Tello (T-Mobile) Free international Calling/Texts

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Looks like Tello just added free international calling and texts to 60+ countries using your plan minutes. I have not seen an official announcement yet, but their website has been updated to reflect it.
I love this company, since I joined 4 years ago, the pricing has gone down twice and now free international calling as well to those that have a plan that includes minutes. Note if you don't have minutes included in your plan and call using PAYG you will pay for these calls at PAYG rates. Also some countries are free for landline calls only.
Since they have not announced it yet, they may still be making changes but here the the page as it looks right now.

https://tello.com/free-international-countries

If anyone is interested in joining Tello PM me for a $10 new customer code plus they are currently offering buy 1st month and get 2nd month free. No contracts, you can bail at any time if it doesn't work for you.

 

[tulak]

What about international data use?

I tried to look on their site and couldn’t find anything.

International calling/texting is nice, but with apps like Whatsapp, I find that I rarely need to call or text someone over the cell network, but I use data a lot when traveling.

This is one of the main reasons I use T-Mobile. I have a family plan, so the costs are low ($30-$40 per line). If I didn’t use T-Mobile, I’d go with Google Fi. The only downside with T-Mobile is data is lower speed outside of North America, where Google Fi is high speed, but you pay for the data that you use.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Don't know about international data use but will keep an eye out for their announcement on these changes and see if it's mentioned.
I know in the parts of Europe and the UK free Wifi is everywhere. My son traveled for 3 weeks with no data or phone plan just using Wifi for his data/ Google Voice and Facebook calls. I never had a problem getting a hold of him at any time.
Personally I have a data only plan for $5 and use free Google Voice for all my calls. I manually renew my plan each month to keep my unused data, and I currently have over 7 GB of data. I do have a small PAYG balance for emergency calling, that started at $20 over two years ago.

 

[gauss]

Do I have to be in the USA to place a call, or are you suggesting this could be used for free Roaming while traveling internationally?

The latter would be much more valuable for me.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I think for now it's only outgoing calls and texts to other countries. I would not be surprised if they offered an International Roaming plan at some point since T-Mobile has one.

 

[Sunset]

Earlier someone posted about https://hellomobile.com/register/plans

Plans start as low as $5/mo great if don't need much data, and include calling to foreign countries. Of course they have higher priced plans for big data users.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Earlier someone posted about https://hellomobile.com/register/plans

Plans start as low as $5/mo great if don't need much data, and include calling to foreign countries. Of course they have higher priced plans for big data users.

If I was to move from Tello I would probably go the them, they include unlimited data/minutes/500MB in that $5 plan. They do charge $15 for using your phone as a mobile hotspot which is free with Tello.
It's just amazing to me that we can get prepaid plans for next to nothing while others pay a small fortune for the "name brand" contract plan.

 

[tulak]

These aren’t equivalent plans compared to major players. It depends on how you use your phone. I care little about phone capabilities. Texting is more important, but many of the people I talk with are on Whatsapp or iMessage, which both use data.

If I could get a cheap plan that is data only and works internationally, then I’d be happy. I could then use Google Voice for the rare times I need to talk or text over the cell network. Unfortunately, that plan doesn’t exist.

In the meantime, I pay $30/month for unlimited voice/text and 2GB data that works internationally (high speed in North America). Netflix included. If I want unlimited data, then it’s $40/month (or specifically, if I go over 2GB in a billing period). This includes unlimited tethering. That’s a great deal IMO and is with a major cell carrier (T-Mobile).

 

[stephenson]

I think T Mobile has free, at least in Europe, data - it was one of the hallmarks of their service vs other competitors - friends who are airline pilots always had a T Mobile phone as it was pretty transparent in operation - not fast, but worked well.

 

[tulak]

I think T Mobile has free, at least in Europe, data - it was one of the hallmarks of their service vs other competitors - friends who are airline pilots always had a T Mobile phone as it was pretty transparent in operation - not fast, but worked well.

Yes, they have free international data. It’s at slower speeds and works reasonably well. I use this regularly (or did pre-covid) when traveling in Europe and Asia.

 

[zinger1457]

Just got an email from Tello confirming the free International calling. Pretty good deal, for $10/mo get unlimited calls/text and 1GB data and now International calls.

We’ve unleashed FREE
international calls!

Just when you thought Tello plans couldn't get any better… they just got better. Every Tello phone plan just got an upgrade, free of charge!

We’re so happy to announce that

international calling to 60+ countries is now included in every plan.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Yes you can call from anywhere in the world as long as you have WIFI available.
Also the IPHONE issues have now been solved.

https://blog.tello.com/news/wi-fi-calling-is-now-fully-supported-by-tello-mobile/

https://blog.tello.com/news/tello-mobile-has-full-support-for-iphones/

I've been with Tello for 4 years now and they really are a great company and they keep getting better all the time.