Three after 15 June 2017

[DBK]

I've just found something on what's happening with Three Feel at Home after 15 June when roaming charges are scrapped.
Data rates are going to be 1p per Mb which works out at £10 a Gb which is expensive compared to the pre-loaded sims but I can't see anything about those and whether they will still be available. Hopefully they will be and I wonder if the 1p rate only applies at the end of the two months European limit.
Any insights would be welcome - and of course these changes apply to all networks on 15 June and rates are bound to be different between them.

https://www.threemicrosites.co.uk/euregulation/payg

Edit: Just read the link again and it looks like there is a 120 day limit after which rates go up to 1.73p per Mb. But what happens with pre-loaded cards? I'm hoping there is no limit until you have used all your data, then the advertised rates kick in.

 

[Two on Tour]

Cheers.

 

[Minxy]

Just received an email from Three about usage after 15 June 2017 abroad:

From 15 June, the way you use your phone abroad is changing.
We’re making some important changes to Feel At Home, and how you use your Pay Monthly plan abroad. These changes mean you’ll be able to use your plan in even more destinations, at no extra cost and include how you can use Feel at Home in European destinations following a change in the law that covers the rules on roaming in the EU. You might see this referred to in some places as “Roam Like at Home”.

The difference between Roam Like At Home and Feel At Home.
We know this might be a bit confusing, but the basic difference is this:

Roam Like At Home is what the regulatory rules covering roaming in the EU is known as, that requires network providers to charge the same for data, calls and texts across all EU and EEA destinations as they do at home. In the case of some networks, this means cutting their charges considerably.​

Feel At Home is a service we’ve had in place for quite some time already, that allows Three customers to use your allowances to call and text the UK and use your data, and it won't cost you a penny more. With the introduction of the Roam Like At Home regulations, we’re expanding our list of Feel At Home destinations to 60 worldwide, to provide even more value for our customers.
​

How is Feel At Home changing?
From 15 June, Feel At Home will be made up of “Feel At Home in Europe” and “Feel At Home Around the World”. The good news is that as part of your plan, you get to enjoy both of these, allowing you to roam at no extra cost in 60 destinations.

The new destinations.
We’re adding loads of new destinations, just in time for holiday season:

Brazil, Singapore, Aland Islands, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, San Marino.
​

You can see all of our Feel At Home destinations from 15 June below:

Feel At Home in Europe.
Aland Islands, Austria, Azores, Balearic Islands, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Martinique, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Réunion, Romania, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Vatican City

Feel At Home Around the World.
Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Macau, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Sri Lanka, US Virgin Islands, USA
​

Feel At Home in Europe.
You’ll also have more freedom to use your phone how you want to, across all of our Feel At Home in Europe destinations. Not only will you be able to call and text back to the UK at no extra cost, but you’ll also be able to call and text other EU/EEA destinations when travelling within any Feel at Home in Europe destination, at no extra cost.

You’ll also have a Fair Use Policy of 12GB of data (which should be more than enough for your holiday Instagramming needs). Any use over this amount, but within your data allowance, will be charged at the following rates:

EU destinations Non-EU EEA destinations (Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland)
0.73p/MB 0.6p/MB
Any out-of-bundle rates will be charged at our standard 321 rates, so that’s 3p per minute for calls, 2p per text, and 1p per MB of browsing.​

To ensure all our customers can benefit from Feel At Home in Europe with roaming at no extra cost, we reserve the right to apply a surcharge in case of abusive use.

In order to help us to detect possible abuse of Feel At Home in Europe, we may monitor your usage and presence. We’ll look at the balance of your roaming and domestic (UK) activity over 120 days: if you spend a majority of your time abroad and consume more abroad than at home over the 120 days, we have the right to add a small surcharge to your usage. This surcharge will be capped at a maximum of 0.73p/MB; 3p/min; and 0.9p/ SMS. Don’t worry – we’ll send you an alert 2 weeks before the surcharge is applied, giving you an opportunity to modify your roaming behaviour to avoid this surcharge.

