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International Roaming and Whats it all about.

darrengf
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Welcome to the O2 Community!

If you need any advice, go ahead and create a forum post HERE

** Please read the following amendments to the article that allows for EU Roaming changes on the 15th June.

 

Roaming and what’s it about?

Roaming is when you are no longer able to Pick Up your home Network (O2-UK). This is normally when you are in another country. However, it is possible to pick up French Network when in UK and the Irish Networks when you’re still in Northern Ireland.  But if your phone is displaying anything else besides O2-UK or BT Cellnet (On Some Older Phones), then you are Roaming on a Foreign Network and Roaming Charges will apply if Services are used.

 

Is O2-DE the same as O2-UK?

The answer is no. O2-DE is a completely independent business to O2-UK and therefore Roaming Charges would apply.

O2-DE (O2 Germany) and O2-UK (O2 United Kingdom) are both Parts of the Telefonica Group, but this is all and is 2 Separate businesses

 

 

Do I need to Activate Roaming?

If you are an O2 PAYG Customer then Roaming is activated automatically as you can only spend what you have in Credit.

O2 Contract customers may need to call 202 to confirm they have Roaming Activated on their account if they have never used the service before or had issues in the past.

 

 

How does Roaming Work?

When you travel outside your Home Network, your Mobile Phone Sim will ask the Roaming (Foreign) network first if it can use the services on their Network. (You IMEI number of your phone is also sent to verify it’s not the Stolen / Missing Database as well)

 

The Foreign Network will take details from your Sim card and go back to the International Centre and check if O2 has an agreement first to use the Network and then if the Sim card is activated to use the Roaming. (This is why there is a delay sometimes in first switching on your mobile to you getting a signal and a Network Name)

 

If all comes back ok, then the Sim will receive instruction and you notice the Roaming Network Name shown on your phone.

 

What you may not know is that when the phone is authorised to use the Roaming Network, It is given a temporary allocated foreign number of the country you are visiting.

 

So you may have someone calling you and they may notice that the Ring tone suddenly sounds different in their Earpiece and not like the UK Ring. This is because of the Foreign Number allocated and that you are roaming on their Countries Network.

 

One this you will never know though is the Temporary Roaming Number as this is only a Forward number and changes.

 

 

So what charges do you pay for when roaming?

  • Making Calls?                     Yes you pay for all of the Call.
  • Receiving Calls?                                Yes you pay for the Roaming country Inbound Part of the Call.
  • Sending a SMS?                                Yes you pay to send a SMS.
  • Receiving a SMS?             No it’s free to receive a SMS.
  • Sending a MMS?              Yes you pay to send a MMS.
  • Receiving a MMS?           You may be charged for Data Usage to receive the MMS ( I never have on O2, But I know other UK networks charge)
  • Data Usage                         Is all chargeable

 

 

The Person who is Calling or Texting you from the UK.

 

This is where a lot of confusion becomes and people become worried regarding charges.

                        

Simple Fact to Remember:

Even though the person you are contacting is abroad. You are still only calling their UK Mobile Number. So treat it as they are still in the UK.

 

So for example:

If you have free UK Text allowance, it will still be Free (Your Texting a UK Mobile Number)

If you have Free UK Minutes, then again you are calling a UK Mobile Number, so it will use your UK Minutes Allowance.

If you don’t have Free Allowances, then you will be charged at your normal standard Rate of ringing the UK or Texting a UK Mobile number

 

 

A couple of Questions and Answers that may come in useful:

 

Q)   I’m abroad and my friend is abroad, will I be charged to contact my friend as I’m only calling a UK Mobile number

A)   Yes, even though you are calling a UK Mobile Number. You are not in the UK and the person you are calling isn’t, so you will pay the Roaming Charges to make the call and the person who is receiving the call will pay the inbound part of the charge. If you’re roaming in our Europe Zone this will be included within your UK allowance; within countries included in O2 Travel, this will activate the £4.99 fee. More information here and here

 

Q)   Why am I charged twice for Voice Mail Messages?

