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Roaming
International roaming enables you to use the SIM card or the mobile terminal from a provider of mobile telephone services located in your home country while travelling in another country, if your provider has established interconnection links and agreements with the operators in the visited country. This means that you can make and take calls, send and receive text messages (SMS) and multimedia messages (MMS) or use Internet services whenever you leave the coverage area of your home network.
The mobile telephone services you use while abroad are operated by a foreign operator, who charges your home operator. Your home operator passes this additional cost on to your bill, as part of the retail services provided.
The services you use via a SIM card/terminal from a provider in the visited country or the services you use to communicate with somebody abroad when you are in
Voice and SMS Roaming
Whenever you make/take a call or send/receive an SMS while abroad using your mobile telephone number, you use roaming services. Unlike home, when you are roaming, you will be charged also for the received calls, but not for the received SMS.
For the roaming services, the operators usually charge higher tariffs than for the services provided in the home country.
Regulations regarding the tariffs and charging methods
The Eurotariff for call, for SMS and for data services are the retail tariffs for making or receiving a call in the regulated roaming service, for sending or receiving a text message (SMS) in the regulated roaming service, respectively, for data services access (including internet) in the regulated roaming service. These tariffs cannot exceed the ceiling regulated by the European Commission, and must be made available by the mobile telephony providers.
The Eurotariff ceiling for calls, respectively, for text messages (SMS Eurotariff), and the enforcement schedule are laid down by Regulation (EU) no. 531/2012 (”the Regulation”).
The enforcement of the Eurotariff for calls, data or of the SMS Eurotariff may be requested, free of charge, anytime, by a roaming user from a EU Member State, from
Furthermore, as of 1 July 2009, all the providers have the obligation to charge the roaming customers by the second for the calls received in the regulated roaming service (to which the Eurotariff applies). As regards the calls received in the regulated roaming service (to which the Eurotariff applies), the provider may charge a minimum initial period, no longer than 30 seconds.
Mobile Data Roaming
When you travel abroad, besides calling and texting, you can use data services, such as sending and receiving multimedia messages, making and receiving video calls, checking and sending e-mails, surfing the web or accessing the Internet via the mobile telephone connected to the laptop.
Transparency regulations and cut-off mechanisms for roaming data services
According to the regulations in force, from 1 July 2009, when travelling in another EU country, your provider has the obligation to send you a text message announcing that you are using the roaming data service, as well as basic country-specific information regarding the applicable tariffs for the provision of roaming data services regulated in the respective country, excepting when you have communicated your provider that you do not wish to receive such information. Such basic country-specific information will be sent free of charge to your handset or to other devices, for example, via an SMS, an e-mail or a pop-up window on your computer screen, whenever you enter a Member State other than Romania and access a regulated data roaming service for the first time.
Moreover, by 1 March 2010, all the providers have to give their roaming customers the possibility to receive information on the accumulated consumption, expressed in volume or in the currency in which the roaming customer is billed for regulated data roaming services.
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You will therefore have the right to be announced by your provider when your roaming bill reaches a certain value. |
To this end, from 1 March 2010, the home provider will make available to end-users one or more maximum financial limits for specified periods of use, provided that the customer is informed in advance of the corresponding volume amounts. One of these limits (the default financial limit) is close to, but does not exceed, EUR 50 of outstanding charges per monthly billing period (excluding VAT).
Alternatively, the home provider may establish limits expressed in volume, provided that the customer is informed in advance of the amounts corresponding to the respective volumes. One of these limits (the default volume limit) has a corresponding financial amount not exceeding EUR 50 of outstanding charges per monthly billing period (excluding VAT). The home provider may offer to its roaming customers other limits with different, i.e. higher or lower, maximum monthly financial limits.
The default limit will be applicable to all customers who have not opted for another limit.
Recommendations
Activate the roaming service before leaving your home country!
The providers have several commercial offers for roaming services, at different prices, and, most often, they have special offers for the vacation periods.
It is appropriate that you ask your provider about the costs incurred when activating this type of service. Depending on how frequently and on how long do you intend to use this service while travelling, analyse various offers and choose the tariff plan which suits you best.
Pay attention! If you have activated a roaming service and you are in your home country, but close to the border! Your telephone could automatically connect to the network of the neighbouring country and you could be applied roaming tariffs, if your telephone settings allow it!
· Select your network manually
· Require your operator to activate the roaming service only upon request
· Check the telephone network before using the handset
For further details on the roaming tariffs and on the commercial offers for the roaming services of providers of electronic communications provided at mobile locations in
The European Commission’s website dedicated to roaming services is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/index_en.htm
