Sprint has added seven more countries to its list of nations where customers can get free International Value Roaming at 2G speeds for email and Internet browsing while traveling.
The latest additions are Colombia, Denmark, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Paraguay and Sweden. That now gives Sprint customers 22 nations where they can get free lower-speed 2G international roaming on their U.S. Sprint devices. The other nations are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Russia, South Korea, Spain and United Kingdom.
Under the International Value Roaming plan, Sprint customers can also send unlimited text messages for no extra charge and can call anywhere in the world from these countries for 20 cents per minute, the company said in a May 15 announcement. There is no extra charge to participate in the plan.
“With summer vacations about to begin, we wanted to ensure our customers can stay connected while traveling internationally,” Tom Roberts, the senior vice president of marketing for Sprint, said in a statement. “Sprint International Value Roaming is now available in many of the most popular travel destinations in the world including Mexico, Japan, Italy, United Kingdom and more. Sprint offers our customers a great value with free international data roaming and unlimited text messaging, and we will continue to add more countries.”
Sprint customers who want faster speeds for email or Internet browsing can also choose to pay for faster services up to 3G while traveling using Sprint International Speed Data Roaming options that can be purchased for one day, seven days or two weeks. A one-day pass includes 100MB of data for $15, while a seven-day pass includes 200MB of data for $25. A 14-day pass includes 500MB of data and costs $50.
Sprint customers can also use free WiFi calling in more than 200 countries when they are calling back to the United States on compatible devices, which include the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s and select Android devices.
In April, Sprint announced its Sprint Direct 2 You service that makes buying a new smartphone easier for its customers. Under Sprint Direct 2 You, a company employee personally drives a new phone to the customer, shows how to set it up and use it, migrates a user’s contacts and other data from the old phone to the new one, and helps with other questions about the device.
Earlier in April, Sprint unveiled WiFi calling capabilities for customers who are using the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S smartphones, according to an earlier eWEEK report. Sprint Android customers have been able to make WiFi calls since February 2014. The expanded service for iPhone owners can be used anywhere there is a WiFi hotspot, according to the company.
The big four mobile carriers—Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile—are always jockeying in the marketplace to lure new customers by providing broadened services, more data and lower monthly service rates.