Using your mobile phone abroad can be a complicated business, and it often just seems easier to leave your phone at home whilst you’re on holiday. However, for some people that’s just not an option. If you’re a frequent business traveller, or even a frequent pleasure traveller, sometimes you just need to have your mobile with you, whether for personal or professional reasons. Today we’re talking about your options for mobile use abroad, since there are several considerations that you’re going to need to keep in mind if you want to travel with a mobile. So before you take your mobile out of the country, here’s all you need to know…
Will Your Phone Even Work? Why Quad Band is the Way to Go…
Your initial concern should be about whether or not your phone is actually going to work. Mobile phone signals are broadcast over a certain frequency, and that frequency varies by country. About eighty five per cent of countries operates on the GSM system, meaning that these countries use one of four common mobile frequencies. The best bet for getting mobile service abroad is to have a quad band phone. This is a phone that can operate on any one of these four common frequencies. Not all phones are quad band, so you’re going to have to check in your mobile’s manual. And even a quad mobile isn’t going to guarantee you service everywhere, since the other fifteen per cent of the world uses completely different frequencies. Depending on where you’re going you should really check out a local guide book to see what frequencies mobiles operate on in that area. But with a quad phone you should be fine in all of Europe, both North and South America, Australia, and in many Asian countries.
Mobile Roaming Fees
Once you’ve established that your phone is going to work, your next concern should be financial. Most of the time you can use your UK mobile plan whilst you’re travelling, but many operators do require you to request that mobile roaming be switched on before you leave the country, so your phone might not work by default, and you should call your operator and ask about this before leaving the UK. Using your UK phone plan whilst out of the country can be extremely expensive, however. Mobile roaming charges are incredibly high. You will not only have to pay premium rates on sending text messages and making calls (we’ll come to mobile data shortly), but you’ll also have to pay to receive both calls and texts. These charges add up fast, and it’s incredibly easy to come home to a huge phone bill. There are some operators that have good roaming packages though. The most notable mobile roaming deal is with Orange. They offer a five pound a month add on to your regular contract that will let you use your mobile inside the EU for the same prices as you pay within the UK. They do also have other packages for other destinations, but prices will be higher. This is an optional service though, so you will have to request it. Other operators have mobile roaming packages, and these tend to save you money over using just your regular phone plan. Again, you should check with your operator before leaving the country.
Mobile Data Use Abroad
Given the extortionate prices for roaming calls and texts you won’t be surprised to learn that mobile data whilst roaming is going to be extremely expensive. In fact, we don’t recommend that you use mobile data whilst abroad at all. Use WiFi to connect wherever possible, and simply turn off your 3G completely. If you need to use data, we’ll give you a solution in a moment. However, for the most part you should never use mobile internet on your UK SIM card whilst you are out of the country. It’s not worth it. Go to an internet cafe if necessary.
Other Solutions for Mobile Use Abroad
Depending on how long you’re going to be gone, there is a way that you can get mobile use abroad relatively cheaply. The absolute cheapest way for you to get mobile service abroad is simply to go to a local operator in the country that you’re visiting and get an inexpensive pay as you go SIM card. This will allow you to make calls and send texts for local prices, which will be far cheaper than paying UK roaming prices. You will have a new telephone number with this SIM card however. If this is a concern for you, not to mention switching out SIM cards all the time and possibly missing important phone calls or text messages on your home number whilst using your foreign SIM card, then you should look at investing in a dual SIM phone. These devices are exactly what they sound like, a phone that allows you to simultaneously run two SIM cards. This means no switching SIMs and never missing calls or messages on either SIM card. It will be an investment, but if you’re gone frequently or away for an extended period of time it will be a worthy investment. If you’re looking to use mobile data whilst away, maybe for navigation purposes, a local SIM card is really the only feasible and affordable solution. It will cost you a fraction of the price to use a local SIM to get internet access than it would to use your UK SIM on roaming. If you’re thinking about buying a local SIM card there is one thing that you need to take into account. If your phone was bought through your UK mobile operator there is a chance that it will be locked into that operator. This means that the phone will not accept a SIM card from any other company. You can, however, get your phone unlocked. Most operators will unlock a phone for a small fee, and many high street stores will also do this for you. But you should check this issue before leaving.