Cheaper roaming tariffs launched, but mobile broadband abroad still an expensive luxury

Data costs abroad have hit the news again this week, after Virgin Media released new 'cheaper' roaming mobile broadband tariffs, and then an Orange customer was on the wrong end of an £8000 bill for mobile broadband usage overseas.

Seizing the moment, T-Mobile has announced new 'Euro Boosters' - pre-pay packages of data which go some way towards limiting the scare factor of using mobile broadband services on holiday or on business trips. Four options are available: 3MB for £1, 20MB for £5, 50MB for £10 or 200MB for £40. With the first three of those options expiring after 24 hours, though, the possibilities are not exactly endless.

About the Euro Boosters, Ralf Pearson, senior propositions manager for mobile broadband at T-Mobile said "As 40 per cent of customers say they want to take their laptop away with them to stay connected, we're launching Euro Broadband Boosters so they can do this without having to worry about the costs getting out of control."

Orange too has updated its portfolio with a roaming data tariff called 'Travel Data Daily' - which costs £2 for 2MB; and this one also expires after 24 hours.

All the new tariffs are better than the cripplingly expensive £3 per MB which networks generally charge for data abroad if you don't pre-pay special rates; but even with cheaper pre-pays, getting online abroad is still not for the faint-hearted.