What everyone should know if they want a bargain mobile phone / cell phone deal.

By Richard Akin.

In this post you are going to learn about the reasons why people get huge phone bills whilst they are abroad. Some of these people did not even make a call from their mobile phone and still got expensive bill. Some will wish that they knew what I am about to teach you in this post before they took their phone abroad. So carry on reading and never run up an expensive bill while you are abroad.

When you travel abroad with your mobile phone there are some charges which some people are not aware of, which include a charge for answering an incoming phone call and even a charge when the call is picked up by your voicemail. Why is that the case? I sense you asking

The reason why you pay to answer a call or even when the call is diverted to your voicemail is because the call has to be routed to you by your mobile phone operator. In order to route the call to you, your mobile phone operator has to pay an international transit fee to the mobile phone network of the country which you are in. Because your network has had to pay a fee to the other international network to route your call abroad the fee is then added to your bill with a slight profit margin which your network determines. This can be expensive at times.

Here are few tips below to ensure that you do not get caught out with a huge phone bill when you travel for your summer holidays or even travel abroad.

• Always enquire about any special deals which your mobile phone operator may be offering for global roaming before you travel.  

• Make sure you are aware of the costs of the phone calls as this will allow you to budget and not be shocked when you receive your phone bill.  

• Deactivating your voicemail is a good idea, as you will also be paying for the call when it is taken by your voice mail,  

• If you need to answer a call or even make a call, keep them short and sweet.  

• Ensure your friends and families know that you are travelling and advise them to only contact you if it is an emergency. They can email you instead. Or text you as this will be cheaper.  

• Try getting a sim card in the country which you are travelling to, a prepayment sim card will do the job and provide your friends and family with the number.  

• Only use the mobile if it is essential, if it is used for business then it is worthwhile enquiring about international business rates from your mobile phone operator as well.  

• Use email to communicate, you can find a cheap local internet café or alternatively purchase a cheap international calling card with a freephone access number and use that card to call home from a payphone. Using a phone in a hotel can also be expensive  

I hope this post has been very useful and also that the tips will ensure that you never run up a huge phone bill whilst away on holiday.