Remember the days when you dared not use your mobile phone in Europe because you were going to have to mortgage your house to pay the cell phone bill when you got home? These days weren't that long ago. U.S. wireless companies have finally begun to recognize the awful options they presented to their customers who travel to Europe frequently and have rolled out a few programs to help.

T-Mobile (News - Alert) USA recently announced a plan called “T-Mobile Open Europe” that will provide business customers with unlimited data, including up to 500 MB full-speed data, within 28 European countries with no international roaming tolls. The plan, which is available for a flat $50 per line, was intended by T-Mobile USA to complement the company’s existing portfolio of international offers and solutions for business customers including: Wi-Fi Calling for Business, T-Mobile Global for Business and T-Mobile Global Corporate Access, according to a press release.

The Global Business Travel Association estimates that American business travelers will take 437.9 million trips costing approximately $265.5 billion by the end of 2012. Most of these business travelers will require the use of their mobile phones, including increasing amounts of data usage. Many companies whose employees travel in Europe regularly have faced difficulties when it comes to the challenge of international mobility, and not long ago, options were limited. Companies today are looking for ways to reduce and control the high costs associated with international data roaming.

“Of the millions of international trips U.S. business travelers make each year, a significant portion are made to European countries,” said Frank Sickinger, vice president, business sales at T-Mobile USA. “For these customers, our new T-Mobile Open Europe data feature dramatically reduces costly international data roaming tolls, controls the risk of data roaming ‘bill shock’, and provides data connectivity required to conduct business from London to Moscow – all for a predictable $50 monthly fee.”

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