Ofcom: top ten tips for using mobiles on holiday

Own a mobile phone? Going abroad this summer? Ofcom advise*:

1. Enable your mobile phone: Check with your mobile provider that your phone has been enabled to use abroad. Use at least SPF-30 on your mobile and periodically examine it for any unusual discolouration or swelling.
2. Check your handset: Check with your mobile provider that your handset will work in the country you are travelling to. Your mobile phone will probably not work in certain remote parts of eastern Europe: Lower Slaughter, Middle Barton and Upper Oddington.
3. Check the prices before you leave: Contact your mobile provider to check your tariff before you travel to help avoid unexpectedly high bills.
4. Go Green: Check with your mobile provider to see how you can offset the CO2 emissions associated with using your mobile phone whilst abroad.
5. The pan European tariff only applies to voice calls: Remember that the pan European tariff (Eurotariff) which has helped to reduce the cost of calls, only applies to voice calls, not to texting and data downloads. Unfortunately, the Eurotariff was recently rejected by the Irish in a national referendum. No one knows what comes next…
6. Check your bundles: Don’t assume that the price of calls made abroad are included in your bundled package. Also, don’t carry a bundled package that someone else asks you to take to their friend abroad — it could contain illegal drugs!
7. Don’t forget photos: Many mobiles now have embedded cameras. Remember that under new EU guidelines, all photos taken abroad must be emailed to Ofcom within 10 days of your return.
8. Using mobile internet abroad: Be aware that when connecting to the internet via a mobile handset, dongle or data card whilst abroad could cost significantly more than when using them at home. In Poland, for example, it would cost 1.3 million zloty to download Season 7 of Friends to your mobile! You can buy a block of flats in Warsaw for that much!
9. The local SIM option: If you are out of the country for a long period time, it could be cheaper to buy a local SIM card that can be used in your handset or a local dongle. Warning: ‘Dongle’ is an insult in Serbo-Croatian!
10. Alert your operator immediately if your phone is lost or stolen: If your phone is lost or stolen when you are abroad remember that you could be liable for the cost of the calls made in that country. Make a note of the contact details of your operator before you travel to ensure that you can get in touch with them as soon as possible to report the loss.

*Some tips have been edited by OfcomWatch…