Since the EU roaming regulation of 2017, you can use your mobile phone within the EU as if you were at home without any additional costs. However, there are situations in which this is not the case and additional costs may arise.
“Roam like at home” has been in effect throughout the EU since June 15, 2017. At that time, end-customer roaming surcharges were largely abolished. Since then, holidaymakers have been able to surf, make phone calls and send text messages just like at home. But be careful: there are still exceptions.
Roaming is the use of a foreign network operator with your own mobile phone contract. For example, when mobile phone users from Germany call home or surf the Internet while on vacation. This then takes place in a foreign radio network that is not covered by the mobile phone contract.
The foreign mobile phone provider charged a lot for this use of the foreign radio network. Since the EU roaming regulation of 2017, users in other EU countries have been able to surf and make calls under the usual conditions from their mobile phone contract. However, there are also exceptions that you should be aware of when traveling so that you don't get a nasty surprise when you look at your mobile phone bill.
Limited data volume
The weather is too bad for the beach – so why not just watch the latest episode of your favorite series on your cell phone in the hotel? Not a good idea! The data volume provided by the foreign wireless network operator is usually limited and does not correspond to the data volume that consumers are used to from their contract. The data volume provided in other EU countries is often only a fifth of the usual data volume. With particularly cheap cell phone tariffs, the data volume can be even lower on vacation. Even with tariffs with unlimited data volume, there are restrictions in other EU countries.
Holidaymakers should therefore check with their mobile phone provider before travelling to find out how much data is available when travelling abroad in the EU.
Note automatic network dial-up at the EU external border
At the EU's external borders, there is a risk that your cell phone will automatically connect to a network operated by a mobile operator in a non-EU country. Roaming charges will then apply. Does the EU's external borders sound far away? Wrong: Switzerland, for example, is not an EU member. Even if you are on holiday in Croatia, there is a risk of automatically connecting to a network operated by a mobile operator in a non-EU country, as neither Serbia nor Bosnia-Herzegovina are part of the EU.
To avoid this, anyone who is on holiday near an EU external border should deactivate the automatic network connection option on their mobile phone and manually connect to a network of a mobile operator in the EU.
These countries are not part of the EU roaming regime
The Switzerland is not subject to the EU roaming regulation. Likewise, due to Brexit, Great Britain Roaming charges apply. This also applies to some Channel Islands and in the region bordering Spain Gibraltar.
Telephone calls in the country of residence are telephone calls abroad
The new rules make it easy to forget that you are making a call abroad – even if you are in that country. This means that if you are in Austria, for example, and want to reserve a table at a nearby restaurant, the costs may be higher than you initially expect.
Cruise ships have their own mobile phone network
Many cruise ships have their own ship network. So anyone who goes on a Mediterranean cruise and thinks they are in an EU country will be in for a nasty surprise when they find that the film streaming on their mobile phone in the on-board cabin took place via an expensive ship mobile network.