Monaco.
For any F1 fans, it’s worth noting that Monaco remains a non-Feel At Home destination and you’ll be charged our standard roaming rates for any usage there. For reference, the roaming pricing for Monaco from 15 June will be as follows:

Calling a UK number. 10p per minute.
Calling a Monaco number. 10p per minute.
Texting the UK. 4p per text.
Texting a Monaco number. 4p per text.
Receiving calls from any number. 1p per minute.
Receiving texts from any number. Free.
Using Internet and data. 10p per MB.
Using voicemail. 10p per minute.​

 

[Two on Tour]

Thanks for the heads up Minxy Girl.
With me being a little on the thick side and you having a good grasp of these sorts of thing, put into simple term, what changes are there with the part used and the yet to be used "Three" 12Gb PAYG sims I already have after the 15th, plus will this affect existing stock suppliers have of these sim cards.

 

[irnbru]

Good Q @CCC I just recently bought a 12g from My Memory. I thought it was more than £24 but when it showed on my bank statement my memory was that bad I had to ring them and ask what I had bought at £24 Great price, will be well chuffed if you get to use the 12g abroad.

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[Minxy]

From what I can tell after a very quick read through the ONLY thing that might be worth thinking about is the 'usage' restriction/surcharge although the period itself is increased to 120 days before they get 'sniffy', however the good news is that there now appears to be no restriction of only a set amount of days per year (ie 60) as it was previously:

In order to help us to detect possible abuse of Feel At Home in Europe, we may monitor your usage and presence. We’ll look at the balance of your roaming and domestic (UK) activity over 120 days: if you spend a majority of your time abroad and consume more abroad than at home over the 120 days, we have the right to add a small surcharge to your usage. This surcharge will be capped at a maximum of 0.73p/MB; 3p/min; and 0.9p/ SMS. Don’t worry – we’ll send you an alert 2 weeks before the surcharge is applied, giving you an opportunity to modify your roaming behaviour to avoid this surcharge.

 

[Whitebirdyman]

From what I can tell after a very quick read through the ONLY thing that might be worth thinking about is the 'usage' restriction/surcharge although the period itself is increased to 120 days before they get 'sniffy', however the good news is that there now appears to be no restriction of only a set amount of days per year (ie 60) as it was previously:

I do not read it like that, I think that if anything it could be slightly more restrictive. They say:

"We’ll look at the balance of your roaming and domestic (UK) activity over 120 days: if you spend a majority of your time abroad and consume more abroad than at home over the 120 days, we have the right to add a small surcharge to your usage"

To me, that reads that if you spend the majority, ie 61 days abroad out of 120, so that looks as though you gain a day, but that would only be true if you kept using it in the UK for the other 59 days.

It would be more complex if you did not use it every day while abroad or if you did not use it everyday you were in the UK.

 

[Lenny HB]

I've been using a Three PAYG go the last 9 months & a Three data as we have been out of the country for so much time. Now with the free roaming coming in looking at getting a monthly sim contract again.
Three are still stating on their essential contracts, no roaming and no tethering maybe the roaming will change after the 15th.

Just been looking at Plusnet as a broadband customer I can get 1 gig data, 500min & 1000 text for £5/month that includes roaming and tethering allowed or for £10 4gig and 1500 min. Went off it a bit when I found out they charge 19p/min to 0870 type numbers (not always possible to find alternative number) as we use mobiles at home durring the day.
Back to Three, only 200min and 500mb data for £5/month no tethering and now found that Three charge 45p/min to 0870 numbers.

So looks like Plusnet for phones and Three for data sims.

 

[Manic]

I'm thinking of changing mine to Giffgaff, if you have goody bag you get 2gb 500mins talk and unlimited texts for £10 a month, which you will be able to use roaming.

 

[icantremember]

Well, that's as clear as mud ... I have payg and contract with Three and haven't worked out how this will affect me.

