Anyone going to the World Cup or abroad can minimise the cost of mobile calls, text messages and internet fees.
As if the thousands of UK travellers trapped abroad after the recent volcanic ash drama hadn't suffered enough damage to their bank balances, many are now facing mobile phone "bill shock".
These holidaymakers, many of whom are just receiving their latest mobile phone bills, may be dismayed when they discover how much they have spent on calls and data roaming while stranded abroad. The Observer recently ran a story about William Harrison, a student who accidentally ran up an £8,000 phone bill with Orange while in France by using his mobile to access the internet.
In theory, mobile bills should no longer be too painful for those travelling to Europe, as from 1 March all European mobile operators have been obliged under EU roaming rules to offer their customers a cut-off limit of €50 (about £45) for using the internet on their china phones. However, it is still early days and not yet clear whether all operators are complying with this rule.
In a month's time the regulations will tighten further, as at the moment customers need to opt-in to this limit, whereas from 1 July the cut-off limit will be set at €50 by default unless they opt out.
For those travelling further afield the cost of calling, texting and using the internet on their mobile can still be an expensive pastime. Independent consumer body Consumer Focus warned World Cup ticket holders last week that costs for calls, texts and data use could add up to more than £100 on a match day – more than the face value of a ticket.
Mobile phone operators are expected to start bringing out more competitive china phone packages in the next few weeks as the holiday season hots up.
But for now, anyone who is about to go abroad has a number of options: doing nothing and sticking with their operator's standard overseas charges (expensive); switching to their operator's overseas calls package (cheaper); buying a global or local sim (potentially even cheaper, depending on usage).
Mike Wilson, mobiles and broadband manager at moneysupermarket.com, says: "Don't underestimate how easy it is to rack up a hefty mobile bill if you are going overseas and planning to use your hiphone.
"Before escaping the country be sure to check with your operator how much calls, texts and internet use will set you back when you're away, because you won't be charged the same rates as your UK tariff. I would advise asking if there is a cheaper international tariff available."
Paying as standard
For standard call charges in Europe, T-Mobile and Virgin are the most expensive at 43p a minute, according to moneysupermarket.com, while 02 is the cheapest at 35p a minute. Network operator 3 is the cheapest for receiving calls at 15p a minute compared to Orange, T-Mobile and Virgin, which all charge the most at 19p. Sending texts is 11p a message with all networks, and all are free to receive.
The cost of using the internet is where operators' charges vary hugely, and where holidaymakers are most likely to run up large bills. T-Mobile, 3, 02 and Orange all charge a flat fee per megabyte (MB) of between £1.25 (3) and £3 (02 and Orange), while Vodafone and Virgin offer the option of either paying per MB, or paying either a daily or hourly fee for web usage (with a cap on how much data can be used).
Virgin, for example, charges £5 a MB, or £4 for a one-hour pass with a 3MB limit and £6 for a 24-hour pass with a 5MB limit.
Whichever package you have you need to be careful about how much data you download. One MB is not much – watching a two-hour film uses about 800 MB.
All these charges when incurred within Europe are considerably lower than in some other countries. For example, if you visit Egypt with your Orange phone you will pay £1.75 a minute to call home and £8 per MB of data used, while in Australia you will pay £1.20 a minute per call and £7.50 per MB of data with T-Mobile.
Package things up
To keep costs down, a good alternative is to opt for your operator's travel package. Vodafone's Passport deal, for example, means you pay your standard home rate to call the UK from more than 35 European countries (and from Australia and New Zealand) after paying a 75p connection charge. These calls can be part of your inclusive minutes if you are on a contract. To receive calls you pay the 75p connection charge and you can talk for up to 60 minutes free of charge. After that you pay 20p a minute.
02's My Europe Extra, on the other hand, is £10 a month for 25p-a-minute calls, free received calls and 11p texts.
Go global – or local
You can avoid your UK operator's charges altogether by switching your network sim card for a global or local sim using websites such as 0044.co.uk and UK2Abroad.co.uk. A global sim card will work across a number of countries so is particularly good for frequent travellers or backpackers, while a local sim will only work in one country. You can buy these before you travel, but you might need to get your phone unlocked by your operator so you can switch cards.
Most global and local sims cost somewhere between £15 and £30 and come loaded with differing amounts of call credit, which you can top up by credit or debit card at any time. For those travelling to South Africa for the World Cup, for example, 0044's South African local sim costs £29.99 and gives you ZAR 55 (about £5) of credit.
After that, local calls cost 10p a minute off-peak, calls to the UK are 63p a minute, while texts to the UK are 15p. This compares with the standard pay-as-you-go rates on Orange where charges for local calls within South Africa and to the UK are £1.45 a minute and texts are 50p a message.
Buying a local or global sim will mean you temporarily have a new phone number, so you will need to make sure people know this before you go.
