What UK SIMs to use in EU for extended period?

[JonE]

The cost to me of using my UK mobile number in the EU for calls and texts has just jumped by a massive percentage due to the implementation of the "Roam like at Home" Regulation. The EU Regulation addressing what they call a 'market failure' looks to be, in its final stages, rather unwelcome for my purposes

I'm resident in another EU country and have (on Virgin PAYG) been paying 4ppm (pence per minute) to make calls to any EU landline or mobile and 1p for each text sent to such numbers - with zero cost to receive calls and texts. In other words, pretty much the supplementary 'wholesale' rates on top of a zero 'domestic' base. A 10-minute call to a non-Virgin UK mobile number would (if I stay on Virgin's Original PAYG tariff) now cost me £4.10 rather than 40p.

A more significant medium/longer-term issue is that websites of mainstream UK providers very clearly and strongly indicate that they'll be imposing various checks as permitted by the Regulation (precise criteria vary slightly across providers) to ensure that 'roaming' means 'short-term roaming' such that they won't compete across borders as primary provider (e.g. a resident of, say, Portugal won't be able to use a UK provider at UK rates longer-term and vice versa). This checking does not seem to be limited to data usage (of which I have none).

As I don't visit the UK, it looks as if my two UK numbers (on different networks) are at risk of being terminated within about 4 months so anyone calling me from the UK will have to pay for an international call to my 'local' numbers. One UK number is for personal use but the other is published as contact number for specific functions of a UK charity so that would be a problem as it stands.

Interestingly, GiffGaff say that an inability to prove UK residence and main usage may mean "inclusive roaming may be switched off. You’ll still be able to use your phone in the EU, but will be charged 3.2p/minute, 1p/text" but that seems to be applicable only if one has a GoodyBag and it'd be 15ppm & 5p/txt at base payg rates. At least they don't (as far as I have been able to discover) threaten to terminate the number so I could still receive calls and present my number on outgoing calls (to the same extent as hitherto). That's the most 'benign' option I've found so far but has anyone already researched this further and found decent options for minimising the downsides?


Cheers!

[Infrasonic]

My initial thoughts would be to move to a VoIP solution, say with a local UK VoIP number for your charity work?
That way any UK initiated calls will still be at a 'local' rate and it looks like a normal UK phone number to any caller.

The actual mobile numbers and country of origin would become irrelevant (so local SIM(s) wouldn't be an issue) and it would be easy to transfer call taking responsibility to someone else if needed in the event of illness et al.

I use Skype quite a bit for international calls on my Nexus 5, but I don't have a Skype number, just several accounts.

[Slarti]

No idea if they'd be cost effective for you, but companies like Vonage provide VoIP services.

As for Skype https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/27/skype_vuln/


Slarti

[JonE]

My initial thoughts would be to move to a VoIP solution...

The problem with that is the I bit.

I need a mobile solution that will work away from home and outside the major urban and suburban areas. Whizzy stuff like 4G may have recently started to appear in a few city centres but old-school, basic coverage here in rural areas for calls/texts has relatively few gaps - which is why continuing to roam on the mobile networks (without data) would be the preferred option.

I'm hoping to find a UK network that doesn't have too draconian a policy towards extended periods of (non-data) roaming. Perhaps my only option is to wing it until I receive a warning and see if things can be rearranged with regard to the charity in the interim. Extended roaming seems to be doomed under the arrangements connected with the current regulation and there's no telling whether UK networks might permit it once more (at a price to reflect revised wholesale arrangements) in the post-Brexit landscape.

Further investigation of GiffGaff (which had seemed promising) turned up the snippet that >60 days roaming use of their services in any rolling 4-month period would be regarded as abuse. There aren't many days per week where there is user traffic on a SIM but I expect that having the phone on and registered via a local mast could still be regarded as a use of their services even if I'm not making/receiving calls or texts

Cheers!

[JonE]

Try a 3 network roaming SIM...

Their 3-2-1 tariff made them my first subject for scrutiny. Their roaming limit before becoming a candidate for suspension/cessation is stated as being 60 days in a rolling 12-month period. Finding the gotchas isn't always straightforward - which is why I'd wondered if anyone here had already researched this.

The 'control of abuse' arrangements across the EU look to have been finalised last December so that the providers' systems implementing their chosen measures could be in place as the Regulation came into effect. The new regulation provides an incentive for providers to police this pretty assiduously so flying under the radar won't be easy to achieve.

I can see a genuine need for some business customers to have extended-period roaming so special arrangements may be available for them but I can't see that personal customers have an easy way round this.

Cheers!

[madhatter]

I was sent this by O2 recently:

Great news. You won't have to pay anything extra when roaming in Europe.

From 15 June, all the calls, texts and data you use in our Europe Zone will come out of your usual UK allowance. It'll feel just like home.

