Roaming is over in the EU after June 15th

[Vladis]

Hello,

A common thing I do after entering a new country is to look for a local pre paid SIM card to avoid expensive roaming charges. After June 15th, I do not need to worry anymore as I can use my home SIM card anywhere in the EU as if I was at home.

There are some differences as, for example, when calling an Italian marina from Italy, I will be paying an international call as if I was calling that marina from Portugal. Since my main usage is internet, that will not be a problem. I hope this information is useful to other sailors (I was not aware of this until today)!

Regards, Vladis

[Anders]

That's correct for texts and minutes but not entirely correct for data, there can still be restrictions and extra charges.
Check with your network provider before using the new roaming rules.

[Bjorn_O]

I will need a special SIM for a monthly fee. Only speech and text is supported. Data is not supported.

[Vladis]

Hello,

Me and my wife have different mobile providers here in Portugal. She confirmed about this through the call center. In my case, I went to a shop and they confirmed it as well. I have emphasised that my only interest was data. Since we mainly use wifi at home and our mobile data usage is limited to 4GB per month, I even bought a pre paid data only sim card by 15 euros containing 30GB and with a validity of 15 days after its activation. They said that if I activate this SIM card after June 15 I could use it abroad. And that I could recharge it using online banking. I will be cruising in Italy and Greece for more than 3 months, starting next week.

Having read the posts above I read this:

Mobile roaming costs - Your Europe

and what is working me is the part that says that there is a limit on the time we are abroad. 3 months is too much? I would really appreciate any more contribution on this subject!

Regards, Vladis

[Anders]

Here is one article about it
Revealed: EU 'ban' on mobile roaming charges WON'T stop firms charging some extra fees for data

[Sandibar]

For Finnish network companies unlimited data plans in Finland will have some amount restrictions while roaming. Still it's a great development.

[barnakiel]

OK. But the card must be a EU card. Many members here are US Americans. The new regulation affects EU cards for EU voice and text calls. And mind the date 15 June, just in case you have some immediate calls to make.

I am using the phone less and less these days, seems like the operators are trying to catch up with some ebbing profits. Too little too late, I am afraid.

Cheers,
b.

[Xlantic]

I have had a Vodafone Spain rate plan with no roaming charges for data, calls and text since last year.

I used it last summer cruising through Greece and Italy and it was a vast improvement on having to urgently search for places to buy and top-up local SIMs when entering a new country and of dreading to receive calls (and roaming charges) on my regular phone.

I would still get a local SIM for additional Gigabytes.

According to this article Vodafone UK has recently scrapped roaming charges in 40 countries:
https://www.cnet.com/uk/news/vodafon...across-europe/

[Vladis]

Hello,

As the OP of this thread I must say that my initial assumption was wrong. As others have already pointed out, there is a "fair use" limit on data which is not applicable on the country of origin. Unfortunately, and that was my mistake, the call centers and the attendants of real shops do not have complete information and tend to say yes to our questions.

So, I have an active Vodafone card for Italy and will need to get one when I arrive in Greece. Last year I used Wind. It had the best GB/euro ratio but coverage was not that good. I am going to see what is available for this year. If anyone has information, I would be very grateful.

Regards, Vladis

[30West]

With Sprint I've had the best luck with online-chat for setting up my phone and getting rates in writing. Everything is recorded and sent to you afterward for reference. When I arrive in each country I get a text with local rates for voice, text, and data. It changes regularly, Japan and China now have free text. I was not able to online chat from China without a VPN.