Is the data capped, or throttled? Is the coverage where the free roaming is included limited?
It is tempting as it does seem to include the 3 countries I split my year between (UK, Norway & Spain), but it is £2 to £4 more per month than my current Giffgaff sim.
Points of interest:
* Unlimited data in the UK translates to 25GB
* "Three reserves the right to suspend the international roaming when in a selected destination if the customer’s use exceeds any of the above limits for two (2) months within a twelve (12) month period. The service will be reinstated once the customer returns to the UK."
* "This offer is intended to be used by UK residents travelling abroad, and Three reserves the right to suspend the service in the event the UK allowance is used exclusively abroad for three (3) months within a twelve (12) month period."
Three UK have a complicated abuse checker implemented. For every calendar month, if you spend time roaming on a Feel At Home partner network you must also have your SIM register on the Three network in the UK at some point in that calendar month.
Failure to do that for 3 times in a rolling 12 months will automatically end your roaming privileges.
That implementation is designed to prevent someone buying a Three UK SIM and using it as a global traveling SIM. It's designed for people who instead travel between the UK and other destinations frequently. (i.e. their SIM will check in on the UK network at least once per calendar month)
It's not small print in as much as it's very clearly stated on their website.
I split my time between the UK and Italy, with some work in Hong Kong & the US - therefore it's perfect for me. I don't run over and pay approx £30 a month regardless of travel on a sim only, month by month plan. I do have one of their old sims though which has unlimited everything.
The only point of note I guess is that the internet is a little slow in Italy but then I'm also comparing that to my Italian 4G phone on Wind. Long story short, it's an excellent deal which has played a major part in keeping me retained as a customer.
On the other hand, Three usually allows tethering in the home country of the contract, and also offers contracts on mobile broadband devices.
Three Ireland currently don't do this for Three Ireland accounts, though tethering is prohibited on All You Can Eat by policy, not by network infra.
All I can say is that I've been to the UK and used my laptop with no issues and that I'll try in Spain in a couple of months.
Anyway, you are much more informed than me in this area, so I'll shut up now :)
In the end I just got a local Three SIM, I think it was ~£6 for 700mb. Trying to find free wifi (without 30 minute access restrictions) in Hong Kong was impossible...
Data is plentiful ( up to 25GB ) but subjectively I found it quite slow
No tethering from iPhones... a real shit and I don't know why they structured it this way
Phone calls are inclusive if you're calling UK phone numbers. Great if you're calling your wife or mates. Calls to local numbers in the country you are staying are not included.
All in all an excellent package. It covers a lot of very common use cases although not truly everything. Costs absolutely slashed.