$23,000 roaming bill.

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Dynamic

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#1397588 30-Sep-2015 20:51

lNomNoml: In this day and age you shouldn't have to pay $5 per MB just because you are in another country.

You are right, but much of the charge is probably from the provider who's network you are connected to. They don;t have any long-term interest in you as a customer so rogering you with data charges is no skin off their nose. On-billing these to your phone provider may be a PITA as well. Just a guesstimate.

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#1397647 30-Sep-2015 21:58

On-billing these to your phone provider may be a PITA as well. Just a guesstimate.

The mobile carriers know how much data was sent to a device on there network no matter where in the world for data the hosts ggsn/pgw will pass the data to the roaming host network, so data counting is from the hosts core packet network. it has to be dead on or every man and his unpaid bill would distpute it and go to the TDR

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mattwnz

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#1397669 30-Sep-2015 23:17

Satch: In this day and age, with stories like this in the news ever other month (although never quite this excessive), how can anyone claim not to be wary of roaming data charges?? This is beyond me...

I think people don't expect that in this day and age, we would still be paying these types of high fees. . These days people expect data to be at an affordable level. Although I thought it was common knowledge that if you are going overseas, you should buy a sim for the country you are traveling to, preferably prepay. This is why I stick to prepay, the most I will get charged is the credit I have on it. My bother works for a council, an they gave all staff iphones, but they have got around this data problem by locking mobile data use entirely, so they can't use the iphone for data. Kind of begs belief though why they gave the staff iphones, but I guess that is councils for you, it isn't their money they are spending. At least it was only an iphone 5C which isn't the best.

lxsw20

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#1397672 30-Sep-2015 23:40

mattwnz: Why didn't the business put some for form of cap on it's use. Companies are leaving themselves pretty open to huge fees if their staff use phones overseas. Many people would have used this accidentally without knowing the costs IMO. Txts nor email, aren't 100% reliable as a warning either.

Yeap not that hard to put a roaming smart cap on a phone. Our Spark Digital rep usually gives us a heads up when a roaming bill gets above about $1500.

dickytim

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#1397735 1-Oct-2015 07:20

Why has Spark not implemented something like Vodafones Overseas Data Angel or an Opt in option of some kind.

That is what I can't believe.

sep11guy

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#1397781 1-Oct-2015 09:32

what i cant understand it, after a certain pre-approved limit - say 500-100$ ( depending upon the level / seniority of the staff ) data could have been cut off automatically.

Its 2015 and people have been probably roaming around for easy 15 years or more, why are there still not basic frameworks in place , i cant understand.

its like heavily skewed towards telecom providers advantage, for them to make money.

Satch

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#1397902 1-Oct-2015 12:20

lNomNoml: In this day and age you shouldn't have to pay $5 per MB just because you are in another country.

I can't agree with you more. But the reality is this is what they charge so this is no excuse I'm afraid.

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Satch

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#1397906 1-Oct-2015 12:21

mattwnz: I think people don't expect that in this day and age, we would still be paying these types of high fees. . These days people expect data to be at an affordable level. Although I thought it was common knowledge that if you are going overseas, you should buy a sim for the country you are traveling to, preferably prepay. This is why I stick to prepay, the most I will get charged is the credit I have on it. My bother works for a council, an they gave all staff iphones, but they have got around this data problem by locking mobile data use entirely, so they can't use the iphone for data. Kind of begs belief though why they gave the staff iphones, but I guess that is councils for you, it isn't their money they are spending. At least it was only an iphone 5C which isn't the best.

I agree with you too, but the costs are still astronomical, and with stories like this popping up regularly, people should be aware rather than assuming.

lxsw20

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#1397970 1-Oct-2015 13:36

dickytim: Why has Spark not implemented something like Vodafones Overseas Data Angel or an Opt in option of some kind.

That is what I can't believe.

Probably quite a lot easier to do something like that when you have a global presence like Vodafone does.

Spark does have the ability to apply roaming smart caps, IIRC these apply automatically to consumers but not business customers.

DizzyD

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#1398004 1-Oct-2015 13:59

lNomNoml:
Satch: In this day and age, with stories like this in the news ever other month (although never quite this excessive), how can anyone claim not to be wary of roaming data charges?? This is beyond me...

In this day and age you shouldn't have to pay $5 per MB just because you are in another country.

People is some of these countries don't have access to running water, toilets etc ...

Our roaming prices will be the least of their worries.

People need to learn to manage their data.

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