A)   When someone tries to contact you and you don’t answer, the call is then passed back to the O2-UK voice mail as a return call, So you pay for the Return part of the call even though you didn’t answer your Mobile. Then when you want to listen to your voice mail, you pay to make the call and listen to it. So this is where Double Charges apply

 

Q)   Why are inbound SMS free when I’m abroad?

A)   This was set by the EU Telecoms Parliament, that any EU Mobile Company must allow their users to allow incoming SMS for Free anywhere in the world.

 

Q)   What is the Difference between Roaming and Home Networks?

A)   Your home network is on your network where you purchased the Sim from. So if you purchased your Sim card in the UK and from O2, your home network would be O2-UK and you would be allocated a UK Mobile number.

Roaming is when you are no longer on your home network. So, for example, you go to Spain and you pick up Telefonica ES. This means you are Roaming on a Spanish Network.

 

If you have any other questions please ask and I will gladly try to answer them and will keep editing the 1st thread to make it easier for everyone to read.

244 Comments
jonsie
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It will come from any allowances that you have.  It will cost the same whether the phone is in the UK or anywhere in the world as you are using o2 not a roaming network. The only cost is for the receiving mobile. 

MI5
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Both phones are in Spain jonsie so both are roaming.....
MI5
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Cheapest option is to use Tugo on wifi to call between the phones - Completely free, but if calling on the network and using o2 travel it's 50p for each phone to make and receive for upto an hour so longer calls work out cheaper than short ones.
jonsie
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@MI5 wrote:
Both phones are in Spain jonsie so both are roaming.....

Ah ok, that will teach me to skim read!

Anonymous
Not applicable
I have a contract with o2 when i go to spain and make a call on o2 roaming service, what number will it display on people who have mu name and numbr saved on their phones in UK.
Will they know I'm in Spain or calling from Abroad if I ring or text them

Thanks

Steven
Cleoriff
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It will display as your name and number (if saved in their contacts) @Anonymous

I get a few calls from family members when I am in Spain and it just displays the name ...the same as it does in the UK

MI5
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They won't know where you are calling or texting from unless you tell them, but if they call you they will hear the international dialing sound, not the usual UK one.
Anonymous
Not applicable
Can any one help me with this, today I arrived in Sweden. The O2 "welcome to Sweden"text - "start using data for £1.99 per day etc" came through, then a few hours later it says you have currently used £40 worth of data... Rang O2 and they seem to think it's my fault even though they told me that I should be on the O2 Travel Bolt on. (Which is fully active on my account)

Any help would be great.
MI5
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See your other post
Curr946
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Shouldn't hijack threads wink
Reub
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I'm in Lanzarote at the moment and just checked my charges and found I'm being charged £1.99 per day but I haven't used the mobile data ie internet as I am using the wi fi that is in my apartment ? I am on o2 travel and my signal is showing "R".

 

I have used my phone here about 3 times a year but this is the first time I have been charged this when my "mobile data" has been switched off  ?

 

Is this something new? 

Cleoriff
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Hi @Reub

O2's new roaming charges came into effect from 7th April 2016. The £1.99 a day now includes calls, texts and data. If you didn't require this you should have opted out of O2 Travel by texting NOTRAVEL to 23336

See here http://www.o2.co.uk/international/travel/standard-charges

Edited to add there was a long discussion about this here

http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Pay-Monthly-and-Pay-Go/O2-Travel-Changes-7-4/td-p/953179/highlight/true

MI5
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Your outgoing calls and texts trigger the daily charge now.
You need to opt out of travel if you are a low user.
CS will probably refund you for a first mistake if you call them.
jonsie
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Just sending a single text will trigger the £1.99 daily charge so for your usage you need to opt out of O2 Travel.

Text O2TRAVEL to 23336 to activate O2 Travel. It can take up to 24 hours to be applied to your account.

