Cross-border roaming can be a real problem if you don’t take extra precautions when travelling to an area near a border without roaming agreements. It is advisable to check your smartphone settings to avoid problems.
For some years now, when we travel to another country of the European Union, We do not have to pay any additional charges for using our mobile phone. Calls, text messages and data usage remain at the same rates as if we were in our own country of residence. The only consideration we need to take into account is the fair use policy, which allows operators to set a series of limitations to monitor how we use our smartphone when we are abroad.
The problem comes when we visit an area that is very close to a border that does not belong to a country that does not have a roaming agreement with our operator. One of the clearest examples is Andorra, Morocco or Switzerland. In these cases, it is possible that our smartphone makes a connection to one of their networks, even if we have not crossed the borderThis is what is known as cross-border roaming and it can have a significant impact on your wallet.
A widespread problem
Although many of us travel with the confidence that our smartphone is properly configured and that we have previously checked that we have all the services included in the countries we are going to visit, many times we do not realize the risks to which we are exposed in a situation such as the one described above.
In fact, on social networks we found several users who were unaware of this situation and, as a result, have had to pay a certain amount of euros on their next bill. random connections of a few seconds that our terminal has carried out completely autonomously. So, how should we configure our terminal to avoid this type of situation?
Paula Estrada
@mapaestrada
@Lowi_es
I don’t understand, since I haven’t been to Andorra or been near its border (more than 50km), how is it possible that you charge me €55.54 for ANDORRA Roaming!August 11, 2024 • 15:28
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Avoid roaming in cross-border areas
Movistar has a section on their website dedicated to this issue to prevent its customers from having similar problems. The operator informs that we must take two steps. The first of them is to deactivate data roaming on our terminal.
If we are iOS users, This option is located under “Mobile Data”, under “Options” and then under “Data Roaming”. This tab must be disabled. In Android, we will have to do the same by going to the “Mobile network settings” and deactivating “Data roaming”. In this way, the traffic generated with data “will stop working the moment you connect to a foreign network”, as Movistar states.
In addition, the blue operator also recommends that we change the network selection automatic to manual. This way, we will force the mobile to always register with its usual operator. We can access this function from the “Network selection” in “Mobile data” in the case of iOS. In Android, we go to “Mobile network settings”, “Operator” and we must deactivate “Select automatically”.
We must follow these instructions whenever we are in border areas with other countries. In these areas, it is always advisable to opt for the WiFi networks whenever possible, even if this means not having internet at certain times. Once we leave these areas, we can deactivate all of the above and use our smartphone normally again.
