To: BC who wrote (3 ) 12/17/1999 11:13:00 AM From: Rupert Read Replies (1) | Respond to
(OT) After researching GRIC, just out of interest I thought I'd contact my ISP, AT&T Worldnet to see if they offer global roaming service. You'd think someone like AT&T would be able to offer me global roaming so, for example, if I go on a trip to Germany for a month with my laptop I'd be able to dial into the Internet using a local phone number. Actually, they don't. Which seems a bit ironic considering that AT&T's consumer internet service is called "Worldnet". To access AT&T Worldnet from Germany I'd have to dial an access number in the US. And of course pay for the international call. To get global roaming service from AT&T I'd have to sign up with their completely separate AT&T Business Internet Service, which would mean getting a different email account, different dial-up software, and differnet billing. Seems like for about $30 a month, this would give me 150 hours of free Internet access (you get charged for additional hours) but there is a per hour surcharge for global roaming. I was told by their customer service that the charge for dialing in to the Net via an AT&T access number in Germany would be $4 an hour (plus any local phone charge which may not be flat rate like in the US). I could get a cheaper monthly plan but then the surcharge goes up to $9 per hour global roaming. In other words it is highly inconvenient and seems quite expensive, but I'll have to check how those roaming charges compare with AOL's and MindSpring's. gric.com
