iPhone Unintended Non-U.S. Data Usage--A Second Solution

Yesterday we noted that AT&T will turn off International Roaming on an iPhone so that one does not accrue those huge unintended data charges from non-U.S. telecoms when traveling outside the U.S. or when near the border with Canada or Mexico. All you have to do is call 1-800-335-4685 and ask that International Roaming be turned off for your iPhone's number.

Of course, doing this also renders your iPhone unusable for making calls using International Roaming, essentially making it into an iPod touch for the the duration. For those of you who want to make expensive AT&T International Roaming calls but without the fear of getting a multithousand dollar bill for data usage there is another solution.

Reader Mark Farley wrote that before traveling abroad he calls AT&T and asks that data streaming be turned off for his iPhone. Then, he calls again upon return to the U.S. and has AT&T turn it on again. Doing this also kills visual voice mail but he can still make and receive calls. His voicemail messages are waiting for him when he returns. And his iPhone is susceptible to hijacking if he travels near Canada or Mexico but for some this may be a better solution.

A combination of the two may be better for those of us who live very near the U.S. border, i.e. keep International Roaming off while in the U.S. and have it turned on but data streaming turned off when traveling internationally.

Perhaps, this problem will go away when Apple has network partners in other countries but it is a real nuisance today, potentially a very expensive nuisance. [Bill Fox]