Telephone services: Roaming

The national and international Roaming service allows customers to use a communication network different from the one specified in the phone contract (for instance, when one’s phone company network does not cover the place or the country in which costumers are located).
To make roaming service work, telephone companies stipulate agreements, which permit consumers to benefit from alternative networks.

Telecommunication networks are regulated by national and european rules, in order to assure consumers not only a good service but also clearer and competitive prices.

In any case, please notice that you maintain contractual relations only with the phone company specified in your contract. Therefore, the alternative phone operator will charge the roaming costs to the original operator which, in turn, will debit to you. This double step, obviously, produces a supplement of costs in respect to the actual cost of a roaming phone.

Anyway, every complaint must be turned to one’s phone operator, but every phone company operating within the EU must guarantee the access to ADR bodies for the settlement of cross border disputes.

Therefore, before leaving your Country it is important to be well informed about the possibility to use the roaming service and also about the related costs, which are different for each operator.

The costs of the roaming service are much higher than a national telephone service. In order to limit the expenses, it is better for you to call from a land line and use your mobile phone only for sending short messages. Moreover, do not forget that if you receive a call using the roaming service, both you and the caller will be charged considerable costs.

Regarding telephone communications when at hotel, you have to pay only the amount actually spent: no supplementary tax is due. Otherwise, you are entitled to have your right respected in front of local authorities.

Please remember that within the EU there is only one dialling code, the ”00”, which has to be followed by each Country personal code.

At present, during a stay abroad it is very easy to access to the Internet, at “internet cafes” or at your hotel. Anyway, when using a connection, always pay attention to the server provided: in order to save money it is better to use a local service, because crossborder servers have higher prices.

In airports or train stations, you can use the wireless or the Wi-Fi connection, thanks to specific points of connection, which are called “hotspot”. In order to benefit from this internet service, you may be required to pay for it and also to possess an apposite connection card for your laptop.

Finally, you can also use prepaid cards, which allow you to enter the internet for a determined period of time, using, for example, the hotel server.

For emergency calls, you can dial the 112 from each EU Member State to contact directly the local emergency services.
 

• Pratical advises

• Faq: telephone services