Mobile phone roaming charges

[woolybanana]

It seems that mobile phone roaming charges have either been substantially reduced or abolished from the beginning of this month. One up for the EU.

Goody.

But, how long before the FRench government slaps a tax on pross border mobile calls?

Presumably, Brexit would mean that the charges would be reinstated.

[NickP]

As a Brexit is highly unlikely the charges will not go up, but what will go up is local in your own country charges, probably in the UK and France. They have to keep the profit margins up to what they already enjoy.

[woolybanana]

Yes, you are probably right there, Nick, though not being a frequent user nor feeling the urge to change this habit, I doubt phone charges will ever be too much of a problem for me.

[Jonzjob]

'ere ya go Wooly  http://www.connexionfrance.com/news_articles.php?id=8009

From the font of all knowledge [8-)]

[Chancer]

I'm in the UK at the moment and have found that it is far cheaper, some 30% less, to use my Free simcard to call another phone in the UK than my Tesco PAYG sim, 5.7cts per minute compared to 6p for the Tesco phone which I had chosen because it was the cheapest PAYG UK mobile where the credit is not lost each month.

 

Its also only 5.7cts per minute to call France from the UK including to French mobiles.

 

Other than for tight fisted people to call me I no longer have any need of the UK PAYG simcard.

[Vidrone]

Hi

I am new to all things French as I have decided that I would like to move over and have joined the forum to get some advice.

I dont know if this would apply to anyone here as I dont know if you could live in France and have a UK contract, but my current mobile service provider 3UK allows you to use their network in various locations abroad without any data/roaming charges and France is one of them. I have used 3Uk for years and find their network one of the best for being cheap. I assume this would apply to PAYG aswell, but would need looking in to.

MOD: If the links below are not allowed, then please delete. I am a 3 customer and nothing more.

Here is a comparison between UK networks

http://www.three.co.uk/static/user_guides/FAH-Comparative-FINAL.pdf

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Feel_At_Home#allowance-details

EDIT: seems you can use PAYG. Below link is based on France prices.

http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roaming_and_international/Mobile_roaming?content_aid=1214306374696

[Jonzjob]

!st of all Vidrone welcome to the forum!! Don't forget, the only silly questions are the ones you can't find the answer for and don't ask.. So ask away.

I haven't heard of 3UK, been here too long I suppose? But we use Free and it costs us the grand total of 2€/month. With that you get 2 hours of calls, any amount of sms/texts and some data. Not sure how much data as I don't use that.

[Loiseau]

Hello Vidrone and welcome.

I too am a happy 3 customer, having been delighted to find a provider that allowed use in France as part of the monthly package. (NB for calls and texts, the free ones are those to and from the UK when you are visiting France, not ones you make to French mobiles and landlines - though maybe the new rules have cut those too.)

I did look into it for someone who actually lives in France, but in the Ts and Cs there is something about "fair use" which I took to mean that too much use abroad only would be a no-no.

Angela

[Chancer]

I enquired in the Three shop, as you say it is a no go, it will work (ie FOC) for short visits to France but if the phone is constantly roaming then you pay the charges.

 

I needed a new PAYG operator for UK use and while the headline cost per minute with three seemed good they were in fact another "use it or lose it" robber of the customers credit, fime for someone glued to their Smartphones making millions of calls and texts and regularly topping up but not for someone making minimal use of the phone only a few weeks per year in the UK.

 

Now that Free.fr which costs me ZERO per month is cheaper to use in the UK than the UK PAYG operators for me as a French resident there is no need any more for a 2nd phone, the bad old days of mobile phone contracts, PAYG and internet access are now long behind us in France thanks to Free and unusually for this country we now enjoy prices far lower than the UK thanks to probably the first real competition in France that did not get buried by the vested interests and cartels.

[YCCMB]

Chancer, you're paying Free for your landline and other services, presumably...hence entitling you to their mobile package as an add-on?

Thus, the only truly fair comparison between your package and Uk costs would be to add your total phone/internet/media package cost, and compare it with a similar UK deal including all the same services.

I believe (because I asked before I changed to 3) that you can use your phone abroad for up to 90 days continuously. Before you get into trouble with them. The single major benefit I enjoy with 3 is all-you-can eat data on my phone, even in France, with no additional charges above my standard UK contract. Infinitely better than any of the short-term solutions (and their attendant costs) that I've ever found in France, and with none of the jumping through hoops to switch internet access (and charges) on and off, or taking a punt on sketchy French mobile providers' coverage to use a data-only sim. Obligingly, 3 send me texts to let me know how much I've saved after each of my French trips. I was in France the week roaming charges came down, yet still managed to save £130-odd quid versus what I might have paid with another UK operator..

[Chancer]

Yes Betty you should consider my mobile phone to cost €2 per month or my combined phone, internet, landline, line rental and television to cost €30 per month, far cheaper I believe than any all in or a bundle of packages in the UK where I believe you still have to pay BT line rental on top.

 

Data use would be of interest to me in the UK, I dont have a smartphone but my internet access piggybacking on my tenants wifi or Dlan is sketchy, my 3 weeks in the UK will have cost me a couple of euros and I recieved loads of calls and texts and made quite a few also.