Is Svalbard in the Europe Zone?

[Doug_Paulley]

I'm going to Svalbard on Saturday, disabled person with my carer. Comms is really important, so where there is signal, I want to know if I can afford to make and receive phone calls, texts, internet messages. Svalbard is a part of the Kingdom of Norway but is in fact an archipelago between Norway and the North Pole.

O2 have been inconsistent. I asked them today:

"Hi, we've checked and can confirm that Svalbard is not part of the EU. Standard roaming rates would apply in this country which you can find out more about here - https://www.o2.co.uk/international/using-your-phone-abroad ... Unfortunately Svalbard isn't included in our "Europe Zone", therefore standard roaming rates would apply in this country. It may be part of Norway, but it's not mainland Europe. It's an Island located between Norway and the North Pole. So, as it is not Mainland Europe it isn't in our Europe Zone."

But then I remembered I asked them before. 4 months ago they said:

"Using your phone is Svalbard - We cover roaming in our Europe Zone as part of our tariffs. So, your minutes, texts and data (subject to our 25GB Europe Zone limit) will work in our Europe Zone, just like they do at home."

https://www.o2.co.uk/international/using-your-phone-abroad doesn't list Svalbard. It only lists Norway. Yet it does list other edge cases, e.g. crown protectorates like the Isle of Man...

Does anybody know for definite, please?! 

Thank you

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

@Doug_Paulley 

Telenor (Norwegian) is the only telecom provider and as Svalbard isn't a country it should be treated as Norway and included in EU travel.

[Doug_Paulley]

Thank you

That was my very strong suspicion also. Disturbing that customer support have told me something completely wrong!

[MI5]

@Doug_Paulley 

You will usually find that they will just make up an answer if they don't know.....

[madasaf1sh]

In fairness you ask most people and they wont know where Svalbard is, and unless they use Google to find out they won't know... 

Same applies to Greenland and Faroe Islands, most people wont know they are part of Denmark, but only Greenland is classed as the EU... 

[MI5]

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@madasaf1sh wrote:

In fairness you ask most people and they wont know where Svalbard is, and unless they use Google to find out they won't know... 

Same applies to Greenland and Faroe Islands, most people wont know they are part of Denmark, but only Greenland is classed as the EU... 

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However, you would expect any mobile network to know and give an accurate answer to their customers.

[Enlli]

@Doug_Paulley Just checking and Telnor has closed down 3G so make sure you have 4G Calling enabled before you go to be sure of making and receiving calls

[Doug_Paulley]

Thank you very much all of you for your info and helpful points.