Do you know the limits of free roaming in the European Union?

Since the 15th, the end of roaming is a reality in the territory of the European Union. This means that calls and messages cost the same from abroad as if they were made in the subscriber's country of origin. However, there are a few points that need to be clear.

One of the first things to take into account is that calling abroad is not considered roaming, according to the regulations approved by the European Commission. Therefore, calls from Spanish subscribers to another country are subject to an international connection surcharge. Not so the one receiving the call.

It is also necessary to be clear about the countries included in the system free of roaming charges, which are the 28 countries of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It is planned to add further members of the European Economic Area, i.e. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Although mobile operators are obliged to notify their customers that they can now enjoy free roaming in the EU, it is not necessary to do anything on the device to activate it, as it is activated automatically, according to Europa Press.

Fair or reasonable use of roaming mobile networks is considered to be made when more time is spent in the user's home country (or the country to which the entity that manages the SIM card belongs) than abroad. To avoid fraud in this regard, the mobile operator can check the amount of time a customer has been roaming for the last four consecutive months and in some cases even longer.

If abuses are detected the mobile operator may contact the customer to inform them that they may be subject to additional roaming charges if two weeks after the notice they are still abroad. If within this period the customer reconnects to his home network, no charges will be applied. If he fails to do so, the operator may set additional charges from the date of the notice onwards.

European Commission experts recommend that for trips of more than four months or a temporary residence of more than four months, a tariff should be contracted with a local operator.

In tariffs with large amount of data at low prices, the operator can set a limit to the data that the user can use outside his country, always informing the customer about it. In all cases, this limit must exceed the amount of data resulting from dividing the monthly price excluding VAT of the tariff by the maximum price per gigabyte established for the wholesale market (currently 7.7 euros) and multiplying it by two.

If, while abroad, the services contracted with the operator are exceeded, the operator may establish surcharges that may never exceed the maximums established by the European Commission: 3.2 céntimos per minute for voice calls (+VAT), 1 céntimo per SMS (+VAT); 7.7 euros per gigabyte of data (+VAT)

On travel by boat or avión within the EU, roaming can be used without surcharges as long as the traveler is connected to a terrestrial mobile phone network. If the mobile services are provided via satellite, roaming without surcharges does not apply and the cost of unregulated roaming services must be paid (no price limits).