Get the lowdown: http://s.o2.co.uk/Zk3Gk4WX

Remember, outside our Europe Zone, you already have O2 Travel.

More for you.

Terms apply

I didn't look at the terms as I don't expect to travel outside the UK, so there could well be a huge bananaskin in the Terms

[Slarti]

Their roaming limit before becoming a candidate for suspension/cessation is stated as being 60 days in a rolling 12-month period. Finding the gotchas isn't always straightforward - which is why I'd wondered if anyone here had already researched this.

The 'control of abuse' arrangements across the EU look to have been finalised last December so that the providers' systems implementing their chosen measures could be in place as the Regulation came into effect. The new regulation provides an incentive for providers to police this pretty assiduously so flying under the radar won't be easy to achieve.

I can see a genuine need for some business customers to have extended-period roaming so special arrangements may be available for them but I can't see that personal customers have an easy way round this.

Cheers!

I would expect that business customers get round it by having a local SIM while having calls to their UK number forwarded to their current in country number.

Slarti

[Infrasonic]

A further fly in the ointment is that some countries require you to prove residency if you want a geographic VoIP number (according to the Skype numbers page I looked the other day).

https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA256/ ... ype-number

However, some countries require proof of residence, so unless you have a valid address there, you won’t be able to get a number for that country. These countries include:

Brazil
France
Germany
The Netherlands
Switzerland
South Korea (Skype Numbers in South Korea must be purchased through our partner, Daesung.)
Verification of your registered address may vary across individual countries. The following example is for purchasing a Skype Number in Germany:

Sign in to your account.
In the Manage features section, select Skype Number, then select Get a Skype Number and follow the instructions.
In the 'Information required for a Skype Number subscription' page that opens, enter your valid registered address in Germany and your email details. Then check the box to confirm that you’re a resident of Germany and to accept passing your details to a German service provider.
Select Next, choose whether you want a 3-month or a 12-month Skype Number subscription, then complete the payment.
Your details will be shared and verified by the service provider and you’ll receive an email to let you know when your Skype Number has been activated.

Currently the UK doesn't...

So it's possible that as this current Govt. are very keen to do away with our privacy via encryption et al, they may well join in and legislate to prevent non residents having UK registered numbers, on the premise that it will hinder anonymous criminality/terrorism etc.

As PAYG SIM's are a favourite amongst the Costa Del Sol gangster fraternity they may well tighten up there on the same premise, although the obvious get around (at least for purchase) would be to have a UK based proxy...

[GrandOiseau]

I'm sure I'm missing something obvious but can't you just get a SIM for the country you are resident in?

[Infrasonic]

I'm sure I'm missing something obvious but can't you just get a SIM for the country you are resident in?

...As I don't visit the UK, it looks as if my two UK numbers (on different networks) are at risk of being terminated within about 4 months so anyone calling me from the UK will have to pay for an international call to my 'local' numbers. One UK number is for personal use but the other is published as contact number for specific functions of a UK charity so that would be a problem as it stands...

Ringing a foreign mobile from the UK would be a call cost issue for a local SIM. Hence my VoIP suggestion. The issue there is 3/4G coverage out in the sticks and the necessity of a 'smart' phone rather than any old 2.5G handset (GSM/GPRS).

Although there are some interesting developments in India and other developing nations around 2.5G optimised apps. (You'd just have to spoof an Indian proxy to get the apps. as they are region restricted).

[Meatyfool]

Hi Jon,

This sort of thing does my head in, but thinking out of the box, could you not post sims back to the uk when they could get close to the "abuse" level and have the other returned to you a week or so before. Dare you trust the universal postal service that far?

Maybe setting up some kind of redirection service could ensure that a) the sim close to "abuse" status can be seen to be used back in the UK, and b) that your callers still see the same number?

Thinking it may fall flat for the duration of the post, but the posting sims about may have legs somehow.

Meatyfool..

[JonE]

This sort of thing does my head in, but thinking out of the box, could you not post sims back to the uk when they could get close to the "abuse" level and have the other returned to you a week or so before. Dare you trust the universal postal service that far?

Posting to the UK is fine. However, a letter sent here can take ages to arrive - it it ever does. The record currently stands at 41 days with second place being 33 days and, of course, there's the stuff I know to have been sent which simply hasn't arrived.

I'd considered number porting every 4 months (or whenever I received a warning) as a possibility but would still be reliant on the new SIM (having been activated in the UK by my proxy) actually reaching me and in a reasonable time - so that pushed the option well down the ranking.

I'll look further into VoIP options and activate data using my local SIM so as to test/monitor the actual coverage in the areas where I spend most time since 'official' or crowd-sourced coverage maps and hearsay are probably not to be relied on as a true indication of the current state of play. If necessary, I'll also get a SIM from the other local (non-virtual) provider to compare data coverage for my purposes.

Cheers!