There's a lot of talk on wireless broadband in the United States. Try something else though. Google international wireless broadband plans and see what happens. The going gets tough. Answers become hard to find.
You might discover that Verizon has some kind of international option. But that's about it. Everything else is just...er...well...pages trying to sell you stuff. Or you'll end up on an Europe/Asia site that doesn't have anything to do with what you're trying to find. Nothing wrong with those sites. They just don't answer the burning questions like:
Who provides international mobile broadband (wireless broadband) plans? Will I have to take out a second mortgage on my house to pay for it? Can I get online in the country(ies) I need it in the most? If I just need it for a couple days, what are my options?Sadly, that information just isn't in one coherent place, until now. We'll cover exactly those points here because that's what we do.
International Wireless Broadband Plans
After taking a look at the major providers, here's the quick rundown. While T-Mobile's got great international partnerships, they don't sell broadband laptop cards yet. If you don't have a card to connect to international networks in the first place, you're SOL (Seriously Out of Luck). That said, it leaves us with:
Alltel AT&T Sprint Verizon AlltelAlltel's international mobile broadband options are the most limited of the four. It's a good bet if your destination is Canada. They have a $99.99 plan that allows for unlimited usage in the United States and our friends across the border.
That in itself is excellent. No one else offers any sort of unlimited 3G data plan internationally. Even if it's just one country, it's nothing to scoff at.
AT&T
AT&T is the ultimate company of partnerships. They work really hard to have the latest handsets and be on the cutting edge...so that you'll have to pawn your belongings just to be able to afford it.
See, the benefit of having what no one else has, is that you can charge whatever you want. All economics aside though, they've got a variety of international mobile broadband plans (thanks to their excellent networking skills).
AT&T DataConnect Global Plans include 5GB of domestic use and 100-200 MB of international data depending on which plan you pick. Naturally the countries differ from package to package as well.
Sprint
Sprint had a plan similar to Alltel but better. For $99, you could have unlimited data in Canada and Mexico. However, they discontinued it in 2007. As it currently stands, they have no international roaming plans. What they do offer is pay-per-kb rates. For top international destinations, it's around $0.002/kb. Rates vary from country to country.
While there's plenty of market opportunity for Sprint here (a large section of their mobile broadband base are corporate workers who travel), don't expect anything soon with their eyes focused on the launch of their WiMAX network.
Verizon
Besides AT&T, Verizon is the only other gang in town with some form of international plan (not just North America). Marketed as Global Access, they describe it as an extension of their BroadbandAccess plans. Like their 5GB domestic plan, the Global Access plan offers up 5GB for you to YouTube, Google and internet surf up. The difference is that you can do it in Canada and Mexico for $130. You also get 100MB to sip on throughout a handful of countries. Also available is a pay per use option.
Bottom-Line If you travel a lot and you're looking for your international wireless broadband fix, AT&T and Verizon are looking like your best bet. Of course, that's presuming you're traveling in their partner networks in selected countries.
Before you travel you'll want to check out which carriers will have you covered in specific countries. For the details on that, check out http://www.mobile-broadband-reviews.com/international-wireless-broadband.html.
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