MSE News: 'Free' mobile roaming in the EU starts on Thursday

glocal

Thanks for these. What confuses things is that if you have a talktime/SMS allowance you are better off calling a German number while roaming in France (in my example) than from home. I suppose then if you live near a border with another EU/EEA country, it's better to switch occasionally to roaming to make international calls to other EU/EEA numbers. That's unless free roaming can't apply on the same day you connected to your home network (a restriction I saw mentioned but in my experience Three doesn't enforce).

d123

glocal wrote: »

Thanks for these. What confuses things is that if you have a talktime/SMS allowance you are better off calling a German number while roaming in France (in my example) than from home. I suppose then if you live near a border with another EU/EEA country, it's better to switch occasionally to roaming to make international calls to other EU/EEA numbers. That's unless free roaming can't apply on the same day you connected to your home network (a restriction I saw mentioned but in my experience Three doesn't enforce).

The EU wanted to implement a single market for telecoms, I presume if they had the power to regulate home use we might well be allowed to make calls to EEA countries from our allowances, unfortunately they can only regulate on roaming use.

As you say, a person living near a border could indeed have allowance calls to all of the EEA if they could use a roaming network signal.

NI and Eire networks comes to mind.

That's unless free roaming can't apply on the same day you connected to your home network (a restriction I saw mentioned but in my experience Three doesn't enforce)

I haven't seen that anywhere in the EU Regs, and it wouldn't make sense. By that standard a person getting on a plane at 1am and landing elsewhere in the EEA 3 hours later wouldn't be allowed to roam until midnight which is obviously not how it works.

Ian011

There is mention of "same day", but it's to do with a separate issue.

Within the EEA roaming regulations provision is made for people who live in one EEA country and commute across the border to another EEA country. As long as they connect to their home network at some point each day, they are not subject to the "use your phone abroad no more than X number of days within a certain period" rule.

AndyMcEwan

I recently called my brother in France using my mobile phone as I thought well if it costs the same to call home from France while on holiday there then the same should apply in reverse, according to my provider EE it doesn't, as these are classed as international calls??? I don't understand how can it be cheaper to call the UK from France using my minutes etc, but cost a fortune (refunded after a call to EE customer care)to call France from the UK.

eDicky

AndyMcEwan wrote: »

I recently called my brother in France using my mobile phone as I thought well if it costs the same to call home from France while on holiday there then the same should apply in reverse, according to my provider EE it doesn't, as these are classed as international calls??? I don't understand how can it be cheaper to call the UK from France using my minutes etc, but cost a fortune (refunded after a call to EE customer care)to call France from the UK.

It's very simple - the new EU regulations apply only when you are roaming; when you are in UK and make a call to another country you are not roaming and the normal international tariff applies. You were fortunate to receive a refund. Just use a cheap method of calling overseas, there are many.

d123

AndyMcEwan wrote: »

I recently called my brother in France using my mobile phone as I thought well if it costs the same to call home from France while on holiday there then the same should apply in reverse, according to my provider EE it doesn't, as these are classed as international calls??? I don't understand how can it be cheaper to call the UK from France using my minutes etc, but cost a fortune (refunded after a call to EE customer care)to call France from the UK.

The EU cannot apply the regulations to national markets, i.e. At home.

The key is the fact that they are Roaming Regulations makes that point.

Eurotraveller2

I have just been charged £1.25 for a call from UK to France. O2 claims roaming regulations does not cover calls from home country elsewhere in Eu. In their answer to me they said Roaming is general term .... when travelling outside the geographical coverage of the home network by MEANS of using a visited network.

[Deleted User]

Eurotraveller2 wrote: »

I have just been charged £1.25 for a call from UK to France. O2 claims roaming regulations does not cover calls from home country elsewhere in Eu. In their answer to me they said Roaming is general term .... when travelling outside the geographical coverage of the home network by MEANS of using a visited network.

Did you not even bother to read the 2 posts immediately before yours?

d123

Eurotraveller2 wrote: »

I have just been charged £1.25 for a call from UK to France. O2 claims roaming regulations does not cover calls from home country elsewhere in Eu. In their answer to me they said Roaming is general term .... when travelling outside the geographical coverage of the home network by MEANS of using a visited network.

Try reading the thread.

Why would you even think you were roaming if you are on your home network???

pmduk

Eurotraveller2 wrote: »

I have just been charged £1.25 for a call from UK to France. O2 claims roaming regulations does not cover calls from home country elsewhere in Eu. In their answer to me they said Roaming is general term .... when travelling outside the geographical coverage of the home network by MEANS of using a visited network.

o2 is correct, as is their definition of roaming, You were making an international call from your home network which isn't covered by the regs,