Since the beginning of the month, a new EU regulation has been in force for free phoning or surfing in other EU countries. The so-called “Roam like at home” will be extended until 2032. The same mobile radio standard as at home should be guaranteed if this is technically possible.
The principle "phone just like at home" applies for up to four months a year even in the thirty countries of the European Economic Area (EEA). These are the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Switzerland is not one of them.
Since Brexit, Great Britain is no longer one of them. But according to the Federal Association of Consumers (Vzbv), customers of Telekom, Vodafone, O2 and 1
You should simply inquire about what applies in your own mobile phone tariff. This is also important because the EU roaming regulation does not apply to San Marino, Andorra, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, Gibraltar, Vatican City and overseas territories in the Caribbean. Nevertheless, some mobile phone providers include these areas in the EU country list, while others do not.
The EU roaming regulation also does not apply to mobile networks on ships. That can cost money. An on-board satellite system is used at sea, which charges up to five euros per minute for telephone calls.
"Sometimes it can even happen that the smartphone dials into the ship's own satellite network in the vicinity of ships, although you actually only wanted to go for a walk in the port," says Ines Danzeisen from the European Consumer Center Germany (EVZ).
But that should rarely be as expensive as the bill that a twelve-year-old accumulated on board the ferry from Kiel to Oslo. The NDR reported that the boy had consumed around 470 megabytes of data while surfing with his smartphone - obtained from the ship's satellite network. The parents should pay around 12,000 euros for it.
There is a cost cap of 59.50 euros for mobile phone contracts when surfing the Internet. If this amount is reached, the connection should be closed. But consumer advocates complain that this doesn't always work.
Caution is also required near the border to non-EU countries, for example on the German side of Lake Constance. Because the smartphone often dials into the Swiss network unnoticed.
If the mobile data is activated, there are sometimes costs even if the mobile phone is not actively used. This problem can be avoided if the automatic network selection on the mobile phone is switched off - i.e. the user sets the network himself - or in flight mode.
When traveling abroad, you should ask your mobile phone company what the costs for international roaming are, advises the EVZ. If necessary, you should conclude daily or weekly flat rates. In the holiday country you should switch off data roaming.
The EVZ warns that special numbers also have their own rules. For example at airports in France: A passenger wants to call the airline because of a flight cancellation and finds a free hotline number on a French website.
The catch: a free phone call would only have been possible with a French phone contract. Therefore, high roaming charges are due. Tip from the EVZ experts: "Search for a landline number on the airline's website. Or go to the German-language website and see if there are special numbers for customers from Germany who are in another EU country at the time of the call.”
A free German special number that you dial from other EU countries can also be expensive. According to the EVZ, an 0800 number that is called from abroad either does not work at all or only at high cost.
Cost traps lurk even when listening to the mailbox. The EU Roaming Regulation states that it must be possible to receive and listen to mailbox messages from EU countries without additional costs. But outside of the EU, it can get expensive because of international roaming charges.
Incidentally, this also happens if the mailbox is not checked. It is sufficient for it to be activated when busy, unavailable or non-acceptance. The calls are first forwarded abroad at the expense of the person called and from there back to Germany – also at an expensive roaming price.
So it costs twice, warn the consumer advocates from Vzbv. In order to avoid this cost trap, one should switch off the mailbox during the trip or direct all calls to the mailbox. Then they will be forwarded to the mailbox in Germany.
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