How NOT to incur excessive roaming charges

Written on 8/11/2009 05:05:00 PM by poison_ivy

Well, not all of us are lucky enough to be in the Vodafone network and avail of their free Vodafone Passport roaming service this summer. So for those of you who just got back on a Holiday and are surprised to find that their mobile phone bills have ballooned, here's some tip on how not to incur those excessive roaming charges next time.

Turn off all data services - for iPhone users, this means turning off that feature which allows you to accept push emails. Be careful about using your Google Maps application on your mobile phone because that too uses data services. Smartphones are more susceptible of data charges especially those capable of push emails.

De-activate your voicemail service - You can ask your mobile phone service provider to temporarily deactivate your voicemail service because once you check you receive that voicemail message, it's charged as a roaming voice call.

Forward your text/voice messages - Now if you're worried about just turning off your phone or leaving your phone at home while you travel abroad and you think about all those important messages that you might have missed, then why not try forwarding your text/voice messages to your email? Getting a free internet access while you're abroad is probably easier and cheaper rather than incurring all those roaming charges. Forwarding text/voice messages requires specific software designed for your mobile phone operating system. Just try to Google "forward text/voice messages to email" and you'll find the needed software/applications.

Buy another simcard - if you're just staying in one country, then just buy a prepaid sim card from a wireless carrier in the area. It's definitely cheaper than roaming.