The National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) draws the attention of mobile phone service users to the risk of involuntary roaming in more than 350 administrative-territorial units in border counties, in the context of summer trips and other activities in border areas of Romania.
Many localities are at risk of involuntary roaming PHOTO: ANCOM
According to a statement from ANCOM, sent to AGERPRES on Thursday, entering into involuntary roaming can generate significant additional costs for calls, messages and mobile data, even if the users have not actually crossed the border, writes Agerpres.
“In accordance with Law no. 255/2023, ANCOM has identified the administrative-territorial units at risk of involuntary roaming and published their list. The authority will inform the town halls, county councils and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure about the UATs included in the risk list of involuntary roaming in order to take the appropriate administrative measures imposed by the legislation in force”, it says in the press release.
Thus, the 356 administrative-territorial units at risk of involuntary roaming, located in the border counties, are: Mehedinţi – 33 UATs, Timiş – 31 UATs, Botoşani – 29 UATs, Satu Mare – 28 UATs uri, Bihor – 26 UATs, Iasi – 22 UATs, Dolj – 21 UATs, Caraş-Severin – 19 UATs, Suceava – 19 UATs, Giurgiu – 15 UATs, Arad – 15 UATs -s, Constanta – 13 UATs, Călăraşi – 13 UATs, Vaslui – 13 UATs, Tulcea – 13 UATs, Galati – 11 UATs, Maramureş – 11 UATs, Teleorman – 14 UATs uri and Olt – 10 UATs.
The authority specifies that involuntary roaming occurs when the mobile phone automatically connects to mobile networks in neighboring countries while users are in Romania’s border areas.
This situation can occur when the signal of the telecommunications network in a neighboring country is significantly stronger than that of the user’s network, in areas with poor coverage of the end user’s network (weak signal or at the limit of sensitivity) or in cases of temporary unavailability of signal from the end user’s network (for example, due to incidents or scheduled works).
The main risk associated with involuntary roaming is that it generates additional costs, as users may be charged international roaming rates for calls, messages and mobile data, even if they have not actually crossed the border.
ANCOM warns that, especially at the border with the Republic of Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine, the additional costs can be substantial, because in these countries, which are not EU members, roaming tariffs regulated at the level of the Union do not apply.
To assess the risk of involuntary roaming and to check the signal level in Romania, ANCOM recommends using the interactive map available on Aisemnal.ro. This platform reflects the mobile signal coverage for 2G, 3G and 4G technologies for each of the mobile operators active on the Romanian market. The map is due to be updated in the last quarter of this year and allows users to pinpoint locations with a strong signal and take preventive measures to avoid automatically connecting to foreign networks, which can generate additional costs.
Also, to avoid additional costs associated with involuntary roaming, ANCOM recommends users: to manually select the mobile network to avoid automatic connection to a foreign network; check your phone’s roaming settings and disable data roaming in border areas; to monitor the welcome messages received from foreign operators informing about the activation of roaming; to check the applicable roaming charges with their mobile operator to anticipate possible costs.
If users notice that they have been charged for involuntary roaming, they should immediately contact their mobile operator’s customer service for clarification. If the problem is not solved, users can file a complaint with ANCOM.
The National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) is the institution that promotes the interests of service users by promoting competition and innovation in the markets of electronic communications and postal services, pro-competitive management of limited resources (radio spectrum, numbering resources and associated technical resources ), encouraging efficient investments in networks and infrastructures and promoting ultra-fast connectivity.
