AlwaysOnline adds 14 countries to iPad Apple SIM plans, cuts prices

Posted:
in iPad
On Wednesday, AlwaysOnline Wireless -- one of several data carriers serving iPads equipped with an Apple SIM -- announced its expansion to 14 more countries, as well as broad price cuts to attract users.




The new regions include Armenia, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Jordan, Morocco, and Uruguay. Overall, AlwaysOnline now has a presence in 88 markets.

Rates vary per country, but can be as little as 11 cents an hour in the U.K., and in many places are now down over 40 percent.

The changes may be in reaction to GigSky, another Apple SIM carrier, which in March added more than 40 regions while simultaneous raising data caps in places like Canada and the U.S.

An Apple SIM lets 4G-equipped iPad owners switch carriers on the fly. Relatively few carriers are supporting the technology so far -- notable examples are 3, AT&T, Sprint, SoftBank, and T-Mobile. Both GigSky and AlwaysOnline cater mostly to travelers, who would otherwise have to buy new SIM cards or pay for international roaming, the latter of which can often be slow and expensive.

4G 9.7-inch iPad Pros come with an embedded Apple SIM. In other cases a card may come preinstalled, or be available for purchase -- some carriers and countries have completely blocked the technology though, most notably China.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    williamhwilliamh Posts: 1,032member
    Or just go with T-Mobile?  

    These other carriers my offer some countries that T-Mobile doesn't, but T-Mobile gives free data in a lot of places.
    curtis hannah
  • Reply 2 of 9
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    williamh said:
    Or just go with T-Mobile?  

    These other carriers my offer some countries that T-Mobile doesn't, but T-Mobile gives free data in a lot of places.
    T-Mobile's free international data is painfully slow. It's seriously not much faster than dial up. It's almost to the point of being useless since it's so slow. Even if you pay for the plus plan, data is 256kbps. 
    edited April 2017
  • Reply 3 of 9
    williamh said:
    Or just go with T-Mobile?  

    These other carriers my offer some countries that T-Mobile doesn't, but T-Mobile gives free data in a lot of places.
    T-Mobile's free international data is painfully slow. It's seriously not much faster than dial up. It's almost to the point of being useless since it's so slow. Even if you pay for the plus plan, data is 256kbps. 
    That is true, they limit it to "2g speeds", but for most users instead of paying $s by the day, it is a great built in option to their plans.
    edited April 2017
  • Reply 4 of 9
    Sounds like T-Mobile's "free" data is good for checking email and the occasional mostly text web site in a pinch, but for watching Netflix or Hulu you'll want one of the data plans mentioned. Good to know.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    T-Mobile's free international data is painfully slow. It's seriously not much faster than dial up. It's almost to the point of being useless since it's so slow. Even if you pay for the plus plan, data is 256kbps. 
    I had experience with T-mobile international data (free) in HK and China. It's alway 3G in Hong Kong. It was 2G in China before 2016, but it went up to 4G in 2016. 
  • Reply 6 of 9
    plovellplovell Posts: 824member
    "4G 9.7-inch iPad Pros come with an embedded Apple SIM"

    Anyone know if AT&T locks it if you use it with their service (as they did with the separate Apple SIM) ?
    edited April 2017
  • Reply 7 of 9
    plovell said:
    "4G 9.7-inch iPad Pros come with an embedded Apple SIM"

    Anyone know if AT&T locks it if you use it with their service (as they did with the separate Apple SIM) ?
    If you buy the iPad Pro from AT&T, the embedded SIM is locked to AT&T both domestically and internationally. The SIM tray is not locked and can accept compatible SIMs. Apple implies that AT&T will unlock it via their Carrier Reveal program. If you buy the iPad Pro from Apple, the embedded SIM is not locked. If you choose AT&T in the embedded SIM, it remains unlocked for other supported carriers. I have no stories of people who have tried and confirmed this. I would suggest if you want to use AT&T on an iPad Pro at all, use a physical SIM card.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    williamh said:
    Or just go with T-Mobile?  

    These other carriers my offer some countries that T-Mobile doesn't, but T-Mobile gives free data in a lot of places.
    T-Mobile's free international data is painfully slow. It's seriously not much faster than dial up. It's almost to the point of being useless since it's so slow. Even if you pay for the plus plan, data is 256kbps. 
    That is true, they limit it to "2g speeds", but for most users instead of paying $s by the day, it is a great built in option to their plans.
    They actually *guarantee* 2g speeds (128Kbps) but it frequently is much higher. F'rinstance, in most of Europe it's 3G or 4G depending on what the tower can provide you, and T-Mobile doesn't generally slow down the speeds-- if you are getting a 4G signal you generally get 4G. This is especially true in Germany, where they kinda have a deal with the local telecom provider :wink: I've found it more than acceptable to run a GPS or TripAdvisor, which are the main reasons I want data service when traveling.
    edited April 2017
  • Reply 9 of 9
    williamhwilliamh Posts: 1,032member
    Sounds like T-Mobile's "free" data is good for checking email and the occasional mostly text web site in a pinch, but for watching Netflix or Hulu you'll want one of the data plans mentioned. Good to know.
    Maybe not good enough for Netflix or Hulu, but fine for most everything else.  My experience with T-Mobile data in Japan and the U.K. was very good. 
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