Talkmobile roaming in the EU

glocal

When Talkmobile say they offer free roaming in the EU, does that include free calls/text to local numbers in EU countries? Or can you only call/text UK numbers while in a EU country?

I have been trying to contact them but I can't, and all their examples just so happen to refer to calling/texting UK numbers. 

 

Mark_d

It's the same with all mobile networks as far as I know.  Roaming, in this context, refers to calls and texts to/from UK whilst you are abroad.  If you go to a country and need to make calls withing that country, the best thing to do is get a SIM or eSiM for that

glocal

Mark_d said:

It's the same with all mobile networks as far as I know. 

Thanks for this. 'Free roaming' when visiting an EU country included calls/texts to numbers within the EU country and any other EU country (yes, that's right!). After Brexit some UK networks reduced free roaming to calls/texts to UK numbers only. Often they do that quietly and use confusion marketing to conceal that -- eg they use ambiguous phrases like 'roam like at home'. Lebara is one such offender -- I know because I talked to them. There is a lot of confusion around this and MSE should clarify this.

Some providers still provide the real 'free roaming' either on old contracts (eg Three), or even with new contracts -- eg iD mobile.

eDicky

You are correct, the EU 'Roam like at Home' regulations ensured no roaming fees when travelling within EU, with inclusive use for calls/texts to numbers within the country being visited, to the home country and to any other EU country according to the user's regular plan. (It's still in force but of course doesn't include UK networks since Brexit.)

Some UK networks still adhere to this, others don't or have varied it, sorry I don't know the position for Talkmobile.

glocal

eDicky said:

Some UK networks still adhere to this, others don't or have varied it, sorry I don't know the position for Plusnet.

The problem is that even MSE miss this point, and several providers are allowed to get away with this confusion marketing at the expense of consumers and honest competitors. I even contacted MSE a year ago about this.

(I think you mean Talkmobile.)

eDicky

glocal said:

eDicky said:

Some UK networks still adhere to this, others don't or have varied it, sorry I don't know the position for Plusnet.

(I think you mean Talkmobile.)

 You beat me to it..

I agree, it would be something useful for MSE to survey and clarify.

jbrassy

Sorry, I thought the EU roaming rules meant it was free to ring/text UK numbers when in another EU country and didn't include free calls/texts to numbers within that country. 

If you want to ring EU numbers without worrying about call charges, you could try and contact people using WhatsApp. Alternatively, if you want to ring a landline, the Rebtel app allows you to make cheap international calls.

glocal

jbrassy said:

If you want to ring EU numbers without worrying about call charges, you could try and contact people using WhatsApp. Alternatively, if you want to ring a landline, the Rebtel app allows you to make cheap international calls.

Good suggestions. Or use something like Viber for free Viber-to-Viber and chargeable Viber-out calls. Better still, get a UK SIM that offers real free roaming I hope people won't find out their SIM doesn't offer real free roaming while they are abroad or, worse, when they come back home.