vyive/sprint_global_roaming_update/

 

It's great to see that it will finally be coupled with your plan like how T-Mobile's is.

[Rawvega]

http://newsroom.sprint.com/blogs/sprint-perspectives/sprint-open-world-continues-to-expand.htm

 

Peru, Guam, Northern Marianas & Saipan added to Open World and Global Roaming.