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[Minxy]

I do not read it like that, I think that if anything it could be slightly more restrictive. They say:

"We’ll look at the balance of your roaming and domestic (UK) activity over 120 days: if you spend a majority of your time abroad and consume more abroad than at home over the 120 days, we have the right to add a small surcharge to your usage"

To me, that reads that if you spend the majority, ie 61 days abroad out of 120, so that looks as though you gain a day, but that would only be true if you kept using it in the UK for the other 59 days.

Yes I agree to some extent but it depends WHEN the 120 day review period starts which is the one thing you can't predict, so it could be 61 days, 100 days, 120 days etc ... the worse case scenario is that they 'threaten' to add the surcharge 2 weeks after they inform you of it, so 'in theory' you have another 2 weeks from when they tell you, and then you can choose to use another prepaid sim to avoid this surcharge and keep your 'surcharge' sim to use when you get home therefore no roaming surcharge would be made (assuming you do NOT use it once the surcharge 'period' is active).

It would be more complex if you did not use it every day while abroad or if you did not use it everyday you were in the UK.

At present the 60 days of roaming which are allowed aren't down to how many days you use it, but how many days you are away from the first activation abroad, so not using it wouldn't affect the number of days as you would still be 'abroad' as far as 3 are concerned ... it's still a bit confusing depending on exactly how they are going to tweak it all and I suspect at first there are going to be a lot of 'claims' made about their info not being totally clear. Until someone uses their 3 sim abroad for a while and sees what happens it's impossible to predict how it will pan out.

 

[Lenny HB]

Well, that's as clear as mud ... I have payg and contract with Three and haven't worked out how this will affect me.

As I see it you will pay the same charges when roaming as at home, but still won't be able to tether.

 

[Lenny HB]

Just requested a PAC code from Three, they came back with an offer of 4gig, unlimited min & tx for £10.
Checked with Plusnet they use the EE network, you can use your full data allowance but there may be charges if you spend more than 4 months in another country.

So looking at going with the Plusnet £10 deal with 4 gig & 1500 min (I only use 200-300 min a month), as it looks like no hassle with using data abroad.

Any comments guys & girls.

Edit: Also got fed up with the Goodness gracious me call centre on Three, Plusnet use UK call centres and got my answers staight away via online chat.

 

[DBK]

I do not read it like that, I think that if anything it could be slightly more restrictive. They say:

"We’ll look at the balance of your roaming and domestic (UK) activity over 120 days: if you spend a majority of your time abroad and consume more abroad than at home over the 120 days, we have the right to add a small surcharge to your usage"

To me, that reads that if you spend the majority, ie 61 days abroad out of 120, so that looks as though you gain a day, but that would only be true if you kept using it in the UK for the other 59 days.

It would be more complex if you did not use it every day while abroad or if you did not use it everyday you were in the UK.

In the link I posted in the OP it says:

"We reserve the right to put measures in place to prevent abuse and to ensure everyone can benefit from roaming at no extra cost - these measures may include monitoring customers’ usage and presence in EU/EEA destinations over 120 days with a surcharge applied to usage over this... "

Which sounds fairly clear but ultimately we will just have to see how it all pans out. For example, is that 120 days in any 12 month period or 120 days continuous use then after returning to the UK you can set off again? Also of course, it appears to contradict their other statement about the balance of usage over 120 days.

I'm going to stick with Three PAYG data sims for the moment but might change when my current phone contract runs out early next year. The decider will be getting a good data allowance but it is probably too early to tell yet who is the best provider as market forces may lead to new offers coming out. A rolling contract will be fine but I would hesitate to lock myself into a contract at the moment until it is clearer, based on real experience, where the best deals are.

 

[Lenny HB]

Delmer solved, just had a haggle with Plusnet, 5 gig 2000 min for £10.

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[pappajohn]

I just topped up my PAYG account and noticed the included 'free internet allowance' has reduced from 150mb right down to 10mb.
Wonder if this is linked to the new roaming rules and saving them money.

 

[JockandRita]

As an extremely low mobile phone user (practically non existant ) I've decided also to stick with the 12Gb/12 Month data sim cards from Three, and have just ordered another, so, one currently in use when away from home, and 2 x spares.

https://www.mymemory.co.uk/3-payg-4g-trio-data-sim-pack-incl-12gb-data.html

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Manic]

Don't know about Plusnet but I think 3 now checks usages over 120 days.
I will be ringing 3 for a PAC code so I will see what they offer me.

