Is O2 roaming worth bothering with?

[jimthing0]

AFAIUI, all roaming (Europe or elsewhere) is limited to just a 500 Kbps speed cap. 

So regardless of having "O2 Travel" or "O2 Travel Inclusive Zone", there is no point in having either, as your data will be so slow as to be unusable.

[I've used even basic things like email and map apps in various countries, and Mbps speeds are essential to have even basic things work fluidly and quickly.]

For example, I was in Italy last year for two weeks (almost nothing worked on O2 whilst there), and in USA year before that (again, almost nothing worked on O2 whilst there) – nor did it for the people I was with on O2 too; so this was not my personal O2 account issue, but clearly one with the whole of O2. 

So from a customer perspective (clearly from O2's perspective; it's a sales ploy), what exactly is the point of O2 Travel and/or O2 Travel Inc. Zone bolt-ons, at all? Presumably I'm correct for data, but what about voice calls/texts? 

[pgn]

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@jimthing0 wrote:

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@pgn wrote:

Three roaming products:

Europe Zone

O2 Travel Inclusive Zone (Tariff or Volt dependent)

O2 Travel (£6.00 per day)

That doc actually refers to all Travel bolt-ons and zones, as it's the only travel-related T+C doc in the whole of the Mobile T+C's list for monthly, here: 

https://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/mobile 

• O2 Travel terms and conditions - if you're using O2 Travel on or after 17 June 2022

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There is a separate one for the Europe Zone: https://www.o2.co.uk/roamfairuse

The O2 Travel Inclusive Zone also references O2 Travel (£6/day) but nothing yet I can see re speed rate-limiting: https://www.o2.co.uk/international/travel-inclusive-zone

And the gotcha T&Cs: https://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/mobile/our-pay-monthly-tariff-terms-march-2023

[jimthing0]

More digging, lol... thanks for your inputs BTW! 

Found another interesting doc [hidden link off the T+C's; 4.9 "Data Charges" here, called "KFI (Key Facts Indicator)"] that clarifies one thing but not another: 

https://www.o2.co.uk/documents/456036/4286191/traffic_management_0222.pdf/cb77700a-de0f-8273-26b7-dc...

"4.9   We reserve the right to use appropriate traffic shaping or throttling measures to protect our network from types of data usage which we think might impact on levels of service for other customers. This may happen at specific times of day and/or in specific locations. We may impose network protection controls which may reduce your speed, remove access to your tariff allowances or Bolt Ons, impose further charges to your account, and/or disconnect your SIM card at any time. Information about traffic shaping and throttling can be found in our KFI (Key Facts Indicator) on our website. If we reasonably suspect you're not behaving within this policy, we reserve the right to impose further charges or disconnect your SIM card or your tariff at any time, having attempted to contact you first."

KFI link to pdf doc "O2 MOBILE BROADBAND TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT KEY FACTS INDICATOR": 

"Roaming outside our Europe Zone: 

O2 Travel and O2 Travel Inclusive customers roaming in O2 Travel destinations outside our Europe Zone will be provided with throughput of up to 500kbps for data services, which may slow some services down."

So while that means Travel and Travel Inc Zone throttles all data use to 500Kbps, the question left is, what speed control's are when in Europe – none at all, thus only slows when connected to busy nearby mobile connection, or something else?

They kind of leave it open to interpretation, don't they. 

So then the final question most users will be asking is this question: 

If an O2 user has both "Travel" and "Travel Inc. Zone" bolt-ons on their plan, what does removing them restrict/remove for non-data services?

[jimthing0]

If an O2 user has both "Travel" and "Travel Inc. Zone" bolt-ons on their plan, what does removing them restrict/remove for non-data services? 

Read the various links, but am confused if non-data stuff is affected at all.