Calling Spain, Poland etc from your UK mobile? Weirdly it's cheaper once you're in th

unforeseen

d123 wrote: »

What is really bizarre is the number of people online that can't get the difference between roaming and home use.

And that includes MSE Staff posting this sort of thing without actually understanding it, considering the resources available to them to ensure what they post is accurate.

It appears the dumbing down is contagious and has spread from the forum members upward

d123

phillw wrote: »

This isn't logical & doesn't match their press release.

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-17-1590_en.htm

"From now on, citizens who travel within the EU will be able to call, text and connect on their mobile devices at the same price as they pay at home. "

In your example calling Poland is not going to be the same price as they pay at home. But it appears that if you dig into the detail then their press release is indeed wrong. If people start taking advantage then the costs to us will go up, or the EU will change the rule.

You have to spend more time at home than you do roaming to qualify though, if you spend more time roaming then your provider can contact you and start charging you roaming fees again.

That's another oversimplified explanation.

Fair use and roaming use is explained in more depth at http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/telecoms-internet/mobile-roaming-costs/index_en.htm

This is an excerpt, go to the link to read the full document.

Roam like at home

The EU "roam like at home" rules mean that when you use your mobile phone while travelling outside your home country in any EU country you don't have to pay any additional roaming charges. You benefit from these rules when calling (to mobile and fixed phones), sending text messages (SMS) and using data services while abroad.

Fair use policy - monitoring

As part of their fair use policy, your operator can monitor and check your roaming use over a 4 month period. If, during this period, you have spent more time abroad than at home and your roaming exceeds your domestic usage, your operator may contact you and ask you to clarify your situation.

You will have 14 days to do so.

If you continue to spend more time abroad than you do at home and your roaming consumption continues to exceed your domestic usage your operator may start applying a surcharge to your roaming consumption. The surcharges (excluding VAT) are capped as follows:

3.2 cents per minute of voice call made
1 cent per SMS
€7.70 per GB of data (cap in 2017)
The cap for data will progressively decrease on 1 January each year as from 2018 as follows: €6, €4.50, €3.50, €3 to €2.50 in 2022. The cap after 2019 may be revised following a review of the wholesale roaming markets in 2019.

Fair use policy - cross border workers

If you work in one EU country and live in a different one, you can choose a mobile operator in either country and roam like at home with a SIM from the country where you live or from the country where you work.

The roam like at home fair use policy applies: as long as you log on at least once a day to your domestic operator's network, it will count as a day of presence (even if you go abroad the same day).

Calling from home / roaming outside the EU

Calling another EU or non-EU country from home is not considered as roaming so the roam like at home rules don't apply. You should be aware that the prices for these calls are not regulated and can be expensive.

Ian011

"Paying the same as you pay at home" is too simplistic a statement and has led to a lot of confusion - mine included for a few days.

You might think it means that if you are roaming in the EU and call a landline or mobile number in some other EU country, you will pay the same for that call as you would pay for a call to a landline or mobile number in that EU country when that call is made from the UK. You don't. That is not how it works.

The "roam like home" rules ensure that if you are roaming in an EU country and you call a landline or mobile number in any EU country (the UK, the country you are in, or another EU country) you will pay the same as you would for a call from the UK to another UK landline or mobile number.