What is roaming?

Roaming is when you use mobile telephony services (calls, SMS and mobile Internet) when travelling abroad: you call or send an SMS message or MMS message to a fixed or mobile number from the country you are in;

  • you call (or send an SMS or MMS message to) a fixed or mobile number of another country;
  • you call (or send an SMS or MMS message to) a fixed or mobile Belgian number;
  • you receive a call or an SMS message on your phone, smartphone or tablet;
  • you surf the Internet using your smartphone or tablet.

Beware, roaming should not be confused with international communications. This principle refers to calls made and SMS messages sent from Belgium, to a foreign number.
The distinction is significant given that in the case of intra-EU communication, tariffs can be considerably higher than for roaming in the EU.

Tariffs

What is the tariff for calling, sending SMS messages and surfing when roaming within the EU?

The use of mobile services when roaming in the EU (and associated countries: Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) is subject to the national tariff. Therefore, your operator may not, in principle, apply surcharges related to roaming.

Countries where the national tariff applies

Germany Greece Norway
Austria Hungary The Netherlands
Bulgaria Ireland Poland
Cyprus Iceland Portugal
(+ the Azores and Madeira)
Croatia Italy Czech Republic
Denmark Latvia Romania
Spain
(+ the Canary Islands)
Liechtenstein Slovakia
Estonia Lithuania Slovenia
Finland Luxembourg Sweden
France
(+ Guadeloupe , French
Guiana, Martinique, Réunion,
Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin)
Malta  

Please note that there are exceptions to this principle:

We draw your attention to the fact that calls to numbers indicated as free in the country you are in can be charged at a tariff higher than the domestic tariff. Indeed, it is possible that the “service” element of the call be subjected to billing regarding calls originating from foreign numbers.

What is the tariff for calling, sending SMS messages and surfing when roaming outside of the EU?

The roaming services outside of the European Union (and associated countries: Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) are not regulated. Operators are therefore free to choose the tariffs applied to these services. We advise you to contact your operator in order to discover the tariffs applied to the use of mobile services outside of the European Union (and associated countries: Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein).

States and territories outside of the European Union and which did not enter an agreement with the Union concerning roaming
Albania Guernsey San Marino
Andorra Jersey Switzerland
Armenia Kosovo Ukraine
Azerbaijan North Macedonia United Kingdom
Belarus Isle of Man The Vatican
Bosnia-Herzegovina Moldavia Serbia
Northern Cyprus Monaco Turkey
Faroe Islands Montenegro  
Georgia Russia  

 

Back to top