T-Mobile Simple Global expands to all Europe, South America

Unsatisfied with trying to conquer the US, T-Mobile wants to spread its Un-carrier words beyond the country' borders. Today it announces that its Simple Global scheme, which tries to make the world a smaller place through your smartphone, is expanding to 20 more countries, including all of Europe and all of South America. This means that in 145 countries, eligible subscribers can browse the Web or send SMS at no extra cost than what they would pay while at home, while calls do get charged $0.20 per minute.

That seems almost too good to be true, especially compared to its rivals' roaming rates. Verizon just announced its roaming coverage of Cuba, where no other US carrier has set a foothold. That said, it charges $2.05 per megabyte of data, which would accumulate to more than $200 for 100 MB, and more than $2,000 for 1 GB. It does get better for other supported countries, where the rate is $25 per 100 MB.

T-Mobile, on the other hand, promises not to tack on any extra roaming charges to data and messaging. Simple Choice subscribers get charged the same whether they surf at home or in Europe. And if you happen to be Canada or Mexico, even calling comes at no extra cost.

US carriers have been racing to provide coverage to their customers in as many places around the world. T-Mobile's Simple Global scheme, which is part of its Simple Choice offering, started with 115 countries and now covers 145. That might male in comparison to Verizon who now claims to have more than 225 in its list with the addition of Cuba. Of course, T-Mobile would have you believe that it does cost more overall.

SOURCE: T-Mobile