Wifi Calling Abroad with roam abroad pass

[eglons]

I'm off on holiday soon and have purchased the roam abroad pass. One of the things on the advice for travelling says "If you make any calls over WiFi Calling while abroad you'll be charged our standard international rates. To avoid these charges turn off WiFi Calling."

As the roam abroad pass allows you to "use your phone like at home" I'm assuming that this is not the case. I did ask EE customer services but just got the usual here's a link rubbish.

Does anyone know?

[Schockwave]

@eglons , Wifi Calling only works in the UK, not abroad, not sure where you read this, no need to turn it off, as it will not work.

[Davo-UK]

It says it on the tips for going abroad when using roaming. Turn off WiFi calling so you don't incur extra charges. I have just read the exact same thing. 

[JohnnieBristol]

Just seems like another way to catch you out.  If you bought roaming that should be it.  I'm already paying way to much for the service.

[Peter_W]

Hi @JohnnieBristol.

Welcome to the Community 😊

As @Schockwave mentioned here, WiFi calling isn't designed to work when you're outside of the UK, so if you were to make a call when abroad this would likely just go over the cellular network instead. 

If you have a roaming add-on this shouldn't cause any issues as it would just come out of the inclusive allowance.

We recommend that customers disable the feature though, as often people can make the mistake of thinking because WiFi is active the call will be free.

In reality though this call will most likely go through via the cellular network, and be charged at whatever rate would apply in their destination.

Peter

[bristolian]

WiFi-calling has always been intended as a coverage enhancement for the UK, and has never been either intended or marketed as a way to avoid call charges. If you can find any advertising to the contrary, you may have an argument.

Therefore, it's entirely logical & consistent that the same should apply in the rare case that it works abroad - calls placed through WiFi-calling are charged exactly the same as if they were placed over the mobile network. They still use the central network for onward routing to other networks.

[Peter_W]

@bristolian Absolutely, WiFi calls are indistinct from regular calls as far as billing is concerned. 

Occasionally customers hear the phrase 'WiFi Calling' and believe it to be similar to services like WhatsApp or Facetime, so think it is rated differently to their regular calls.

It's often best to frame it as not a separate service, but instead an extension of the existing network that uses a slightly different medium 😊

Peter

[bristolian]

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@Peter_W wrote:

Occasionally customers hear the phrase 'WiFi Calling' and believe it to be similar to services like WhatsApp or Facetime, so think it is rated differently to their regular calls.

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Exactly this. Also app-based "calls" can only be made to other app-users. Another point of differentiation where some users seem surprised that WiFi-calling allows incoming calls and/or calls to/from landlines.