MANILA, Philippines – Globe on Tuesday, October 1, announced new features for its international roaming service, GoRoam, which allows Globe users to connect using their local sim to an international network.
Globe said it had added 4 new countries — Japan, Canada, Australia, and Vietnam — where users can avail of GoRoam promos, at “close-to-local” rates. The telco positions the service as one that will allow travelers to do away the need to buy a SIM at the destination country, at friendly rates.
While international travel SIM cards and e-SIMs are viable options for travelers, Globe says they’re offering competitive rates. For example, an e-SIM service such as Holafly offers a 10-day unlimited data service at about $37 or about P2,000 in the US. To compare, Globe’s rates for roaming in the US is P2,000 capped at 20GB but you can use it for 15 days as opposed to 10.
In that case, for those staying longer for example but don’t necessarily need unlimited data, the Globe roaming plan may make more sense. At the very least, consumers have options to pick from.
Below is a chart of the GoRoam promos available to Globe Postpaid, Globe Prepaid and TM customers:
The company is also targeting group travelers, announcing its Roam Surf4All promo, which allows up to five users to share the data roaming service more conveniently than just setting up a standard hotspot or using a pocket WiFi. A hotspot requires that users be at a certain distance to one another. Globe’s shared roaming promo doesn’t have that requirement.
Users simply need to add their Globe-using friends or family via the GlobeOne app in order to share the roaming package and connection. The app also allows data limits to be set, and data monitoring.
Another newly announced feature is Advance Booking for roaming. Via the GlobeOne app, users can avail of current data roaming promos, and book them up to a year in advance, “making connectivity one less travel essential to worry about,” the company said.
Once an advanced booking has been made, users need to turn on their mobile data and data roaming once they arrive at the destination country, and the booked promo will automatically activate. The feature’s primary appeal is to allow users to secure a roaming promo as part of travel preparations, as opposed to scrambling to get one after arrival.
“You can easily cancel your booked promo if your trip plans change. If the promo is not activated, postpaid customers will not be charged and prepaid customers will receive a refund,” Globe explained. – Rappler.com
