The difference between roaming and international calls

Do you know the difference between roaming and international calling? How do calls to and from abroad work? Knowing the difference is very important, because if you don't, you could be surprised by a high bill.

Roaming

There's a call from abroad. It is a roaming call whenever you are connected to a foreign network. It can be a call from a foreign network to the Czech Republic, a call within the country you are visiting, or a call from a foreign network to any third country.

Calls from EU countries to numbers in other EU countries are charged at the same rates as calls made at home in the Czech Republic. The same conditions apply to several non-EU countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and the UK.

However, calls from EU countries to non-EU numbers and calls from non-EU countries to any country, including the Czech Republic, are priced according to the relevant zones in your operator's price list.

International calls

It is calling from the Czech Republic to foreign numbers. This call is always charged. Again, the prices for it are based on the individual zones of your operator's price list.

What to watch out for?

The important thing is to watch your boundaries. In particular, people moving near the borders of EU countries with non-EU countries should be careful. Here, your phone may be switched to a stronger network of a "non-EU" operator, which will change the rules on how you are charged for services. Not only call and SMS rates but especially data rates are really high in non-EU countries.

However, don't be fooled at home in the Czech Republic. For example, if you call a foreigner who is in the Czech Republic but has a foreign number, it will be an international call. Your operator will charge you for the call.

Furthermore, be cautious in the case of Cyprus. In particular, the northern part of Cyprus, the Turkish part, is not regulated by the EU and services are charged as in other non-EU countries. Be careful when travelling to Switzerland and most Balkan countries (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia), Belarus and Ukraine. These countries are not members of the European Economic Area and are therefore not covered by EU roaming charges.

And which countries belong to the EU?

The European Union is currently made up of 27 Member States. These countries are:

Belgium, Bulgaria. Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Sweden.

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