Data Limits Abroad

[SarahLa_1125976]

I have a 100gb sim card and recently when I was abroad I used up the 12gb allowance within a week just keeping in touch with people and working.  This was very inconvenient.  Why is there a 12gb limit no matter how much data you pay for in the UK?

[ben]

Because of Brexit, essentially.

[MSF]

@ben , I believe the situation was the same well before Brexit

[ben]

Thanks. As SMARTY customers we are lucky to have even upto 12GB a month of inclusive EU data roaming, in that case.

[Rebekah_150]

Hey SarahLa_1125976

If you are looking to access your full plan you can buy an EU Data Passes add-on 

[WelshPaul]

Simply put, UK networks get charged by the network you're roaming on for any data you use. SMARTY are charging you a measly £10 for 100GB of data, unlimited minutes and texts!

Here, let's compare what you get if you went with any of the four major UK networks (30 day plans):

1. A 20GB 30 Day rolling plan on Vodafone will set you back £34 a month and their plans only give you a maximum roaming allowance of 25GB.
2. A 50GB 30 Day rolling plan on O2 will set you back £30 a month and their plans only give you a maximum roaming allowance of 25GB.
3. A 125GB 30 Day rolling plan on EE will set you back £30 a month and their plans only give you zero roaming allowance unless you pay extra to access your existing data allowance.
4. A 25GB 30 Day rolling plan on Three will set you back £24 a month and plans only give you zero roaming allowance unless you pay extra to access your existing data allowance (All roaming in Go Roam destinations is subject to a 12GB fair usage limit).

Those are the maximum data allowances available on a 30 day rolling plan unless you go unlimited. All unlimited plans are subject to the same roaming restrictions as shown above and the monthly costs are higher.

So to answer your question, if SMARTY gave their customers full access to their UK data allowances abroad they would go out of business fast. 

[Chalkychap]

I guess there are several reasons why SMARTY have a mobile data limit of 12GB/month, for unlimited plan allowances while EU roaming.

1. Mobile data uses bandwidth, and this is not unlimited.
2. When you're a guest using an EU roaming partner's network, naturally that roaming partner will want their customers to have more mobile data bandwidth, not the roaming guests.
   Imagine the impact of EU roaming guests using unlimited mobile data on SMARTY's UK network - you'd probably be unhappy if this affected your data use in the UK. 
3. Network roaming agreements/partnerships are not free.

[MSF]

This I believe to be linked to the price that Smarty has to pay to the network that you roam on. You can also buy a roaming pass to extend this. Please take a look at the Price Guide for details.