Tep Wireless (www.tepwireless.com) has extended its reach to 17 more countries, offering global travellers unlimited, affordable internet access without the risk of running up extortionate mobile phone bills.

Tep Wireless’ coverage has now been increased so that users can remain connected starting from £4 a day when travelling to any one of the following countries: Brazil, the USA, South Africa, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and UAE.

The Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania service from Tep is available to rent by country and is a complement to the existing European-wide service, which grants travellers uninterrupted service throughout Europe.

Whether they want to keep track of email, Facebook, Twitter or even stream music and video while travelling, Tep Wireless provides a much more cost-effective solution for travellers than established mobile carriers, putting an end to holiday horror stories about ‘bill shock’.

There’s no need to visit an internet cafe or pay for hotel wifi – users can connect to the web 24/7 via local 3G networks using their own computer, tablet or smartphone via the Tep Wireless pocket wifi device.

Customers simply rent the device, get it delivered to them before they leave on their trip, and use it when abroad – avoiding the risk of being hit by an enormous bill when they get back home. Once the trip is over, they just pop the pocket wifi device in the provided envelope and send it back to Tep Wireless.

Up to five internet-enabled devices can be connected to the pocket wifi which also tells you exactly how much data you’ve used in real time, so you’ll know if you’re getting close to your download limits. Users can choose to automatically top up their accounts when data is running low, or buy extra data in 1 GB chunks.

“Now that Tep covers more than 55 nations and territories worldwide there’s no reason to pay inflated roaming prices for internet access with limited usage while travelling abroad,” said Tomas Mendoza, Managing Director of Tep Wireless.

“With the additional coverage areas, we have increased data allowances to give consumers more of what they want, 24/7 connectivity. By offering the Tep Pocket wifi for rent in a specific country we are able to provide the best possible price for connectivity abroad.”

Pricing depends on the length of time the Tep Wireless pocket wifi device is rented for and the country the user is travelling to. The longer a customer rents the device, the more data is included and the cheaper it gets – see table below for new country pricing. There is also an unlimited option – perfect for those who want to stream videos and download music wherever they are – which costs an additional £4.95 per day.

For example, the price for a 15 day pocket wifi rental in any one of the 17 new countries will run to £55 with 2.5 GB of data included. Tep Wireless’ solution is much more cost-effective when compared to the International Data plans from Three and Vodafone, which will cost a customer £7,500 and £505 respectively for the same amount of data usage.

Add on Tep’s unlimited data plan for £4.95/day, for a 15 day trip, and total cost for unlimited mobile internet in any of the 17 countries offered will run to £129.25 or £8.62/day. So, for far less than Three, Vodafone or any other major UK network – see below below – customers can work, download or stream their way to more than 55 destinations with no data fears.

Mobile phone users in the UK face charges of around £6 per MB of data when travelling outside of the EU if they’re on O2’s network, and £8 per MB on Orange’s network. T-Mobile customers fare slightly better, with £10 buying 10MB, while Vodafone customers have to pay £15 per 5MB.