Question

International Wifi Calls

  • 26 April 2021
  • 13 replies
  • 31532 views
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I am trying to understand this.  i was on an international call for over 3 hours.  I thought since it was a WiFi call I would not get charged expensive international rates.  After my call, I received a text that my call cost me $636.00.. That’s $3 a minute charge.  I think that is kind of outrageous for a WiFi call.  Is this standard in the industry? 

I just want to understand this practice.  if they call me do I get charged the same or is it free because I am the one who answered the call?

Help me understand how this all works to see if I need to pursue other avenues to communicate with  friends abroad I have made over the years.  

Thank you for your time.

13 replies

T
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If you’re in the US and use Wi-Fi calling to call internationally, you are still subject to your plans long distance charges. When you’re outside the US, you can use Wi-Fi calling to call back to the US for free. 

Incoming international calls are treated the same as any other incoming call, they are included in your plan.

There is a feature called Stateside International Talk that you can add on your plan for $15 a month that gives you free or discounted calling to other countries. Here’s a link to the feature that lets you check if the countries you’re calling are included:https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/international-calling#check-rates

magentatechie
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What you're doing What you're charged on Wi-Fi Calling
  • Receiving any calls or messages
  • Calling to U.S.* phone numbers
  • Sending messages to U.S.* phone numbers

If you have an unlimited plan:

  • Any incoming calls: No fees
  • Any incoming messages: No fees
  • Outgoing calls and messages that you make to U.S. phone numbers: No fees

If you have a plan without unlimited, calls and messages count against your plan limits.

Calling to international (non-U.S.*) phone numbers

When you're in the U.S.

Wi-Fi calls placed to other countries are subject to your plan's long distance charges. Check stateside international rates for long distance fees.

When you're outside the U.S. (international roaming)

If you have an unlimited plan:

  • When in a Simple Global country​, calls are $0.25/min for roaming (same as cellular).
  • When on a cruise ship/ferry network, airline (in-flight) network, or any countries not on the Simple Global list, calls are charged World Class rates.

If you don't have an unlimited plan, calls to other countries are charged at World Class Calling rates.
Sending messages to international (non-U.S.*) phone numbers

When you're in the U.S.

Messages sent while connected to Wi-Fi Calling are subject to your plan's long distance charges. Check stateside international rates​ for long distance fees.

When you're outside the U.S. (international roaming)

When in a Simple Global country​, messages are not charged for roaming.

When on a cruise ship/ferry network, airline (in-flight) network, or any countries not on the Simple Global list, sending message to any countries not on Simple Global costs $0.50 for roaming.
Data or Internet usage Nothing. Data usage over Wi-Fi doesn't use the T-Mobile network. We don't see it or charge for it.
Connecting through a VPN

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) connects you securely to a network of other computers. While connected, your Internet usage goes through that network, wherever it's located.

When VPN connects your device to another country the first time, you'll receive a standard Welcome SMS, and you must enable data by dialing #RON#. Even if you're in the U.S. or a Simple Global country, you may be charged World Class rates.

 

https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/wi-fi-calling-from-t-mobile

If the call was international originating from the US, the best thing to do would be add Stateside International to your plan.  Please note that Stateside only covers calls made over cellular and WiFi calls will be charged at the normal rates.

Hope this helps clear everything up!

drnewcomb
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The moral of the story is to avoid T-Mobile international rack rates at all time, under all circumstances. Far better to use Google Voice, FaceTime, etc.

All WiFi calling does it to act as the “last mile” between your phone and T-Mobile’s switch. Sometimes the “last mile” is just that and other times it can be thousands of miles but it just gets your call back to the switch. From the switch to the recipient is where you can run into problems.

I don't speak for T-Mobile.
D

This is a very egregious use of an unregulated area of telecommunications. There needs to be restrictions placed on companies fleecing its customers like this. I.e. Before T-Mobile took over Sprint, you could travel anywhere in the world, switch to wi fi calling on any network and make free wi fi calls. This is because the wi fi foreign network that we connected to is covering any costs associated with its patrons use.

 

T-Mobile scraped Sprint’s less greedy policy and replaced it with the current one that makes it much more difficult to place true wi fi calling so that the vast majority of users are duped into thinking they are not paying for wi fi calls when T-mobile charges although its costing it ZERO to permit us to use wi fi calls freely. 

