Holiday season is well and truly upon us, but new research shows a lack of understanding of roaming charges and EU ‘Roam like at Home’ rules could leave some phone users facing significant mobile bills.
A quarter of Irish consumers (25%) admit they have come home to an unexpectedly high roaming bill in the past. For the majority (82%), these bills were less than €200, while 15% had bills between €200 and €500, and 3% ended up with a bill ranging from €550 to a whopping €700.
Despite this, 99% of holiday makers will take their phones on holiday with them this year, with one in four (42%) saying they will use their phone the same amount or more than they would at home.
The EU’s ‘Roam like at Home’ rules, which were introduced last year, offer protection to those travelling within the EU. But as many as two-thirds of consumers (65%) are in the dark about these rules. Almost four in ten (39%) mistakenly believe that these rules either apply to all phone use all over Europe (not just within the EU) or will protect them anywhere overseas.
One in ten (9%) believe they can make calls and send texts like at home either in all of Europe or anywhere overseas, but that there may be a cap on data. Worryingly, two in ten (17%) either haven’t heard about the rules at all, or heard about them but doesn’t know any details.
LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE PHONE
Just 14% say they have checked charges with their phone provider and will adjust their usage accordingly while travelling, and according to the research from Switcher.ie, almost four in ten consumers (37%) will leave roaming on while they’re abroad. However, others will make some changes to avoid being charged. A quarter (26%) say they’ll turn off roaming completely and only use WiFi, while a similar number (23%) will just turn on roaming sporadically to check social media and emails.
But, for the majority, the love affair with their mobile phones will continue throughout their vacation, with two-thirds (65%) saying they’ll be using online messaging services – like WhatsApp and Viber.