To opt out of O2 Travel text NOTRAVEL to 23336. You wil then be charged our standard roaming rates. This can take up to 24 hours to be applied to your account. For details of our standard roaming rates, visit o2.co.uk/international.

Cleoriff
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@jonsie wrote:

Just sending a single text will trigger the £1.99 daily charge so for your usage you need to opt out of O2 Travel.

Text O2TRAVEL to 23336 to activate O2 Travel. It can take up to 24 hours to be applied to your account.

To opt out of O2 Travel text NOTRAVEL to 23336. You wil then be charged our standard roaming rates. This can take up to 24 hours to be applied to your account. For details of our standard roaming rates, visit o2.co.uk/international.


Incidentally I looked yesterday to see if I could opt out via MyO2. Nothing there that I could see. It just shows that I have the O2Travel bolt on...when I click on it it just tells me what it is...

MI5
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@Cleoriff wrote:

Incidentally I looked yesterday to see if I could opt out via MyO2. Nothing there that I could see. It just shows that I have the O2Travel bolt on...when I click on it it just tells me what it is...


Yes, looks like you're correct there. I can't see an option either.

jonsie
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No there doesn't seem to be a way other than by text or calling.

Took me three attempts to even get into My O2....

Cleoriff
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@jonsie wrote:

 

Took me three attempts to even get into My O2....


Not to take this off topic...but the forum is staggering and slow today....

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hello, You sent me message that you will add the O2 Travel service to my account on Monday, 20/06/2016. I am in Latvia since 19/06/2016. I have not tne internet connection since 22/06/2016. I'd like to know : What's happened? You will take my money for each day abroad 1,99 pp but I can not use your service at all! Please, write me the reason why I have to pay for your service if I can not use it?

MI5
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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello, You sent me message that you will add the O2 Travel service to my account on Monday, 20/06/2016. I am in Latvia since 19/06/2016. I have not tne internet connection since 22/06/2016. I'd like to know : What's happened? You will take my money for each day abroad 1,99 pp but I can not use your service at all! Please, write me the reason why I have to pay for your service if I can not use it? Ilona Blazevica mob.ph 


You will need to contact CS yourself I'm afraid http://www.o2.co.uk/contactus

and please delete your mobile number.

This is a public customer to customer forum.

Anonymous
Not applicable

I went to Germany 2 months ago and couldnt access the network when I arrived. I am going to Japan in 1 week and want to make sure I have access to the network and for data when i am there. Is there anything I need to do  to ensure I can use my phone this time. Texting worked.

 

Thanks 

 

Mark

MI5
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Sometimes you need to do a manual network selection but connection problems are usually down to the roaming network.
Check the call and data costs here first though as it won't be cheap http://www.o2.co.uk/international/internationalhub
Anonymous
Not applicable

I have a query, if I use my phone in the UK, I am UK based and I have an unlimited call and text package would I be charged for phoning a friend in Canada ????

MI5
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Yes, if you are calling a canadian number, no if you are calling a UK number.
jonsie
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You can call a UK number anywhere in the world out of your allowance. International calls are chargeable so check the international pages for costs. If you download world chat or get the international bolt on it will be much cheaper. 

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi there,

I guess O2 Travel has changed in the last few months.  When I set it up in March, it was "turn data on to activate it for that day" so mobile data off => No O2 Travel.

I have just been to Mallorca and had mobile data off the whole time (decent wifi for once), but now see I have been charged £1.99 per day because I sent text messages.

So whereas before I would actively choose to activate it for the day, now it seems as though "using your phone" means being charged.

So I have been charged £1.99 a day for basically texting my wife to tell her we were at the playpark.

Seems very unfair to me to change the way it works without telling people.  All I knew was that it now included texts and minutes, not that using it at all would trigger O2 Travel for the day.

When it changed in this way, people should have automatically been removed and have to request O2 Travel again, as it is a completely different setup.

