In the first two periods of the 21st century, our world has undergone profound changes. The internet has revolutionized our way of life - from leisure to work, and more recently mobile apps have carried this transformation from our homes to anywhere, with online payments that allow us to receive tickets or pay for any service from anywhere, to our reach. ... deleting maps, images ...
For this reason,
when we travel abroad, we no longer need to buy a guide, as it was once upon a
time, it is enough to have a mobile phone to get to know the city and
communicate with our loved ones. Of course, abroad our tariffs usually change,
we switch to roaming mode.
What is roaming
The word roaming in English means roaming. This is the ability of mobile phones, thanks to their technology, to use the networks of other companies business news when they leave the network coverage areas for which we have entered into a contract. Thus, when we are abroad, our mobile phones are connected to other company networks than those we have contracted.
This means that our
rates change, they become more expensive. Companies apply to roaming rates to us.
These rates are more expensive to make calls, send messages, use mobile data to
navigate, or use WhatsApp.
During the
holidays, companies often introduce special roaming rates, somewhat cheaper, too
encourage customers to continue using their mobile phones and attract new
customers.
Problems in border
areas
We have to be
careful if we live or travel to border areas like Spain if we are near
Portugal or France, in places where our company has little coverage, if roaming
is activated on our phone by default, it may be connected to the Portuguese or
French network. In this case, our company will charge us for roaming charges,
even if we have not left our country. Therefore, if you are traveling to these
places, we recommend that you turn off the roaming option on your phone if you
do not want to get upset.
Present and future
of roaming in the European Union
The so-called Euro
Tariff is currently in force. The European Union, as part of its policy of
integration between member states, has set maximum restrictions on roaming.
This ensures that the prices that Europeans have to pay for travel between
member countries are the same.
This maximum
tariff, set by the European Union, will be charged to all users who have not
entered into a special roaming agreement, which is usually cheaper.
This is the
current breakdown of Euro Tariff prices:
Calls between any
country in the European Union are charged at 5 cents per minute plus the rate
set by you as a user. For example, if you negotiate a rate of 1 cent per minute
and call while roaming or roaming, the final price will be 6 cents per minute.
Received calls will
be charged at 1 cent per minute.
An SMS message sent
is subject to an additional charge compared to the regular 2 cents per message.
Finally, your
internet data transfer rate will be 5 cents per megabyte of data consumed. In
roaming, data consumption is limited to 50 euros, after which the connection
will be disconnected.
Two more
considerations about the Euro tariff: firstly, calls abroad are free for every
establishment, and it should be borne in mind that not all continental European
countries belong to the European Union.
The future of
roaming for consumers is very promising. The European Union decided to end
roaming in 2017, but with a number of initial conditions.
When this measure
was approved, the end of roaming was signed for just 90 days a year. This
restriction was designed to prevent users from entering into contracts for the
use of mobile telephony in countries where tariffs are lower and then using it
in their countries of origin. Recently, however, the European Union has been
working on a new project without this limitation.
The European Union
has established that from 2017 roaming tariffs in all companies will be set as
follows:
Calls at 4 cents
per minute.
Each SMS for 1 euro
cent.
And the data transfer rate will be set at 85 cents per megabyte consumed.
Valid roaming rates for the European Union
We are going to tell you in detail about the special roaming
rates that the main operators in our country have.
Vodafone
A special roaming tariff has been introduced, which
practically excludes roaming. Thus, customers who enjoy this special rate will
not have to pay additional fees in the European Union and the United States. If
this special rate is not activated, the default Euro rate will be applied.
Orange
The following additional costs are added to the special
roaming tariff: 1 euro per day for 60 minutes of calls and one more euro per
day for 100 megabytes of data. It has no registration cost and you only pay if
it is used.
Movistar
It only has a special roaming speed for data usage. It
consists of paying € 4 per day for 300 megabytes of data. For the rest of the
services, calls, and SMS, the Euro tariff is valid, which we described above.
Rest of the world
The world does not end with the European Union, and every
day more Spaniards are sending tourism far beyond our borders.
To simplify tariffs for users, companies and mobile
operators have divided the world into 3 zones: zone 1 is the European Union,
zone 2 is the United States of America, Canada, the Maghreb countries, and the
continent. Europe, which is not part of the European Union, and Zone 3, consists
of the rest of the world.
Zone 2 Rates (US, Canada, Maghreb, and non-EU European
countries)
Movistar
Calls to the country of visit cost € 1.82 per minute plus €
1.21 per connection. If you call any other country, including Spain, it costs
4.83 € per minute plus a 1.21 € connection fee. To receive calls from any
country, 1.82 euros per minute plus 1.21 euros per connection. An SMS in Zone 2
will cost € 1.21 each. And the tariff for data transmission is set at 12.10
euros per megabyte.
Vodafone
Calls to the country of visit cost 1.69 euros per minute
plus 1.21 euros per connection. If you are calling to any other country,
including Spain, keep the same rate as for calls to the country you are
visiting. To receive calls from any country, 1.69 euros per minute plus 1.21
euros per connection. An SMS in Zone 2 will cost € 1.21 each, and the data rate
is set at € 6.05 per megabyte.
Orange
The cost of calls to the country of the visit is 1.45 euros per
minute plus 1.82 euros per connection. If you call any other country, including
Spain, it will be € 1.45 per minute plus € 1.82 for connection. To receive
calls from any country, 1.82 euros per minute plus 1.21 euros per connection.
An SMS in Zone 2 will cost 91 euro cents each, and the data transfer rate is set
at 12.10 euro per megabyte.
Yoigo
Calls to the country of visit cost € 1.09 per minute plus €
0.44 for connection. If you call any other country, including Spain, it will be
€ 2.54 per minute plus € 0.44 for connection. For receiving calls from any
country 0.44 euros per minute. An SMS in Zone 2 will cost € 0.36 each, and the
data rate is set at € 11 per megabyte.
The stakes in Zone 3 are almost the same as in Zone 2.
conclusions
21st-century technologies, with their impressive advances in
communications, mobile applications that enable calls and video calls over data
networks, and increasingly widespread Wi-Fi coverage, threaten the
profitability of roaming rates. Vodafone was the first major company to realize
this, de facto eliminating roaming charges for many countries. Nowadays, if you
are traveling abroad, it is easy to keep in touch with family and friends in
Spain via Wi-Fi in hotels or public Wi-Fi that spreads around the world. In
restaurants, cafes, parks, hotels, we have free Wi-Fi, which, thanks to mobile
applications, allows us to communicate with our loved ones for free.
The new roaming tariff, which the EU wants to introduce in
2017, will protect customers traveling abroad from abuse by operators. But the
new technological reality and the constant revolution we are experiencing in
the field of communications may deliver the final blow to roaming. It will not
be surprising if in the next five years companies introduce one-time roaming
tariffs to improve conditions in the European Union and, as a result,
completely abandon the concept of roaming.