The Age.com.au
Nov 30,2011
Mick Connolly.
Soaring prices …
Australian travellers pay about double the average international rate for roaming access. Illustration: Mick Connolly
THE AGE
"Stay in touch"
Anneli Knight
November 30, 2011
You don't have to pay a fortune to call home.
When Carolyn Constantine was travelling in Europe last year with her iPhone, she had heard the warnings about using the device while she was away from home.
''Everyone knows you should keep your phone off roaming and only use it when you really have to,'' Constantine says. ''I did have it off most of the time but every now and then you need to check your emails or you're lost and need to use the map function, or you need to book a hotel. So I would turn it on - not that often - just to do that.''
She couldn't believe it when she returned home to Sydney eight weeks later to a $1600 bill from her service provider: ''The bill I got for the amount of time my phone was actually on was huge,'' she says.
In Brussels, she turned her phone on just long enough to find and book a hotel online and then turned it off again.
''It was $60 for that short amount of time you're on the internet - the hotel only cost $80,'' she says. ''It's ridiculous.''
CHARGED DOUBLE
The number of complaints made to the Telecommunications Ombudsman has tripled in the past two years and Ombudsman Simon Cohen says this is a concerning trend. ''We have seen cases of consumers receiving unexpectedly high bills in the many thousands of dollars for phone usage … when travelling overseas,'' he says.
Cohen says people need to be proactive in seeking information before they take their phones out of Australia.
''It demonstrates that consumers need to get all the facts about their mobile services and how much these cost when travelling abroad,'' he says.
An OECD study released in June found Australia to be in the top-three most expensive countries for downloading 20MB of data with global roaming, with charges almost double the international average.
The director of policy at the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, Elissa Freeman, says it is a common story for Australians to arrive home to a huge bill after their holiday if they've been using their mobile phone to make calls or access data.
''It seems so innocent to take your phone overseas to stay in touch with people back home and it's a shame that a great holiday can turn into a disaster when you get home and open your telco bill.''
Freeman says people have so quickly become dependent on their phones that they don't stop and think to weigh up the expensive consequences for even small amounts of access time.
''Australians love their smartphones - we're taking up smartphones in record numbers globally and its not surprising that we don't want to break that connection when we're overseas,'' Freeman says. ''The message is: you can take it but be particularly diligent when you're over there.''
GET A PREPAID SIM
Christopher Zinn, from consumer group Choice, says many people aren't even aware how often their smartphones are accessing data and some people are being stung by having their phones switched on, even when they think they're not using them.
''You can't really be confident and secure using your mobile overseas unless you really know what you're doing or you're a millionaire,'' Zinn says. ''We need a globalised world with globalised communications but I'm afraid in mobile telephony the gouge is truly out.''
Zinn says it's not just the huge cost but also the lack of transparency in the system, which means most people have no way of checking how much they are spending until they arrive back in Australia to a massive bill.
Zinn says before you travel, ask yourself: ''Do you really need a mobile phone?'' He recommends using your phone only for sending text messages and to buy a prepaid SIM card in the country that you arrive in, after checking first that the SIM is compatible with your phone.
After being hit with the huge bill from her travels in Europe, Constantine took this approach and bought a prepaid SIM card on her visit to New York.
''It was only $60 and that was enough,'' she says. ''I didn't need to fill it up before I left and people in Australia had a number they could call me on and I wasn't charged.''
How to avoid global roaming ruining your trip
❏ Check your provider's roaming charges. They have higher rates to make and receive calls.
❏ Avoid excess data charges on your smartphone by switching off the ''data roaming'' setting.
❏ Stop emails automatically downloading to your phone. Switch to your phone's manual mode.
❏ Use your phone mainly for SMS. Receiving calls will cost you.
❏ Buy a local pre-paid SIM card in the country you are visiting for local calls.
❏ Make international calls with cheap or free online applications like Skype.
Source: Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, accan.org.au
Diva Comment:
How to avoid global roaming ruining your trip
Check your provider’s roaming charges. They have higher rates to make and receive calls. Avoid excess data charges on your smartphone by switching off the ‘‘ data roaming" setting. Stop emails automatically downloading to your phone. Switch to your phone’s manual mode. Use your phone mainly for SMS. Receiving calls will cost you. Buy a local pre-paid SIM card in the country you are visiting for local calls. Make international calls with cheap or free online applications like Skype.