People using phones in UK reminded it is a third country

People travelling to the UK are advised to check roaming charges before their trip to avoid any unpleasant surprises, the communications commissioner’s office said on Monday.

The commissioner’s office recalled that as of December 21, 2020 the UK is a third country as per the EU regulation on roaming on public mobile communications networks within the union.

This means, it added, that the use of mobile telephony services by visitors from Cyprus to the UK are charged according to the terms and conditions of the applicable roaming agreements between Cypriot mobile service companies and their partners in the UK.

“For this reason, the communications commissioner urges Cypriot subscribers who intend to visit the UK, to consult their providers before starting their journey, about the current roaming charges within the UK,” it said.

It also advises people intending to visit the UK to deactivate the ‘automatically select network’ feature on their mobile phones so that they can have control over the network they use in relation to the billing terms and conditions.

The commissioner’s office also advises Cypriot consumers travelling within the EU, in case they find themselves in an area bordering a non-EU country, to also disable the same feature (‘automatically select network’) because their phone may connect to a neighbouring network outside the EU and be subject to charges outside the regulation in question.

It also said that in case of unintentional connection to a network outside the EU, the consumer will receive a message with information regarding the charges.