Ross

MI5
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Everyone was emailed about the changes and the text you receive when you arrive in a foreign country also tells you about the changes, but yes, any text or call will now trigger the daily charge and you get 120 mins and 120 texts per day.
If you are a low user you should opt out.
jonsie
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A harsh lesson learned but one we have tried to instill into customers on here. Some quite long threads on the community about whether to opt in or out.

Anonymous
Not applicable

I had problems with my network connection when in Germany recently:

  • I have an Iphone 6 4G 2Gb SIM card with a travel bolt on. But I couldnt get any  4G signal in Netherlands or Germany. Does 02 cap the roaming to 3G?
  • In general I had very poor coverage – mostly GPRS  - not enough to send emails or browse and quite often had no service at all. We were travelling across Northern Germany
  • How does the roaming networ work? Should putting the  iphone on automatic network selection pick the strongest signal or does it depend on who 02 has a contract with? I  found choosing other networks manually often gave better signal but could never get the Vodaphone network to work. Is that due to a lack of agreement between 02 and Vodaphone?
  • My partner’s Android Samsung on Vodaphone got 4G most of the time and was able to browse just on E or H
  • My iphone also takes a long time to recover a  signal once lost - but suspect that is an Apple issue!
  • Incidentally I can access 4G in the UK when its available.

Can anyone shed any light on any of the above please?

MI5
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The answers to all questions are down to the roaming agreements that o2 has in place.
Some allow 4g when roaming and some don't. Also speeds are restricted by the roaming network as they keep capacity in reserve for their own customers.
It also depends on commercial factors, such as, how much the home network pays the roaming network etc.
Often there are roaming agreements with more than one network in a foreign country, which is why you can manually select other networks.
darrengf
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@Anonymous

 

I can currently advise that O2 have no 4G Roaming agreeements.

The only 2 networks that I know of that do have 4G roaming agreements are Vodafone and EE here in the UK.

 

The reason also for the slow connection is that your phone is trying to connect to 4G if you still have 4g switched on.

 

Ill explain.

While in Germany, o2 do have agreements with all German Networks from what I know, however if you leave your phone on 4G, then the phone will search for a 4G signal. If it connects, it will try to connect. As O2 have no 4G roaming agreement, as the Phone and o2 sim try to connect to the 4G network its refused. But as its refused access to the 4G network, the Sim believes it will be refused to 3G and 2G so won't try to connect.

 

This is why you are getting massive delays between connections as when it connects it would probably only see 2G or a 3G signal, thus allowing it to connect.

 

If you even go abroad with a O2 sim both contract or PAYG, make sure the 4G is switched of. It will then connect to a roaming partner much much faster.

 

I recently went to Dublin, I switched the phone to 3G before I left the uk at the airport. Turning flight mode off when I arrived, the phone connected in 12 seconds to the Irish Network and was fully working with Data and everything. 

 

As Vodafone UK have roaming with 4G, this is the reason why this phone would connect to the 4G network.

 

It is also correct that priority is given to their own customers than roaming. However this is also dependant on the agreement that has been signed. I can advise that roaming with a Vodafone uk sim, I was hitting the same 4G speeds as locals and it never faltered once. This can't be said with o2 sim in EU.

 

When using o2 in EU especially with o2 travel, you are capped at about 0.35 or there about Mbps up and down, so connecting to a 4G network would not have made a difference. 3G or 2G speeds are about the same, but when I was also in Germany, 2G data was also not working, 3G worked fine at slow speeds though.

 

However I do hope that this helps and always remeber to turn your phone 4G off and use 3G or 2G only when abroad until o2 gets 4G roaming partners

 

 

 

Anonymous
Not applicable

Thanks darrengf and MI5 for your illuminating replies - at least I now understand why I could'nt get 4G roaming via 02!  Do either of you know whether 02 intends to introduce this anytime soon and whether Vodaphone is the only network currently offering 4G roaming?

MI5
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Voda or EE will give you 4g when roaming or use a local sim for data when abroad.
Dual sim phones are ideal for this when travelling as you can use your UK sim for calls and texts and a local one for data.
darrengf
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@Anonymous If O2 had 4G roaming agreements it would be pointless as the max speed is 0.35 Mbps on data through out put as its capped so you don't use it too much. Well mine is and I know from speaking to people on here that there's is also slow abroad, yours as well.

