Keep in Contact

Mobile telephones are among the top five most popular travelling items taken overseas, and are a convenient way of staying in touch with your family and friends back home. The network service that allows you to use your mobile telephone abroad to make and receive calls and messages is called international roaming.

Before you go remember to:

Contact your mobile network provider to ensure your mobile phone is enabled for international roaming. Do this well in advance of your departure date, as it can take up to 14 days, and you cannot do it from overseas.

Check that your existing handset will work in the country you are travelling to; this may not be the case, particularly outside Europe. Check with your network provider how much it costs for international roaming services. Charges can be a lot higher than those for calls in the your country. For example, while roaming you will pay to receive calls and listen to voicemail. Sending text messages may be much cheaper, but you can be charged twice per message. Rates can vary according to your network and the country you are visiting.

If you intend to use your mobile frequently while abroad, consider the following options:

Some mobile services offer international traveller services giving cheaper calls abroad in return for a monthly fee. Check with your network provider what the costs are and how long you would be committed to paying for the service. It is usually cheaper to use an alternative SIM card in your phone. A SIM card is a small card that lets the phone work on a particular mobile network. It can easily be swapped around in your phone. SIM cards for foreign networks can be bought abroad at international airports and holiday destinations. Find out if the alternative SIM cards will expire after a fixed time. Also ask your network provider whether it has locked your phone against use with a different SIM card, and what, if anything, it will charge to unlock the phone. You should be able to rent a mobile telephone handset for the duration of your stay from most mobile telephone companies in the country you are visiting. If you are using your own network provider's pre-paid mobile international roaming service, make sure you know how to use your credit card to top up your calling credit before you leave, or take extra vouchers, as they may be hard to obtain abroad. Ask your network provider what you have to dial to use international roaming. This may not be as simple as just using the international prefix.Pre-programme into your mobile the telephone number of the nearest Embassy, High Commission, or Consulate in the country you are visiting. Do the same with the telephone number of your hotel and tour representative. If you are using an alternative SIM card whilst abroad you may have to programme the information in after you have inserted the alternative SIM card. Take an electrical adaptor for the charger plug, to keep your mobile telephone fully charged while you are abroad. Make a note of your mobile's serial number (also known as the IMEI number), your mobile telephone number and the telephone number of your operator's customer services. Keep them with you in a safe place, separate from your mobile. If your phone is stolen you will be able to contact the network operator and request that they block your phone and/or SIM card. There are four local cellphone networks in Croatia: Vipnet (091) and T-mobile (098) Tele2 (095) and Tomato (092). Each has excellent coverage that includes about 98% of the country. Each company sells SIM cards, mobile phones and prepaid packages that include the cellphone and SIM card. Croatia is on the GSM 900/1800 frequency which means that most American phones are not compatible. Americans travelling in Croatia need to equip themselves with a GSM 900/1800 phone before leaving or upon arrival.

International Phone Cards

Another alternative to using your mobile phone in Croatia are international phone cards, they can be purchased in post offices and many shops. Pre-paid phone cards sometime know as "calling cards" are purchased in denominations, such as 50 kuna, 100 kuna, 200 kuna and they may be available in other currencies such as sterling or Euros. When you purchase these cards, the card is pre-charged with a value of call credit which is usually the same as that of the card value. Callers can then use the card to call from almost any touch tone telephone to call either domestic or International numbers. Because cards are pre-paid, phone card producers are able to purchase 'minutes' in bulk from line carriers. Purchasing in bulk means savings, and these savings are passed onto the phone card user. Typically, on international calls, callers can save over 80% over a standard dialling service, and in some cases over 90%, thus making phone cards a very attractive method for calling abroad.

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