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Surfing, voicemail and emojis: Danes warned of perils of using their mobile abroad
Ben Hamilton
October 11th, 2018
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This article is more than 6 years old.
Energistyrelsen releases guidelines ahead of the autumn half-term starting tomorrow evening, during which hundreds of thousands are expected to travel
You might regret it in the morning (photo: Pixabay)
The Energistyrelsen energy agency has warned Danes travelling abroad during next week’s autumn half-term to be wary of using their mobiles like they do in Denmark.
Increasing numbers of Danes are returning to find huge mobile phone bills because they surfed the internet too much.
Within the EU, thanks to a standard roaming clause in most contracts, the majority of holiday-makers can routinely use a foreign service provider’s network to make calls and send texts at no extra cost.
But many forget that when it comes to surfing the internet, most foreign providers set a fair-use limit on data.
Once users exceed the limit, which can happen very quickly watching a video for example, they could face astronomical charges.
The smarter the use, the bigger the bill
Holiday-makers venturing outside the EU tend to be more cautious about their use, but they are still prone to getting caught out – most particularly by voicemail.
Many are unaware that their voicemail is switched on, and that receiving a call that goes to voicemail will end up in the user being charged for two calls.
Outside the EU, Energistyrelsen advises against trusting usage limits, as they can easily be surpassed before you are cut off, and warns against using character-heavy emojis in texts as they will quickly eat into your free allowance.
Energistyrelsen advises holiday-makers outside the EU to turn off all automatic updates of apps before they depart and to use WiFi wherever they can.
Beware of borders and boats
Energistyrelsen is also at particular pains to warn of the risk of approaching the EU’s external borders.
For example, phones are prone to automatically switching to a provider outside the EU even though the user is still in the EU.
Holiday-makers passing by, but not through, Monaco have been caught out as many mobile phone deals do no include roaming in the principality, where even checking your mail can set you back a pretty penny.
Energistyrelsen also urges passengers travelling on ferries and cruise ships to be vigilant of being serviced by a satellite provider.
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