 

Until O2 allow us to use roaming data at full speed then there is no point in having any 4G roaming agreements at present.

 

They may introduce it for business some time and allow them full speed, but consumers I prob wouldn't think any time soon 😞

 

EE and Vodafone have 4G roaming agreements and they are both at full speed of what the networks provide. I know as I've used them with out issues,

 

Tesco Mobile will just allow 3G as its running on agreements with O2.

 

Three also don't have 4G roaming partners at present. They also do slow roaming down abroad and have admitted that.

 

If o2 admitted that too and not just say that it's unlimited but really you can't use it because it's that slowwwww.

MI5
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@darrengf wrote:

 

If o2 admitted that too and not just say that it's unlimited but really you can't use it because it's that slowwwww.


They would never admit it and will always blame something else for the reason data is slow.

Marketing it as "£1.99 for UNLIMITED DATA, but you can't use it without dying of boredom" just wouldn't attract any customers, would it LOL

darrengf
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@MI5 You absolutely right. But it would be better if their honest. Then we know where we stand on this.

I think we now need to change the name of o2 travel completely.
What do u think lol
Beenherebefore
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@darrengf wrote:
@MI5 You absolutely right. But it would be better if their honest. Then we know where we stand on this.

I think we now need to change the name of o2 travel completely.
What do u think lol

A good subject for the "Ideas" section.....rename O2 Travel to O2 Dribble ?

MI5
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O2 Travel Delay?
Anonymous
Not applicable

Very true - thanks for all the info which is really helpful. One thing is for sure - I wont be renewing my 02 contract! I do think its pretty pathetic when the rhetoric is a long way from the reality!

jonsie
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My contract expires in December, I may renew simply because TU saves me an awful lot of money calling back to the UK. 

Cleoriff
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@jonsie wrote:

My contract expires in December, I may renew simply because TU saves me an awful lot of money calling back to the UK. 


I agree with that @jonsie I know I don't use my phones to the extent others do.....but I travel a lot more frequently than most. I know it's to the same place but it is still abroad.....Once I got my head round the new roaming arrangements and with the use of WiFi and Tu....I have no issues whatsoever.

I fact my last bill whilst abroad was £3.00...... For that amount I see no reason to change provider...

Anonymous
Not applicable
THANKS YOU
Cleoriff
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No problem @Anonymous

Anonymous
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Going to Turkey next week for a week, I was told by O2 shop it would cost £1.99 per day to send texts & use a small amount of data. I am on Pay As You Go. Online it says the £1.99 per day doesn't include Turkey, does anyone know if it does or not from experience? I have an elderly family member in a respite care home after being in intensive care so need to be able to contact the staff & them me in emergency without it costing a fortune - they have said they can text rather than call for that week.

jonsie
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No Turkey isn't included. Rates for Turkey are as follows :

When in:  Turkey     Calling:  United Kingdom (UK)

Landlines - per minute 99p
Mobiles - per minute £1.49
 
Receiving calls - per minute 99p
Sending texts - per message 49p

Cost per MB of using data:

Data usage £6
MI5
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Turkey is £4.99 a day for contract customers but I don't think it extends to PAYG....?
Unfortunately, there are no real cheap options for Turkey for PAYG users.
Anonymous
Not applicable

Why have O2 staff instore told me it will work? Apart from switching data off is there anyway to avoid these charges? If someone calls/texts me from UK what will it cost me?

MI5
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We can't answer for the info o2 staff have given you, other than to say it is wrong.
It's 99p per min to receive a call and free to receive texts.
You must switch off data as that is by far the most expensive part of it all.
jonsie
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99p/min to receive calls but texts are free anywhere in the world.

Anonymous
Not applicable

Will it be cheaper to send picture messages if I can do this with local WiFi?