Dont get Burned by data roaming charges this holiday season

Nearly two thirds of smartphone users have been burnt by a large mobile phone bill following a trip abroad. We want as many people as possible to stay connected during the holiday season – without spending over the odds.

With more and more people accessing the internet through their smartphones, staying connected during the holiday season has created a new headache for customers – ‘roaming’ bills. A recent survey showed that 81% of holidaymakers received a bill on their return that was up to £100 more expensive than their standard monthly payment.
We're therefore launching a campaign to share our top tips with customers so they can get the most out of a mobile connection while abroad.
 

Roaming: the facts

Did you know…

• 79% of smartphone users expect to access the internet from their mobile device this summer whilst abroad
• Only 6% are aware of the correct cost per megabyte (MB) when accessing the internet from a mobile phone outside the UK 
• Facebook and Twitter – being ‘always connected’ - are the main culprits for the rise in roaming fees.

Smartphones can easily use lots of data in a few seconds to view pictures, download apps or stream music. Add to that the ‘wish you were here’ calls to family and friends, browsing the internet and researching or booking local restaurants, and the additional costs of using data abroad can result in a mobile bill quickly getting out of hand.
Most of these costs can be avoided through a little bit of smart thinking and research into how to get the best value for money while using a device abroad. We’re here to help make sure our customers are in-the-know about potential costs – and understand ways they can avoid an expensive bill. We’ll be doing lots of activity over the coming months to share our top tips – look out for us in the press and on TV and at a ‘Holiday Helpdesk’ at an airport near you soon…
 

How to avoid an expensive holiday bill

Our top tips... 

• Be aware of ‘roaming charges’: Roaming means the use of a mobile device abroad. Unless stated otherwise, roaming charges are not included in any pay monthly allowances or packages, so customers should find out the costs of calls, text and data charges before they travel.
• Do some research: Customers can speak to us to find out about travel bundles or roaming packages they can purchase to help save money and monitor usage.
• Optimise settings: Smartphones are constantly connecting to the internet, so customers should make sure that ‘data roaming’ is turned off while abroad. The same goes for email; keep it switched off to avoid expensive chargers. 
• Avoid using data intensive applications: Recent smartphones have data intensive applications built-in such as Google Maps and YouTube, which use a large amount of data. In general, it’s a good idea to keep these switched off whilst abroad. iPhone users who can’t resist connecting to the internet abroad can take advantage of the free Onavo app which compresses the data used for web browsing, emails and apps. It’s expected to be available to Android smartphone users in the coming months.
• Keep an eye on apps: Many apps such as Facebook and twitter use the internet to update. Customers should avoid using them while on holiday and resist the temptation to download any news apps which will likely prove very data intensive (and therefore expensive).
• Wifi: Using wifi is a great way to surf the web, update apps and use programmes such as Google Maps on a mobile device.
• MMS: It's worth checking with how much the cost of a multimedia message is compared to that of a standard text message. Often it can be cheaper to send an MMS which can contain photos and up to 1024 characters (whereas an SMS has a maximum of 160 characters in a single message).
• Turn off voicemail: Operators normally charge roaming rates for every voicemail call while abroad. Advise customers to leave a greeting explaining that they’re abroad, asking the caller to send a text message.