topic Calling from abroad in Mobile Services

Calling from abroad

L-G29 — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 07:42:30 GMT

I can’t make calls from abroad. I’m in Lanzarote, Spain and have an iPhone 13? Please help!

Re: Calling from abroad

Chris_B — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 07:45:27 GMT

@L-G29 Are you on contract or PAYG ? If on contract did you enable roaming by texting ROAMING to 150 ? If on PAYG have you purchased a roam abroad pass ? Have you tried restarting the device? Can you text and use data ? Are you putting 44 or +44 at the start of the number? Do you have in settings>phone> Dail assist enabled?

Re: Calling from abroad

bristolian — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 08:08:08 GMT

Regardless of any billing add-on, your ability to get coverage abroad (which calls, texts & mobile data rely on) is dependent on roaming being activated - which allows your phone to connect to foreign networks.

On PAYG, this is auto-enabled once your phone is used in the UK first.
On pay-monthly, this needs to be enabled manually - usually by texting ROAMING to 150 before leaving the UK. Did you do this?

If you are on pay-monthly and now find yourself abroad without having enabled roaming, your only recourse will be to contact CS to request it activated. You can either contact +44 7953 966150 from another working phone, or +44 800 9566000 using a web-calling app such as Skype over WiFi.

Re: Calling from abroad

XRaySpeX — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 20:15:09 GMT

Are you on contract or PAYG? Had you used that SIM for making calls or texts in UK before you left to go abroad?

If you are on contract, did you activate roaming on your EE a/c before you left UK by texting ROAMING to 150? Having a roaming billing add-on doesn't of itself activate roaming on your a/c. Having roaming activated on your EE a/c, not just on your device, is crucial to using your contract SIM abroad.

Often just rebooting the phone is the simple remedy. Also try selecting a network manually rather than auto.

Otherwise you need to call CS to get your roaming activated. Try calling CS on the Freephone no. in my sig. on Skype over WiFi. It should be free.