A Traveler’s Guide to Taking a Smartphone Abroad

​​The summer travel season will soon be upon us, with notions of escape, unplugging and faraway lands.

​If you are going on holiday or working in another country, you might be worried 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 2014 include:

• A maximum price of 19 cent per minute  for roaming calls that you make and 5 cent per minute for calls received
• A Euro SMS tariff - a price cap of 6 cent to send a text message while roaming.  Receiving a SMS message is free of charge.
• A Euro data tariff has been introduced when using mobile internet, which will cost no more than 20 cents per MegaByte
• An automatic €50 cut-off limit to prevent you 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 huge data roaming bills and operators must now send you a warning once you reach 80% of your data roaming billing limit.

All of the prices above exclude VAT.
Things to do before you go awayIf 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 internet through your phone, ask what the data charges will be. If you are going to the USA, Canada, Central or South American countries, don’t assume your phone will work there. In some countries it may be cheaper to buy a very basic pay-as-you-go handset.

• 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 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 awayOnce you switch on your phone abroad:

• Choose one of two options for connecting to your mobile network:

1. automatic network selection - which will find the strongest, although not necessarily the cheapest, network, or,
2. manual network selection - which lets you select the foreign network your provider at home has recommended.

• Text, don’t call. In EU 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 calls. But if you want to call home, it could be expensive as there are charges for making an international call. You could ask people in Ireland to call you on your new number so that it costs you nothing.  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 ferryDepending 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
- See more at: http://www.consumerhelp.ie/roaming#sthash.gdRNKjsp.dpuf