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Using mobiles abroadThe cost of using a mobile abroad

Making mobile calls abroad Costs for making calls abroad can be high

It's not always easy to find out from mobile phone companies how much you'll pay when you use your mobile abroad to make international calls.

The tables below show the cost pay-monthly mobile customers can expect to pay on a standard mobile tariff with the UK's six biggest mobile service providers. The figures show costs for making mobile roaming calls to UK landlines, receiving roaming calls and sending roaming texts in some popular holiday destinations. 

The cost of calling other countries and UK mobiles may be higher than calling UK landlines. Mobile roaming calls to and from pay-as-you-go mobile handsets may be higher than for pay-monthly mobile customers. 

To see how the latest handsets from Nokia, Apple and LG perform check out the Which? mobile phone reviews.

Cost of using your mobile abroad
Country 3 Orange O2 T-Mobile Virgin Vodafone
Cost of calls made
Republic of Ireland a 38p/min 35p/min 43p/min 43p/min 38p/min
France and Spain 34p/min 38p/min 35p/min 43p/min 43p/min 38p/min
Croatia 140p/min 130p/min 137p/min 150p/min 60p/min 38p/min
Turkey 140p/min 130p/min 137p/min 150p/min 60p/min 149p/min
United States 140p/min 110p/min 137p/min 120p/min 100p/min 125p/min
Australia 140p/min 85p/min 85p/min 120p/min 60p/min 79p/min
Cost of calls received
Republic of Ireland b 19p/min 18p/min 19p/min 19p/min 18p/min
France and Spain 15p/min 19p/min 18p/min 19p/min 19p/min 18p/min
Croatia 90p/min 70p/min 85p/min 150p/min 30p/min 18p/min
Turkey 90p/min 70p/min 85p/min 150p/min 30p/min 125p/min
United States 90p/min 70p/min 103p/min 120p/min 80p/min 99p/min
Australia 90p/min 70p/min 111p/min 120p/min 30p/min 75p/min
Cost of texts
Republic of Ireland c 11p 11p 11p 11p 11p
France and Spain 11p 11p 11p 11p 11p 11p
Croatia 35p 40p 30p 40p 25p 11p
Turkey 35p 40p 30p 40p 25p 35pd
United States 35p 40p 25p 40p 25p 35pd
Australia 35p 40p 30p 40p 25p 35pd

Table notes

  1. Currently 10p/min on special offer rate available until 28th Feb 2010. Normal cost 34p/min.
  2. Currently free on special offer rate available until 28th Feb 2010. Normal cost 15p/min.
  3. Currently 10p per text on special offer rate available until 28th Feb 2010. Normal cost 11p per text.
  4. Plus your UK text rate

The figures in the table indicate costs in pence per minute to make international calls from your mobile back to the UK, or the cost per roaming text, and assume you use your mobile phone company's preferred overseas mobile network where available. They also assume you don't have any international roaming add-ons applied to your mobile tariff.

We've rounded up costs to the next whole pence. Some mobile companies charge in per-minute rather than per-second blocks when you use your mobile abroad, so even if your international call lasts less than a minute you may still have to pay the cost of a full roaming minute. 

Costs of mobile roaming in other countries

Using your mobile on holiday

Call costs are higher in less visited countries

We've given mobile roaming prices for some of the most popular holiday destinations for UK travellers, but costs for international mobile calls in less widely visited countries can be even higher.

Mobile operators give mobile roaming costs for all countries on their websites, but the information isn't always easy to find. We've linked directly to the mobile roaming section of each mobile service provider below:

Add-ons for using your mobile abroad

Vodafone Passport is probably the best mobile roaming add-on around. You have to actively sign up, rather than the lower costs applying automatically, but the add-on is free for both pay-as-you-go and pay-monthly customers. 

Vodafone mobile customers who've signed up to Vodafone Passport will pay a flat fee of 75p per call plus their standard UK rate. It covers making and receiving calls in 35 European countries, Australia and New Zealand. 

Many other mobile service providers offer mobile roaming bundles or add-ons. These mean cheaper call rates than using your standard tariff, but they often require you to pay an extra fee to benefit from the lower costs of using your mobile abroad. So you'll need to be sure you'll use your mobile enough to justify the initial cost.

Using the internet on your mobile abroad

Using your mobile to access the internet abroad (data roaming) costs a lot more than it does within the UK. Just downloading a 10 minute-video clip and five music tracks when using your phone abroad could cost as much as £200, depending on your mobile phone network and location.

Mobile phone networks charge for internet access by megabyte (MB) of data downloaded. How much you'll be charged depends on your network, tariff and location. As a rough guide you'll be charged around £3-5 per MB in Europe and around £6-8 per MB further afield.

Tips for cheaper internet access abroad

  • Contact your mobile operator before you travel to find out how much it charges for data roaming in the country you're visiting.
  • Find out if your provider offers any cheap data bundles for internet use abroad. If you plan to use this internet a lot this could work out cheaper.
  • Ask your mobile operator if it can put a limit on your usage or how much you spend in total so you don't exceed a certain level.

For accessing the internet back at home, see the Which? broadband review to find out which providers come top in our exclusive survey.

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