When returning from a trip abroad, many people have been scared when, at home, they receive an unusual telephone bill of hundreds of euros, an exorbitant bill considering that they have only used the mobile in some point in time. So what happens?
While you are in the coverage area of your telephone company, the costs remain within what you agreed upon when hiring the line. But when you travel abroad, the operator continues to offer you an Internet connection, but not under the conditions of the country of origin. This is called roaming , the data roaming service that mobile phone operators provide by default outside our country. If no action is taken, roaming keeps you connected and you keep paying.
Last year, the EU lowered roaming rates between member countries by 36%. Thus, from July 1, 2014 the rates will be as follows:
- Mobile Internet: € 0.20 per MB
- Calls issued: € 0.19 per minute
- Calls received: € 0.05 per minute
- SMS: € 0.06
Despite this reduction, roaming , due to the high additional costs it causes, is feared by many people. It is for this reason that in this blog we offer you the best solutions to avoid being affected and not having to pay more.
Turn off data and search for Wi-fi
The best solution to avoid scares of this type is to disable data roaming and 3G connection on your mobile. As simple as that. To carry it out, in most devices we will have to go to the Settings or Configuration icon , then to the section Wireless and networks / Mobile networks , and once there uncheck the boxes where it says “ Mobile data ” and “ Roaming of data ”.
Some of you may think here: “If I deactivate all connections, how can I communicate with someone from Spain if I need it? No problem. New Internet services and connection speed have allowed the rise of mobile applications that facilitate communication and save on voice calls. “And when can we use them?” When we have Wi-fi. The best strategy to talk or surf without costing you a penny is to connect to free Wi-Fi networks , which are currently in many places: airports, hotels, bars, shops, etc.
If there is any open network in the vicinity, the phone, tablet or laptop will detect it and connect by itself; If it is a password protected network, even if it is free, you will have to ask for the password to its owner.
Find open Wifi networks
There is currently an application called Free Zone Wi-fi that allows you to find Wi-fi networks open and available anywhere in the world (there are more than 7 million today). Also, if we configure it, it automatically connects us to the nearest one.
Free Zone is free and available for both Android and iOS . We can locate the networks in a list that shows us only the closest ones or on a map.
Communicate with Internet applications to avoid telephone call expenses
Once connected, we can communicate. There are specific applications for this purpose. The most popular ones are Skype (if you want to know what it is and how it works, we have an article that talks about it), Viber and VoipBuster . All of them admit, in addition to voice calls, the possibility of videoconferencing. To use them you only need to be connected to Wi-fi, download and install the applications in question (they are free) and that the person we want to talk to has the same program installed.
Also, remember that we also have WhatsApp , Line , etc. if you want to do it is chat. It goes without saying that with Wi-fi you can also connect to the different social networks in which you are registered, navigate through the network, etc.
So, with these tricks you can avoid unnecessary headaches when using your mobile when you are traveling. The problems of roaming are unknown to many people, for this reason it is important that, from specialized spaces such as this one, we provide useful information in this regard.
