Roaming And International Tariffs – Comparing Uk Mobile Operators

Introduction

I’ve been trying to compare mobile roaming and international tariffs in the UK, but the more I got into it, the more confused I became. I could not find any good websites which compared international tariffs, and this information is often hidden on the websites of most UK mobile operators. No surprise there; they can charge you a lot if you are not careful.


I decided to do some data mining (again, you need to extract this information country by country from most websites) to come up with some comparable figures. In this article I wanted to summarise my findings on international and roaming call costs charged by UK mobile operators; I hope they will be as useful to others as they were for me.


Summary

My analysis of seven UK mobile operators identified Globalcell (www.globalcell.eu) as the best all round company, winning hands down on international calls and also offering the cheapest roaming package. Globalcell was up to 18 times (!) less expensive than the other operators regarding international calls, and was consistently among the top two when looking at roaming rates. As an overall package, Globalcell offers the best value for money.


Analysis

I looked seven UK mobile operators; the five major ones and two low-cost ones. The data collection took place between January and February 2009. I used the standard rates for all as published on the respective websites, and where it existed, I also looked at international savings tariffs.


Here is the list of the UK operators that I looked at:


Vodafone (www.vodafone.co.uk), O2 (www.o2.co.uk), Orange (www.orange.co.uk), T-Mobile (www.t-mobile.co.uk), 3 (www.three.co.uk), Tesco Mobile (www.tesco.co.uk), Globalcell (www.globalcell.eu)


I looked at the pay monthly options on all competitors, except Globalcell which currently offers only pay-as-you-go. This is because you can normally get better call deals with pay-monthly contracts than with pre-pay deals.


I want to put a disclaimer that in the jungle of the options that the various operators offer, there might be some better ones, but I looked hard and these were the ones that I found.


International calls

International calls are the calls you make from the UK to other countries. I analysed specific countries, because to make things more difficult, each company defines their zones differently. I compared the following countries for international calls from the UK (in alphabetical order):


Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, USA


Table 1 below shows some typical examples of how these operators compare. The figures show the pence per-minute cost of international calls from the UK by the different operators to selected countries, using their standard costs:

Table 1 – Cost of International Calls from the UK using Operator’s STANDARD Rates (pence)

--------Vodafone----O2-----Orange---T-Mobile----Three---Tesco---- GlobalCell(F)—GlobalCell(M)

AUS --------129 ----------97 ----------50 ----------70 ----------50 --------149 -----------7 ------------------14

CAN --------129 ----------97 ----------90 ----------70 ----------30 --------149 -----------8 -------------------8

CZE ----------94 ----------92 ----------45 ----------70 ----------50 ----------20 -----------4 ------------------14

FRA ----------94 ----------89 ----------45 ----------70 ----------30 ----------20 -----------7 ------------------15

GER ----------94 ----------89 ----------45 ----------70 ----------30 ----------20 -----------7 ------------------16

HKG --------165 ----------97 ----------90 --------130 ----------50 --------149 -----------7 -------------------7

ITA ----------94 ----------89 ----------45 ----------70 ----------30 ----------20 -----------7 ------------------18

POL ----------94 ----------92 ----------45 ----------70 ----------50 ----------20 -----------3 -------------------9

RUS --------165 --------147 --------100 --------130 ----------90 --------149 -------------5 -------------------7

SRB --------165 ----------92 ----------50 --------130 ----------50 --------149 -----------6 ------------------18

ESP ----------94 ----------89 ----------45 ----------70 ----------30 ----------20 -----------7 ------------------17

TWN --------165 ----------97 ----------90 --------130 ----------90 --------149 ----------8 ------------------12

THA --------165 ----------97 ----------90 --------130 ----------90 --------149 -----------7 -------------------7

TUR --------165 --------147 ----------90 --------130 ----------50 ----------40 -----------8 ------------------15

UKR --------165 ----------92 ----------50 --------130 ----------50 --------149 -----------8 ------------------10

USA --------129 ----------97 ----------30 ----------70 ----------30 --------149 -----------8 -------------------8

What jumps out of the chart is that Globalcell (last two columns) is much cheaper than any of the other operators. GlobalCell(F) indicates international calls to fixed line phones, and GlobalCell(M) indicates international calls to mobiles. Not only are they cheaper, but in most cases significantly cheaper. However, you can get a better deal with most other operators by paying a monthly fee. Here are the options that I found by browsing the websites:

Table 2 – UK Mobile Operator International SAVER Tariffs Analysed

• Vodafone (ICS): £2.50 per month


• O2 (ITS): £2.99 per month


• Orange (ITS): £2.50 per month


• T-Mobile with International Option: £2.50 per month

Table 3 compares international calls assuming you subscribe to the above international call packages. Please note that the monthly price of these packages will add to your overall international call costs which, for example, you will not need to pay with Globalcell.

Table 3 - Cost of International Calls from the UK using Operator’s SAVER Rates (pence)

---------Vodafone------O2----Orange---T-Mobile----Three-----Tesco---- GlobalCell(F)—GlobalCell(M)

AUS-----------40-----------30-----------28-----------30-----------50---------149--------------7----------------------14

CAN-----------25-----------17-----------75-----------10-----------30---------149--------------8-----------------------8

CZE-----------25-----------40-----------20-----------20-----------50-----------20--------------4----------------------14

FRA-----------25-----------17-----------20-----------20-----------30-----------20--------------7----------------------15

GER-----------25-----------17-----------20-----------20-----------30-----------20--------------7----------------------16

HKG-----------90-----------30-----------75-----------80-----------50---------149--------------7-----------------------7

ITA-----------25-----------17-----------20-----------20-----------30-----------20--------------7----------------------18

POL-----------25-----------40-----------20-----------20-----------50-----------20--------------3-----------------------9

RUS-----------90-----------89-----------80-----------80-----------90---------149-------------5-----------------------7

SRB-----------90-----------40-----------25-----------80-----------50---------149--------------6----------------------18

ESP-----------25-----------17-----------20-----------20-----------30-----------20--------------7----------------------17

TWN----------90-----------30-----------75-----------80-----------90---------149--------------8----------------------12

THA-----------90-----------30-----------75-----------80-----------90---------149--------------7-----------------------7

TUR-----------90-----------89-----------75-----------80-----------50-----------40--------------8----------------------15

UKR-----------90-----------40-----------25-----------80-----------50---------149--------------8----------------------10

USA-----------25-----------17-----------12-----------10-----------30---------149--------------8-----------------------8

Again Globalcell is the cheapest and wins hands down (last two columns). Tesco in many cases looks ridiculously expensive now, but Vodafone, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and 3 are also much more expensive. At this point I gave Globalcell a call to see if there is any catch, but no; they said their value proposition is based on providing a fair price to consumers.

To give you an example of the differences, if you called Ukraine, you would pay only 8p with Globalcell (fixed line), but would pay 18 times more with Tesco, 11 times more with Vodafone and 3 times more with Orange. Huge differences!

In summary, it seems that Globalcell offers a much better value on international calls than other operators; essentially every country I compared is cheaper with them than with their competitors. It is actually free to try them (you can get a free SIM card from them with a £2 free credit). They run on Orange’s network, and the quality of the calls therefore is as good as any other major network. A very good value for money indeed.

Roaming

Different minimum call charges are applied by the various operators, so to make the tariffs comparable I looked at a typical five minute call to compare roaming tariffs. Except for calls from the EU I analysed specific countries, because to make things more difficult, each mobile operator defines their zones differently.

First, I looked at the STANDARD rates for outgoing calls to the UK and within the roaming zone for each mobile operator. I spare you the details (more will come in table 7). Here the picture was not so clear cut as with international calls from the UK. Operators have strengths according to their overseas networks. In Europe, operators offer similar tariffs. In other countries, it greatly differs. For example, Three is the most expensive in Thailand and Taiwan, but is very cheap in Hong Kong due to its network, so if you visit the region, another operator’s tariffs are likely to be better.