 

Only because I am paying monthly on a phone have I stayed with T Mobile. Once I find time, I am going to switch.

S

Happened to me today. I have international calling block.  I got a phone call and not knowing it’s from Canada. I returned the call and got charged for it. Somehow, t-mobile automatically switch my call from using T-mobile network to wifi calling and charged me. I find this not acceptable.

D
Userlevel 2
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The link & table by @magentatechie is helpful, but generally there are two problems with this info. When it says “unlimited plan”, it is not clear if we speak of postpaid or prepaid plans or both. Historically, most info always applied to postpaid only unless stated otherwise.

If the example of international travel, if one has a prepaid plan, it is virtually impossible to know if certain missing features are offered anyway as an expensive non-plan option (like the world class rates) , or simply do not work (as maybe expected, or hoped for to avoid surprise charges).

I, for one, have a prepaid “$15 Connect by TMO UNL Talk&Text” plan that is not supposed to work at all outside of the US. Now, if I travel to the Dominican Republic, for example, how do I know if I can use WiFi calling there? Will all US texts and calls have no fee, as the table says? Or will WiFi calling be blocked anyway because the SIM card should not work in that country in the first place? I know, technically WiFi calling should work in any case, but enabling this function might still be a foremost contractual ability. Not sure if this makes sense how I explained it, but scenarios like this are just not well explained, I can’t be sure about what will happen before traveling.

S

I had the same rude shock after making two direct calls from the U.S. to Europe.  I have been very happy with the T-Mobile plans for coverage outside of the U.S but didn’t expect this at all since it was not something I was informed about when signing up for my plan.  It is undoubtedly buried somewhere in the fine print but no salesperson mentioned it when I was signing up.  It also doesn’t help that the page on the T-mobile website where you can calculate international dialing rates is broken.Calling Abroad | Stateside International Services | T-Mobile  No matter what country you type into the box you get back a message that it cannot be found. Probably just a coincidence but T-Mobile, with which I have been very happy could do a much better job of transparency on this particular matter.  $3.00 a minute for an international call is something from another era.  

J

T mobile just charged me $5.99 a minute for wifi calls to US numbers when the plan clearly states wifi calling to us numbers:no fee! $215 for a 38 minute call!!! They hit me with $400 in extra charges and I see I’m not the only one… we should get an attorney and get together!

L

I was duped into purchasing the Stateside International Talk plan that you can add for $15 a month. To my surprised Jamaica was not part of the plan. Even though the agent was the one that told me I should purchase it when she saw I was in Jamaica and make a few calls. She claimed it would be free. When I saw my bill it was over $1000!! I was in shock and had to fight to get my bill reduced. 

 

After some time they finally took the charges off, however I am shocked to see the $3.00 charges on my bill from calls that weren't even officially connected. I also see the same charges for WIFI and Data. Why tell me the difference if you are going to charge me $3 anyway?? These phone companies are already making billions off of us. Why charge us so much for this??? 

drnewcomb
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….. Why charge us so much for this??? 

I don;t really know unless: 1) It’s a ploy to get you to sign up for the $15/mo add-on international calling feature or 2) When you’re domestic roaming T-Mobile gets charged a lot for these calls by some roaming partners (cough Commnet cough). I just use GV for any overseas calls.

I don't speak for T-Mobile.
N

If you’re in the US and use Wi-Fi calling to call internationally, you are still subject to your plans long distance charges. When you’re outside the US, you can use Wi-Fi calling to call back to the US for free. 

Incoming international calls are treated the same as any other incoming call, they are included in your plan.

There is a feature called Stateside International Talk that you can add on your plan for $15 a month that gives you free or discounted calling to other countries. Here’s a link to the feature that lets you check if the countries you’re calling are included:https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/international-calling#check-rates

 I am still charged for Wi-fi calling even with statside international talk .. interesting 

N

It is not clear and different answers from different representatives..

 

when there is no plan .. asking us to enable plan.. if we already have plan then they say it will not cover for wi-fi calling

 

making loop holes to make money 

 

drnewcomb
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Userlevel 7
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 I am still charged for Wi-fi calling even with statside international talk .. interesting 

 

There are some calls that Stateside-International does not cover or only discounts.

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/international-calling

I don't speak for T-Mobile.

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