Google Fi Rolls Out eSIM support for Existing iOS Subscribers

I'm still amazed at how much the US gets charged for cell service. Even Google Fi's plans are expensive compared to what we get this side of the pond.

Meet Google Fi, a different kind of business we'll close down in a few years.

I'm still amazed at how much the US gets charged for cell service. Even Google Fi's plans are expensive compared to what we get this side of the pond.

In Feb. while in India, I purchased a SIM card & 1 month of 1.5GB of daily 1.5GB data for 300 Rupees ($4 USD).

Free international data roaming with both these Google Fi packages?

Am I missing something? Because in that case, it's not a bad deal.

Any catches to this that might be worth highlighting?

If you're a frequent international traveler, Fi is amazing. There's absolutely no additional charge for "roaming". I've used it in Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Portugal, it works great everywhere. You can also get a data-only SIM for your iPad - unlike other carriers, you don't pay "more" to add an iPad, it's just charged as part of your regular data use.

With the other US carriers, you either pay a premium for international roaming, or you can get a local SIM in your destination country, but you can't iMessage using your US-based phone number if you're using a local SIM.

5 lines/$175 for essentially unlimited data (100gb full speed Data with 30gb tethering plus free hbo ). That’s $35/line. Att best plan currently. Remember most post paid customers in USA have access to family plans with employee discounts (last survey says 88% of att customers) have employee discount and or family plans

so would Europeans Consider $35/line for 100gb full speed Data plus tethering expensive? To cover a country as large as USA and Alaska and Hawaii and Puerto Rico?

the people who complain plans are expensive are those on single lines and two lines

but 4-5 lines in USA is pretty affordable.

That's the issue though, you need 5 lines....whereas in Europe you can get that plan on a single line.

It's like saying "when I bundle cable + home phone + internet + security system I can get my internet for $xx". At the end of the day, I may not need cable + home phone + security system, I only need internet. I don't need 5 lines.

I'm still amazed at how much the US gets charged for cell service. Even Google Fi's plans are expensive compared to what we get this side of the pond.

I think it’s partially because of the cost to build and maintain the infrastructure. The US has a much lower population density compared to many (if not most) European countries, making it more expensive per costumer served. According to Wolfram Alpha, the US has ~5x the population of the UK but ~40x the area. I’m not saying that’s the only reason or that people in the US aren’t being ripped off, but that probably helps explaining this discrepancy a bit.

I'm still amazed at how much the US gets charged for cell service. Even Google Fi's plans are expensive compared to what we get this side of the pond.

I agree, moving to the US I found almost everything to be considerably cheaper than in Europe. Except anything related to ISPs and cell providers. Fortunately there’s some good MVNO’s offering fair prices but the prices from the big three are astronomical in my opinion. And to say it’s related to population density might factor somewhat but there’s plenty of sparsely populated countries with affordable service. I think they price gouge because they can. Verizon and AT&T don’t even seem to try and compete on price.