If you count the TOP 3 cheapest operators for each destination, you get the following results:

Table 5 – UK Mobile Operators Ranked by Roaming Tariffs – STANDARD ROAMING RATES

Operator----Number of Times among Top 3 Cheapest----RANK by how cheap it is (1=BEST, 7=WORST)

Global Cell-----------------------7--------------------------------------------------1

O2--------------------------------6--------------------------------------------------2

Three----------------------------5--------------------------------------------------3

Tesco Mobile-------------------4--------------------------------------------------4

Vodafone-----------------------3--------------------------------------------------5

Orange--------------------------3--------------------------------------------------6

T-Mobile------------------------2---------------------------------------------------7

Based on this analysis, Globalcell seems to be the least expensive operator for roaming, followed by O2 and Three.

So far Globalcell seems to offer the best all around package. It won hands down on the international calls from the UK, and offers a really good deal on roaming calls.

Now I compared the tariffs using roaming saver rates. The table below summarises the available options that I looked at:

Table 6 – UK Mobile Operator Roaming Saver Tariffs Analysed

• Vodafone (ICS): £30 per year. Note: Only available to Anytime 1500 or 3000 (i.e. very heavy mobile users). Gives NO savings in Europe


• O2 (ITS): £35.88 per year. Note: Gives NO savings in Europe, but good savings elsewhere


• Orange (World Traveller): £24 per year. Note: They claim you can get up to 50% saving, but you only get that on incoming calls in Australia, and IN MOST CASES YOU GET ALMOST NOTHING.


• Globalcell (£20 top up): Costs NOTHING. If you buy £20 top up, you get £10 extra for FREE, effectively reducing your roaming rates by 33%.

I got the following results when comparing roaming tariffs for outgoing calls to the UK and within the roaming Zone using the operators’ savings rates (where available):

Table 7 - Cost of Roaming for Outgoing Calls (to the UK and within Roaming Zone) Using Operator’s SAVER Rates (5 minute call)

------------------Vodafone---------O2------Orange------T-Mobile----Three-----Tesco---- GlobalCell

Europe (EU) --------190 --------175 --------190 --------190 --------125 --------175 --------128

Australia ------------450 --------300 --------300 --------700 --------700 --------445 --------557

USA/Canada -------550 --------450 --------475 --------275 --------600 --------445 --------326

Hong Kong ---------350 --------300 --------500 --------700 ---------60---------745 --------359

Russia --------------750 --------600 --------875 --------700 --------900 --------745 ---------557

Serbia --------------750 --------405 --------650 --------700 --------600 --------745 ---------359

Taiwan -------------450 --------300 --------500 --------700 --------900 --------745 ---------359

Thailand -----------450 --------300 --------500 --------700 --------900 --------745 ---------359

Turkey -------------625 --------600 --------650 --------700 --------600 --------345 ---------359

Ukraine ------------750 --------405 --------650 --------700 --------600 --------745 ---------359

Here, the picture is much clearer. O2 and Globalcell appear as the least expensive operators by a high margin, see table below:

Table 8 – UK Mobile Operators Ranked by Roaming Tariffs – SAVER ROAMING RATES

Operator----Number of Times among Top 3 Cheapest----RANK by how cheap it is (1=BEST, 7=WORST)

O2---------------------------------9--------------------------------------------------1

Global Cell-----------------------8--------------------------------------------------2

Three----------------------------4--------------------------------------------------3

Vodafone-----------------------3--------------------------------------------------4

Tesco Mobile-------------------3--------------------------------------------------4

T-Mobile--------------------------2--------------------------------------------------6

Orange----------------------------1--------------------------------------------------7

Do not forget though, that with O2 you had to pay almost £36 per year to get access to these lower rates, while with Globalcell it was all free. With that in mind, Globalcell still offers a better deal.

Conclusion

I compared 7 UK mobile operators for international calls and roaming calls. Based on the analysis, Globalcell came out as the cheapest operator for both roaming and international calls. It won hands down on international calls from the UK (being between 3 to 18 times less expensive than the others). Regarding roaming, it was the cheapest on the standard tariffs and the second cheapest with the saver tariffs. However, if you take into account the monthly costs of the saver tariffs for other operators, Globalcell seems to be the best option.

I tested the quality of the calls; Globalcell run on Orange’s network and thus the quality was as good as any. Globalcell seems to be offering very good value for money.