It's good to see Three taking a step in the right direction and adding in a roaming package that includes minutes, texts and data. That's something they (and other networks) have been lacking for a number of years.

It certainly is an unbeatable deal if you look specifically at the countries mentioned. The good thing is that Three offer their feel like home package across all tariffs including pay as you go and mobile broadband without the need to pay extra. Something that other networks haven't fully covered. But 7 countries really isn't enough. Especially when you consider that Three don't offer anything other than standard rate in other countries.

This is where other networks have it covered, for example Vodafone have their Euro traveler, EE have their excellent minutes and texts roaming packages and O2 have their travel package.

It would be good to see Three expand this plan (or a similar plan to Vodafone) in other countries. It seems they may expand into more European countries in H1 2014 but it's all in the planning stages right now.

I think next year is going to be interesting once the new EU roaming regulations come into place.

Will there be any notifications that you are now on a network from another country, or will the network ID still stay as 3?

I assume it'll work the same way it always does where you get a text message explaining the feel like home plan but the network displayed will be the roaming partner.

The good thing about this plan compared to the old Three like home is that you can roam on any network in the 7 countries listed. You do not specifically need to be connected to the Three network, so for example i could roam onto "Wind" in Italy and would still be able to take full advantage of the roaming plan.

I know when I went to France recently the network name changed from vodafone UK to SFR so I'm assuming it'll be the same for 3 where the network name will change to the network you're roaming on

Cheek

Just get a Greek SIM - 1GB of data for €10 on PAYG when I was there in March

Only kidding you onIt would be great to use our phone tarrifs in these other countrys(hopefully spain pretty soon)When i was in majorca last year,i had the 3 network £5 euro daily pass,so it cost me £60 for my 12 day holiday

Ooo...been there a hundred times and never thought about doing that!!

What network was that if you can remember?

Why is it poor? It works in Australia.

It also works in Ireland, Austria, Italy, Denmark, Sweden -not bad for Europe.

It is an "enhanced" offer after all as in the old day you had to roam with a Three partner network.

For other countries and network get yourself a Togglemobile SIM.

Wind.
It's something like €5 for 500MB but if you can activate it online you get even more for your money.

The coverage was decent too, had 3G pretty much everywhere I went.

I use Wind when i go to Crete with 3.

Will get one when i go! Thanks again

You're welcome.

My other half is Greek and she picked the network/tariff, so it should be a pretty decent deal.

It might only be to a few countries, but if it covers what you're after then it's a fantastic deal. With a significant coverage expansion in Northern Ireland as part of the MBNL roll out this year, 3 could quite easily promote itself very well for users in NI who regularly go cross-border or who live in border areas (something that O2 was very successful in) especially if "like home" isn't network dependent. My spare 3 UK sim could get a lease of life again if data on it could be used in the Republic at no extra cost.

3 Like Home was a decent job when I was in Australia for several months back in 2008 though it did suffer from a lack of coverage outside the main cities and also billing problems, these were soon rectified after a couple of queries. Interestingly I see that the proposal for the return of 3 UK's Like Home includes PAYG sims for Australia, which the original Like Home offer didn't have (contract only), not to mention that Hutchinson have semi-withdrawn from the Australian market now with the partnership with Vodafone there. But if it becomes true, I could see some 3 UK sim cards being shipped out to expats down under as a convenient way to keep in touch without needing the likes of Skype or calling cards.

Yep, so just to confirm. It is no longer network dependent. So you can roam on any network in that country and still get access to the three like home offer. So it's a lot better because it means coverage should be much better and you don't need to constantly check which network you're on.

The Three like home offer is only for UK residents though. If you ship a pay as you go sim to Australia for someone to use they'll get cut off after 3 months.

Fair use is basically no more than 3 months continuous use in a 12 month period according to T&C's.

Also you have a fair use of 25GB data per month on AYCE.

Hmmm, I was in Australia for over half a year back in 2008/09 with Like Home without any issues. In saying that there was no AYCE data then. That would be a concern for anyone on a contract but for PAYG, depending on what you do you could simply go to using a new SIM if the other one was disconnected - only really a hassle if many people were calling you on to the 3UK sim, if it's a handful or less you could just text them the new number.

Yup, according to what i've been told the 3 months limit is there so people aren't just buying PAYG sims and then living abroad or whatever for the next 10 years :P

Well not just Down Under - I can see problems closer to home. I'm thinking of Northern Irish students that go to university in the Republic who might think their 3 UK sim will be fine during their stay in Dublin, Cork, Galway etc. during term time. Also workers who live in NI but cross the border to work. Plenty of people in around Derry & Strabane work (no jokes, please!) in Co. Donegal, those from Newry into Dundalk, those conducting regular business trips between Belfast and Dublin (IIRC one poster on this thread regularly commutes between these two cities taking advantage of 3IRL's Like Home service which unlike its British counterpart was never discontinued, only recently amended for new customers) etc. This wasn't a problem during the original Like Home offer provided you were in the coverage of 3IRL but if there is a "fair use" which would cause problems for those who regularly cross the border between the two jurisdictions, 3UK would do very well to emphasise this or face a shitstorm once customers start getting their service cut off.

Commuting or regularly travelling between two countries wouldn't be an issue because you'd be back on your home network all the time.
It's people who are roaming non-stop for months at a time that the policy is designed to prevent.

As far as i'm aware it's 3 month continuous usage.

Could be wrong.

Or, like throttling, it won't be imposed.....could be wrong.

I myself use a Three Ireland number as my main number for data and voice in Belfast continuously for the last 7 years.....

It's for UK residents who travel. This is quite simply to stop the French or Irish coming over here, getting a sim and then taking it back and using it on roaming permanently.

3 months as a very long travel period for "roaming", meaning temporarily using your phone in another country.

Well, the Irish wont be looking one as Three Ireland deals on PAYG are much better than yours and have always been part of the Three Like Home scheme.

I used a Tre ITA SIM in Ireland and the UK for three years without problem or penalty, though I concede that this may be a new move to prevent that kind of use.

Any news on this as it's now the 27th

Exactly!

Well the official package should be active now if you go over to any three like home country.

No online confirmation yet. If you want 100% confirmation then just ring up customer services and ask them as i believe telesales were briefed on it recently.