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Watch out for roaming in border localities
16.07.2015
The Romanian National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) is warning the users whose roaming service is activated while they are close to the border, although in the country, that their telephone may automatically connect to a network in the neighbouring country – so that they may use communications services at roaming rates, even paying for incoming calls (involuntary roaming). The list of border localities where the users incur a potential risk of entering involuntary roaming, by operator, has been updated and published by ANCOM, here.
According to ANCOM’s measurements, in most counties situated close to the border, there are localities where mobile handsets may enter involuntary roaming, predominantly in: Satu Mare (63 localities, at the border with Ukraine and Hungary), BotoÈ™ani (44 localities, along the border with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova), IaÈ™i (42 localities, along the border with the Republic of Moldova), TimiÈ™ (39 localities, along the border with Serbia and Hungary) and Bihor (33 localities, along the border with Hungary). Â
Based on the measurements conducted, the Authority identified localities with a risk of involuntary roaming, where mobile handsets may temporarily connect to a foreign operator’s network – depending on the user’s movement -, as well as localities with an increased risk of involuntary roaming, where the mobile equipment may permanently connect to a foreign operator’s network, throughout the area of the respective locality.
Involuntary roaming in border areas on the territory of Romania can only occur where the users have activated their roaming service, while their mobile telephone or tablet is set to automatically identify a network, thus connecting automatically to the network of the operator with the best signal in the user’s location. Since these localities are situated near the border, the mobile handset may connect to the network of an operator in the neighbouring country and the user - therefore charged for roaming services.
ANCOM reminds the users who access data services on their mobile telephone or tablet that they can avoid using data services in roaming by configuring the settings on the telephone/tablet they use when they travel in the localities identified by the Authority as having a potential risk for the users to enter involuntary roaming.
The users can avoid unwanted additional costs, if they:
-      select manually the operator’s network;
-Â Â Â Â Â Â ask the operators to activate their roaming service on request only;
-Â Â Â Â Â Â check the network where the handset is connected, before using it.
The list of localities in border areas identified by ANCOM as having a potential risk for the users to enter involuntary roaming, by operator, is available here.
Further information on the usage and costs of the roaming service are available on the Authority’s website, here.
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