How T-Mobile wanted to change itself but ended up changing the wireless industry
The real trump card, out of T-Mobile&#x27;s many offerings, is the free international roaming for texting and data usage. No other U.S. carrier offers anything nearly as good on that front. To compare:<p>T-Mobile: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.t-mobile.com&#x2F;optional-services&#x2F;roaming.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.t-mobile.com&#x2F;optional-services&#x2F;roaming.html</a> (Free texting, free 2G data in 140 countries, calls 20 cents per minute, 3G data available for a fee; covers every continent except Antartica.)<p>Sprint: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sprint.com&#x2F;landings&#x2F;international-value-roaming&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sprint.com&#x2F;landings&#x2F;international-value-roaming&#x2F;</a> (Gets closest; free roaming in 64 countries and similar price plan, but there are significant gaps: it does not cover most of Europe or Asia, and Africa and the Middle East are notable dead zones)<p>Verizon: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.verizonwireless.com&#x2F;landingpages&#x2F;international-travel&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.verizonwireless.com&#x2F;landingpages&#x2F;international-tr...</a> ($10 day passes, $25 monthly plan that does not include free texting, calls $1.79 a minute, only 100 megs of data)<p>AT&amp;T: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.att.com&#x2F;shop&#x2F;wireless&#x2F;international&#x2F;roaming.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.att.com&#x2F;shop&#x2F;wireless&#x2F;international&#x2F;roaming.html</a> (Cheapest plan $30, only includes 120 megs of data, calls still $1 per minute)<p>The company took its biggest advantage over every other U.S. carrier—its affiliation with a large international mobile conglomerate—and leveraged that into something no other carrier could pull off to the same level of coverage. A brilliant move on their part.<p>I now make a point of recommending people switch to T-Mobile before making a big international trip.