Every travel lover in the XNUMXst century knows that carrying a mobile phone with you on your new adventures is essential, and not only in case of emergency. Share photos on social networks, use the map, find local food restaurants… During the trip, the smartphone is an extension of itself. But what to do with the dreaded roaming ?
From June 15, 2017 roaming is no longer applicable throughout the European Union area. This means that you can finally continue using your data and call rate from any member country as if you were in Spain. In fact, the program has been dubbed 'roaming like at home'for further clarification to users.
However, after this change, there are still many unresolved questions, such as what prices are applied, where they are valid and if there are exceptions. For added peace of mind, we are going to review everything that affects roaming at least in 2018. But we will begin by clarifying the bases of the term: what is roaming.
What is roaming?
El roaming is data roaming outside the country of origin of the telephony contract. That is, all consumption of calls, sms and mobile data outside the country in which you usually reside, where, therefore, you have contracted your mobile rate.
Until the change in regulations, all mobile operators could reserve the right to charge a surcharge for using the mobile phone beyond the corresponding national borders. And this extra cost affected to a greater extent the use of mobile data for the internet, which could mean bills of hundreds of euros if you were not careful. Considering the great use that is given to the mobile internet today, roaming had undoubtedly become a dystopia.
Now, with the changes applied by European regulation, you can continue using your mobile rate from any EU country exactly the same as if you were at home. What's more, you will not have to make any changes or activate it no way; Your operator will recognize that you are in a member country and will establish what rate to apply to you. However, you have to take into account some geographical limits and the applicable policy according to what type of rate.
Where is 'roaming like home' applied?
El new roaming It is applicable within all the countries of the European Union on a mandatory basis by all telephone operators. They can also decide whether to extend this regulation to other countries that, despite not being part of the common space, have a lot of relationship, closeness or are a place of frequent visit; this is what happens with Norway, Turkey, Liechtenstein or the United States.
What you should keep in mind is that this roaming like at home it only applies once you are out of your country. That is, the international calls from your country of origin will not benefit from the domestic rate, but the corresponding cost established by your operator will be applied. The objective of this measure is that, when you travel or move from one country to another for any reason, you can use your mobile without worries. To communicate with other countries from home at the best price, you must hire one international call rate that compensates you in price and minutes. We recommend that to find the one that best suits your needs, consult these phone deals.
And what if your trips abroad are more frequent than a simple one-off vacation? There is limit of reasonable use of data abroad for each tariff. Thus, if it is found that the user spends more time abroad than in their country of origin, the operator will ask for explanations before applying. misuse surcharges. As a curious fact: those people who move between borders daily for work, will enjoy a second sim card and their usual rate on the condition that they connect at least once a day from their country of origin. A clear example is the roaming applicable in Andorra, where a large number of Spanish and French employees work.
Roaming in unlimited data rates
The type of rate contracted by the user may entail specific changes in the application of roaming limits.
Thus, for those who have a telephony package with a specified amount of data and calls, they will be fully respected while abroad. In this way, your consumption will be discounted from the total available normally.
In the rates you have unlimited minutes and data, roaming will be applied with reservations but, yes, with an amount comparable to the benefit that the user obtains with this type of product.
The standard establishes by a mathematical formula that the operator is obliged to offer the user the double the result of dividing the cost of the fare by the maximum price for 1 GB established by regulations (€ 6 / GB in 2018). For example, if you have an unlimited data and calls package for € 42,90, your operator must allow you to consume at least 14,3 GB of mobile data.
For greater clarity with the consumer, once they have entered the destination country, the operator will send them an SMS with all the information on roaming applicable for their rate.
Can I roam with a prepaid card?
At the time of drafting the regulations, the use of prepaid cards posed a problem for operators. And is that the roaming for prepaid, which does not have a fixed fee or a predefined consumption offer, was a great complication to propose an effective control method.
Finally, the agreement states that users who use this telephone system they will also be able to benefit from roaming in Europe with conditions that will depend on the available balance at the time of the trip. If, before leaving abroad, the user recharges € 40 on his card (which will be valid for both talking and browsing), at least 6,66 GB will be available for consumption at the national price.
This minimum that the operator has to offer is calculated by dividing the balance that the user has on his card by the same maximum cost of the GB that was taken into account for the roaming limits in unlimited data rates.
What happens if the roaming conditions are violated?
If you are the one who makes an improper use or other than what is contemplated in the regulations, the answer is clear: you must pay excess consumption. The roaming charges that may be applied in the rates are the following:
- Per call: € 0,032 per minute.
- By SMS: € 0,01 per unit.
- For mobile data: € 6 per gigabyte.
Taking into account the relevance of the data service, this extra cost will be reduced every year until at least 2022.
On the other hand, if it is the operator who applies incorrect rates to you while you are abroad, you are fully entitled to make a claim for roaming to get it regularized. To do this, the usual thing is that you go to the company to make the relevant claim first. If you cannot solve it directly with her, you can go to a consumer service office or, in greater instance, to the CNMC (the National Commission of Markets and Competition). This is the regulatory body that oversees that telecommunications companies, among others, comply with the regulations issued.
Find the roaming info of your operator
Even with all the information established by the regulations, it is always recommended that before starting your trip you check what are the roaming conditions of your operator, both by the country you are going to and by the rate you have contracted or the time that your stay abroad will last.
To find it, you can go to the website of each company, where the terms and conditions of the service should appear. Here is a list with the site where you can find all the information on each of them:
- Roaming in Movistar: within its frequently asked questions section in the Movistar customer service section.
- Orange roaming information: In Orange Help, in the mobile rate inquiries section you will clearly find it as a highlight.
- Yoigo roaming rates: Go to customer support in the top menu, select 'mobile internet' from the list of suggested topics and you will find a topic about internet abroad.
- Roaming of Vodafone: You will find it in two ways: as one more product within its rates and in a prominent access within the help menu.
- roaming Pepephone: Accessing its help menu, you will find all the information about roaming in the mobile line frequently asked questions, both for calls and for data consumption and control.
- Jazztel roaming: In the company's help space, go to procedures and you will find the Jazztel roaming conditions in the useful information repository.