 

[peterc10]

I've been using a Three PAYG go the last 9 months & a Three data as we have been out of the country for so much time. Now with the free roaming coming in looking at getting a monthly sim contract again.
Three are still stating on their essential contracts, no roaming and no tethering maybe the roaming will change after the 15th.

Just been looking at Plusnet as a broadband customer I can get 1 gig data, 500min & 1000 text for £5/month that includes roaming and tethering allowed or for £10 4gig and 1500 min. Went off it a bit when I found out they charge 19p/min to 0870 type numbers (not always possible to find alternative number) as we use mobiles at home durring the day.
Back to Three, only 200min and 500mb data for £5/month no tethering and now found that Three charge 45p/min to 0870 numbers.

So looks like Plusnet for phones and Three for data sims.

When PlusNet first launched their mobile service I got a very good deal. 4Gb and unlimited calls and texts for £10 per month.

 

[Lenny HB]

When PlusNet first launched their mobile service I got a very good deal. 4Gb and unlimited calls and texts for £10 per month.

As I said eairlerI just put some pressure on them and got 5 gig & 2000min for a tenner.

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[jongood]

I agree with @JockandRita why complicate it? buy some 3 payg sims and when one stops working just stick another one in. I do need calls so I have my own blackberry on a 1 month renewal with giffgaff at £7.50/month.

having been caught out with bad contracts so many times - I can just walk away whenever I want to.

 

[Minxy]

Just a thought ... if you don't have a high demand you could buy smaller '3' data sims instead of one large one, eg 3gb which last up to 3 months, and as the usage pattern is done over the past 120 days (ie 4 months) they wouldn't be able to check and therefore not charge you extra, once you've used up the data just pop in another.

At present you can get a 3gb one for £8.99 below:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Three-3GB...841360?hash=item25d8c90010:g:Z94AAOSwONBZCvbq

 

[2657]

First day of the new regime and I am glad to say that the speed no longer seems to be throttled, I am in a different location than my usual base today but I have never before been able to stream you tube clips etc and it is even possible to stream live tv.

I do not intend to do this often as no doubt I would soon fall foul of their fair useage policy

 

[Manic]

I've have been looking at ID mobile, which is Carphone warehouse using 3 mast. At the beginning of June I ask about roaming and the sales assistant did know but now the state includes roaming, they will check usage after 4months.
Quite good monthly deals

 

[Lenny HB]

I've have been looking at ID mobile, which is Carphone warehouse using 3 mast. At the beginning of June I ask about roaming and the sales assistant did know but now the state includes roaming, they will check usage after 4months.
Quite good monthly deals
View attachment 168778

Don't think ID allow tethering on their cheaper deals.

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[Manic]

Don't think ID allow tethering on their cheaper deals.

Not worried about tethering as I use a MIFI for that most of the time.

 

[Fulltiming Felines]

In the link I posted in the OP it says:

"We reserve the right to put measures in place to prevent abuse and to ensure everyone can benefit from roaming at no extra cost - these measures may include monitoring customers’ usage and presence in EU/EEA destinations over 120 days with a surcharge applied to usage over this... "

Which sounds fairly clear but ultimately we will just have to see how it all pans out. For example, is that 120 days in any 12 month period or 120 days continuous use then after returning to the UK you can set off again? Also of course, it appears to contradict their other statement about the balance of usage over 120 days.

I'm going to stick with Three PAYG data sims for the moment but might change when my current phone contract runs out early next year. The decider will be getting a good data allowance but it is probably too early to tell yet who is the best provider as market forces may lead to new offers coming out. A rolling contract will be fine but I would hesitate to lock myself into a contract at the moment until it is clearer, based on real experience, where the best deals are.

Has anybody yet gotten into trouble with being abroad for too long? We'll be abroad most of the year starting April 2019.