topic Can’t call in Australia in Roaming

Can’t call in Australia

Charlotter28 — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 08:13:37 GMT

I am unable to make any out going calls or receive any calls from the UK. I am currently in Australia and have selected network to Telstra only but there is no dial tone. I am putting +44 in front of all the calls as well and still nothing - I have reset my phone multiple times as well.

I can’t call 150 either.

Any help is welcomed please.

Re: Can’t call in Australia

XRaySpeX — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 08:26:44 GMT

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

Did you receive a Welcome text upon arrival?

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

If you are on contract, did you activate roaming on your EE a/c before leaving 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.

Otherwise if you are on contract you need to call CS to get your roaming activated. Try calling CS on the Freephone no. in my sig. using a web-calling app over WiFi.

Re: Can’t call in Australia

Peter_W — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 10:50:27 GMT

Welcome to the Community, @Charlotter28

Just to expand on the great advice @XRaySpeX has mentioned here, if you haven't already it's worth seeing if you can connect manually to any of the other local networks.

It's been a few years since I last visited Australia, but remember connecting on Optus most of the time I was there.

The way to do this will depend on the model of phone you're using, but it's normally found within your network / connection settings, or Mobile Service > Network Selection on an iPhone.

Peter