Travelling overseas with your mobile phone

What is international roaming?

Most phone companies allow you to use your mobile phone when travelling overseas. This service is known as ‘international roaming’.

Using your mobile overseas often costs a lot more than using it at home in Australia. This section contains some information and tips that might prevent you coming home to an unusually high phone bill.

Will my mobile phone work when I am overseas?

Your phone company will be able to tell you whether you can use your mobile phone in any countries you are visiting.

You should be able to use this service if your handset is compatible with the network technology in the country you are visiting and your phone company has an agreement with a mobile phone service provider in that country.

You usually have to ask your mobile phone company to activate the international roaming service.
 
Before you leave:

• check your phone’s manual to see whether you have to manually ‘log on’ to the network or whether it will automatically scan for service
• make sure you know the international format for telephone numbers by adding the international call codes.

How much will it cost?

International roaming can be expensive and different providers have different billing arrangements.

Ask your phone company how much it will cost to:

• make calls to a number within your destination country
• make calls to Australia or any other country
• receive calls from a number within the destination country, from Australia or any other country—it may cost as much to receive a call as it does to make an international call
• send and receive SMS, MMS or email
• access the internet and download material to your phone.

Tips for minimising your bill

• Tell your friends and family how much it costs you when they call you overseas.
• Use SMS rather than phone calls to keep in contact and encourage your friends and family to do the same.
• Turn off any voicemail diversions you have such as voice messaging or paging services.
• Turn your phone off when you are not using it to avoid calls from people who may not realise you are overseas.
• Turn off the 'always on internet' connection service.
• Consider asking you phone company to set up an unconditional diversion before you depart so that:
• all calls from Australia will go to a message service in Australia and not to your phone, thereby avoiding the international call rates
• you can collect these messages when it is convenient for you and return the important calls.
• Where possible, consider alternative ways of staying in touch such as:
• email
• VOIP (voice over internet protocol) where available
• pre-paid or post-paid calling cards that you can use on mobiles and fixed line numbers.