International Roaming

[Eleccy]

Would be nice to have roaming in Australia like Three use to have.

[Linsey]

👋For sure! We will certainly take your feedback on board. We are always looking for ways to improve so we do really appreciate your feedback 😊

[Chalkychap]

Hey @Eleccy, 

I've got a dual SIM phone, which supports use of an eSIM.

For a recent trip to Australia, I purchased an eSIM mobile data only plan (from Soracom Mobile). This gave me mobile data for international roaming, at a reasonable price. 

In Australia I just turned OFF mobile data on my SMARTY SIM, leaving my eSIM plan for mobile data while roaming. In addition, I'd added an out-of-plan top-up, so I could call and text using my SMARTY SIM, if necessary. 

[Kathryn_ob]

Hi, I've just asked Smarty if this will work and they said it won't as Smarty doesn't support eSIMs yet...  Were you with Smarty at the time / how did you manage to get this to work please?

[JJP2RidesAgain]

Smarty do not currently support eSIMs for Smarty, but, as long as your mobile phone itself supports eSIMs, you can use eSIMs for travel from Soracom, Holafly, Airalo and others, which will have no negative effect on your Smarty physical SIM card - Just make sure to switch the data network to the travel eSIM within your phone’s settings. 

[MSF]

@Kathryn_ob  I agree with @JJP2RidesAgain  having just successfully used an Airalo data esim for a couple of weeks and now reverted back to normal physical smarty sim.

[Chalkychap]

Maybe your SMARTY adviser/s misunderstood, or perhaps have not received a lot of training, @Kathryn_ob. 

I'm just back from Australia, where I used a third party (from GoMoWorld) data-only eSIM alongside my SMARTY SIM, to stay connected while travelling in Victoria - worked well for me.

Although the Australian roaming data cost of 10p/MB doesn't sound like much, 100MB/day would soon add up. On my trip, I had a 20GB, for 30-days, data only eSIM (bought for ~£18).

[MSF]

I sus pet that with such reasonable prices for plans (and no long-term contract commitment), it is not economically viable for Smarty to offer roaming everywhere.

I think it's pretty good that they are not charging for EU roaming!