Traveling overseas with a mobile phone

When you travel with your phone you need to take a few things into consideration. Just to make sure that you don’t forget anything in the rush of packing, we have put together a few things that you need to know:

1) Before you take your phone overseas, be sure to contact your network and get international roaming switched on. Don’t expect to be activated immediately, it can sometimes take a few days and there are some network prerequisites such as having your account on direct debit.

2) Be sure to check that the voltage in your phone’s charger is compatible with that of the country to which you are traveling. Don’t forget to pack an outlet converter so that your charger will fit in the overseas power socket.

3) Check with your network provider so that they can arrange network access in the country you are traveling to.

4) If you plan on using your phone whilst you are on foreign shores be aware how international calls work. Charges whilst roaming are different from your standard call charges.

Using the example of an Australian traveler using a mobile phone in London, the calls can be summarized as follows:

Case 1 : If you are in London and make a call within London, you will be charged a local rate for the call (for exact rates contact your service provider).

Case 2 : If you are in London and call Australia (even to retrieve your voicemail) you will be charged at international rates (for exact rates contact your service provider).

Case 3 : If you are in London and receive a call originating in Australia, the calling party pays for the local call to your mobile phone, but then you pay for the international leg of the call. For Australians to contact you they just dial your standard mobile phone number.

Case 4 : If you are in London and receive a call originating in London, then the calling party pays for the international call to Australia (They must dial the Australian country code 61 and then drop the 0 at the beginning of your number so your phone number would look like +61 4 XXX XXX) and you pay for the international leg of the call back to London.

Case 5 : If you call overseas from within Australia you will be charged just from Australia to the foreign country. International calls are not charged at a set rate. Call costs vary daily and depend on exchange rates and network agreements. Check your mobile service provider for the exact charges applicable.)

Good luck! Happy traveling!

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