Roaming and keeping in touch while abroad

If you are going on holiday or working in another country, you might worry about running up large mobile phone bills. But roaming charges have come down in the last few years and you are also protected by EU Roaming Regulations which set a maximum cost to consumers for calls and texts, and a cap on data roaming charges, throughout the EU.

EU Roaming rules from 1 July 2011 include:

A maximum price of 35 cent per minute (excluding VAT) for roaming calls that you make and 11 cent per minute for calls received
A “Euro SMS tariff” - a price cap of 11 cent to send a SMS text message while roaming. Receiving a SMS message is free of charge.
An automatic €50 cut-off limit to prevent users from accidentally running up very large data roaming charges using smartphones. You can remove or increase this limit by contacting your network operator. This limit goes some way to protecting you from bill shocks - and operators must now send you a warning once you reach 80% of your data roaming billing limit.

Things to do before you go away

If you plan to use your phone outside Ireland, check with your provider if your phone will work abroad and what the charges will be for voice calls, texts and data. If you plan to access the web through your phone, ask what the data charges will be. If you are going to the USA, Canada, Central and South American countries, don’t assume your phone will work there. In some countries it may make more sense to buy a cheap and very basic pay-as-you-go handset which comes pre-loaded with minutes.

Use the Roaming Calculator on CallCosts.ie to calculate the costs of calls and texts while away. See if your operator has a special roaming package that might work out cheaper.
Check with your operator what the preferred or recommended network is for the cheapest roaming charges and what network name will be displayed on your phone for that network
If you are a pre-pay customer, top up before you go - and don’t forget you can usually top-up online while you are away.

When you are away

Once you switch on your phone abroad:

Choose one of two options for connecting to your mobile network:
automatic network selection - which will find the strongest, although not necessarily the cheapest, network, or,
manual network selection - which lets you select the foreign network your provider at home has recommended.
Text, don’t call. In most countries there is no charge for receiving a text message, and the cost of sending one is generally much lower than making a call. Ask people to send you texts instead of calling you when you are away.
Take note of the free number that you will be sent to call your operator for roaming price information. This comes with your welcome message.
Using local payphones to make calls may save you money. Check the rates first, and find out if the cost is reduced by using a pre-paid phone card. Avoid making calls from hotel phones - they are usually very expensive.
Buy a local SIM card. If you travel to another country frequently, consider buying a local pre-paid SIM card for that country so you only pay the local operator’s rates for your local outgoing calls. You will need to ask people in Ireland to call you on your new number so that it costs you nothing – however, there will be charges for making an international call. If you want to call home, it might be more expensive to use your local SIM card than using your Irish phone so it might be best to use it only to make your local calls and receive calls. You might need to ‘unlock’ your handset to use a local SIM card. Ask your operator before you go.
Be smart with your smart phone. Before you go, ask your operator if data roaming is available where you are going, and how much it costs. Some operators have special offers and reduced cost packages for data roaming, so ask how much it costs per day and decide if you think it’s worth it.
Think about leaving your smartphone’s data roaming switched off and only switch it on when you need it. You can also use free wifi to use your smartphone when you are away. Avoid downloading movies when data roaming. Even watching a short video clip can cost a lot. If possible, don’t download attachments when checking emails.
Consider switching off your voicemail. Receiving a voicemail while roaming in the EU is now free. But you may still be charged for listening to the message.

Using your phone on a plane or ferry

Depending on your airline, it may be possible to use your phone while in the air. Similarly, if you are on a cruise or ferry, you may be able to connect to the ship’s network.

However, it will usually cost you a lot of money as both of these facilities require a satellite connection to give you a phone signal. Ask a crew member for full details before you start using your phone.

Check out more information on roaming at www.callcosts.ie