Europe Cell Phone

The press is routinely reporting, Ofcom and the networks themselves see our international call roaming charges prices quickly falling. Will there be a real change in the future or is it more of the same old story?

In our current financial climate the ‘Financial Director or controller’ of any company, large or small, are seeking new ways of saving money on business mobiles and international roaming.

One of the problems with using mobile phones abroad is the lack of information we are given as businesses and consumers. How much are we going to be charged? Is it possible to utilize one’s phone time overseas? Could there be any other options or means of saving money?

Let’s take a quick look at what is available to you in the marketplace.

Orange ‘business customers’ can make UK calls to 28 countries from their minute bundle, similar offers are available on o2 and T-mobile. The Business World Traveler plan from Orange gives you discounts of up to 50% on standard voice roaming prices and as much as 25% off roaming data.

Vodafone, on the other hand, has Passport which has the same features. It also offers reduced call charges whilst abroad. Pay 75p connection charge per call when abroad, then talk at your usual UK rate. You can talk to Vodafone about the service directly by dialing 5555 on your handset.

o2 have what’s called ‘International Traveller Service’ which allows customers to call from Europe to the UK for 0.30p per minute. However, if you are calling from other parts of the world then the charges can vary from between 0.81p to 1.20 per minute.

T-mobile also have competitive roaming offers. T-mobile charge between 0.38p and 0.55p per minute to call the UK from Europe. Receiving calls with T-mobile have recently fallen meaning the cost is between 0.13p to 0.20p for Europe.

Just tell us where you need to make your call to and we will set you up today.

If you are regularly visiting a country and using your Business Phone to call the UK, one option is to buy a local SIM card. You will in turn get a local phone number for the country you’re in. Within certain countries it would not be possible because you will have to be a documented resident.

It is also possible to buy international pay as you go or prepaid sim cards at home. These may reduce your roaming charges by more than half.

The networks are vying for our business and the International roaming market is one area that competition is really starting to warm up. I am hopeful that the charges for worldwide roaming will continue to go down as competition increases. After all, the networks are in competition with one another which will drive prices down further.

Finally, whilst the networks are bombarded with bad press for over charging on roaming I believe they are reacting in a positive way that will benefit business mobile users in the UK.

The information was correct at the time of writing this article. The networks do regularly change tariffs and prices so some of the stated prices and services may not be available or relevant.