Using Your Phone Abroad: The true cost of roaming in EUROPE.

Welcome back to MyPhone2Go’s blog! If you’re joining us for the first time this week, you'll find that we’ve begun a series aimed at discovering the true cost of roaming in different parts of the globe.

Roaming costs are notoriously high wherever one chooses to travel. Still, some cannot afford to go off the grid on their trips. For these people, doing some research before setting off is crucial. The goal of this series is to condense some of the availabe information on roaming costs to assist with you with your planning.

Last week, we explored how to obtain cost-effective mobile service in North America. This week, we will zero in on roaming costs in Europe.

To Europe from abroad:

Travel in Europe is unique in that there have been significant advances in quick and cheap travel between the countries that make up the European Union (EU). For travelers coming into Europe from other parts of world, this “borderless” view of the continent will lend an advantage when it comes to mobile service. That is because most mobile providers offer roaming deals for Europe as a whole (i.e., no roaming between European countries).

For Americans, T-Mobile seems to offer the most competitive rates with monthly travel packages offering unlimited talk and text, and various data allotments (from $50 for 1GB to $80 for unlimited data). AT&T or Verizon customers can also obtain packages. We have listed a few below for your reference:

For Canadians already on a Share Everything plan with Rogers, there is the option of paying $10/day to use their existing talk/text/data allotments within Europe. Rogers states that if you roam within eligible countries, they will only charge you up to 10 days per month (i.e., if you roam for 15 days, you are only charged for the first 10). Rogers customers without Share Everything Plans can expect to pay $7.99/50MB and $20 for a bundle of 25 minutes and 100 texts. Telus customers can purchase a $50 travel pass for 30 days that grants them 50 minutes for use on calls within Europe or back to Canada, 150 text messages, and 150MB of data.1

Asian travelers will not experience the advantage that comes with viewing Europe a whole. Still, though mobile carriers like China Mobile do charge for roaming at rates that vary depending on the network operator and on which country one is traveling to, the difference in rates is negligible. An average cost of roaming for the Asian traveler in Europe is as follows: €2.20/min for incoming calls; €1.00/min for outgoing local call; €0.40 per sent text message; free incoming text messages and €10/MB.

Roaming within the EU:

Since 2005, the European Council set out to draw attention to the outrageous cost of roaming between the countries that make up the European Union (EU). Though there has been a push to eradicate the addition of roaming charges to the cost one already pays for domestic mobile service, this change is not scheduled to occur until the summer of 2017. This has significant impact on travelers moving about within the EU. In short, if a traveler has a domestic mobile service plan in one country (either their country of origin, or by way of having purchased a local SIM on arrival), they can expect to pay an additional €0.19 per minute of call made, €0.06 per SMS sent, and €0.20 per MB of data used when roaming.2

Local SIMs vs Roaming (or travel) SIMs:

As mentioned in our previous blog, purchasing a local SIM card is typically a viable option for mobile service around the world. In the EU, credit checks and local ID are not required, so as long as one is comfortable handing over their passport info and can find a clerk who speaks enough of their own language to help navigate rates, they should be able obtain fairly inexpensive service. This service is not roaming-free, however, as we stated in the previous section.

One way to get a potentially better rate than roaming plans from one’s own carrier is to purchase a roaming or travel SIM. There are many of these SIMs on the market, and a little research can go a long way. Though we will not cover these options in this week’s blog, here are some sample rates (in USD) from one such product*:

North America to EU:

Receive a call or text message: free

Make a call: $0.25/min, or use VoIP and get $0.02/min

Send a text message: $0.15/SMS

Use data: $0.05/Mb, available bundles of 250MB, 500MB, 1GB, 2GB.

China to EU:

Receive a call or text message: free

Make a call: $0.49/min, or use VoIP and get $0.02/min

Send a text message: $0.15/SMS

Use data: $0.05/Mb, available bundles of 250MB, 500MB, 1GB, 2GB.

Within the EU:

Receive a call or text message: free

Make a call: $0.49/min, or use VoIP and get $0.02/min

Send a text message: $0.15/SMS

Use data: $0.05/Mb, available bundles of 250MB, 500MB, 1GB, 2GB.

So there you have it! Have questions? Still confused about what option is best for you? Don’t hesitate to leave comments below or even contact MyPhone2Go directly here.

Stay tuned next week as we discuss the true cost of roaming in ASIA.

*The World Wander SIM available here