How to reduce the costs of roaming

While using your mobile phone abroad is more expensive than at home, this should not deter you from keeping in touch with family and friends if you take practical steps to minimise charges.

 

When you switch on your mobile phone abroad or when you move around, your phone can automatically select a network which may not be the cheapest option for you. To avoid this possibility, you should always have your phone set to manually select a network from those available. This will enable you to personally select the network which is the best value for you. From 1 July 2010, if travelling within the EU the maximum price on any network is 47c per minute for making a call and 18c per minute to receive a call. To send a text is 13c and to receive a text is free.  You should be aware that all the networks that your handset detects may not be available to you as your mobile operator may not have a roaming agreement with them.

 

 

Your operator’s website and customer care department can provide you with the most up to date information on costs before travelling and can let you know what is the cheapest network to use when abroad. If travelling within the EU, there is a maximum price limit you can be charged (see above). Go to the EU destinations page for further information.

 

 

Know how to use your voicemail abroad. From 1 July 2010, receipt of a voicemail while roaming in the EU is free.  However, you may be charged for accessing or listening to a voicemail message and the cost is generally the same as the cost of calling home. Check these costs with your operator and check out what you need to do if you wish to disable voicemail while roaming. As with contacting customer care, the usual short code may not work. You need to be aware of the alternative means of accessing voicemail. Contact your operator for details. 

 

Sending text messages rather than making voice calls is usually a cheaper option.  There is no charge for receiving text messages in any of the featured destinations, so you can avoid the cost associated with incoming calls by encouraging usual callers such as friends and family to send you texts.

 

If you intend to use your phone a lot when abroad, you could consider buying a local pre paid SIM card.  Your number will change (it will be the geographic number for the country) but you will only pay the local operator’s rates for your outgoing calls – incoming calls will be free (people will need to be told of your temporary number).  If you wish to use a foreign SIM when abroad then you may need to unlock your handset to do so.  The handset can be unlocked by calling your operator’s customer care department and providing the IMEI number and make of mobile phone.  Please note that it may take a number of days to unlock some handsets. This option may be best suited to heavy users or frequent travellers.  Remember if you use this option the calling party may incur the international calling charge element.

 

You could choose to use a local payphone to make calls but ensure that you check rates prior to using.   Cost may be reduced by using a pre paid phone card.