International Calling | Help & Advice

Before You Go Abroad

If you want to use your phone abroad you'll need to set this up on the phone itself, as well as activating Roaming on your iD account. It’s also a good idea to get an idea of the costs involved.

To update your phone's settings you'll usually need to go to the Network section, but you may need to check the specific instructions for your handset on the manufacturer's website if this is not the case.

Before you travel abroad, please make sure that you have roaming activated on your iD account. You can do this by logging into your iD Account on our website, or through the iD mobile app.

Back to top

International Calls

International calls are those that you make to other destinations from the UK, or from one of our Inclusive Roaming Band 1 destinations.

You can view the charges by country using our...

International rates page.

Back to top

Roaming Call Charges

Roaming calls are those that you make while you're travelling outside of the UK. These may be calls back to the UK while you're overseas, or they may be to any other country including the country you're visiting.

You can view the charges by country using our...

Roaming rates page.

Back to top

Using Your Phone Abroad

Your phone should automatically connect to a network when you reach your destination abroad. If this does not happen then you may need to select one manually by navigating to the phone's Network section. If necessary refer to the phone manufacturer's website for further details.

If you want to listen to your voicemail while abroad, you might be asked for your voicemail PIN number. Hopefully you’ll be able to remember it - but if you can’t, then you might need to reset it. You can do this by following these steps:

Dial 123 from your phone, or if you need to access your voicemail from another phone you can dial +44 7782 333 123
Select option 4 from the main menu
Press 2, then press 1 to change your PIN
Enter your new PIN followed by the # key (please note that simple PINs such as 1234 or 4444 will not be accepted)
Enter the PIN again

Your PIN will now been changed.

Here are some UK numbers we strongly advise that you do not call, due to the high costs involved:

Calls to 084/087/0800/0808/0800144144
Service calls 0844 04
BT Information Services 0871 200 XXXX/03
BT PNS calls 070

(070 numbers are used to give businesses or individuals a UK phone number, no matter where they’re located. The 070 number goes to their own private number, which is hidden.)

Back to top

Having Difficulty Using Your Phone Abroad?

Are you having difficulty with roaming on your device? If you’ve got 4G switched on, it could be causing you problems.

Normally your phone will switch from 4G to 3G automatically but for some networks in certain countries, you’ll have to do it manually. And don’t worry - this won’t affect your phone’s performance as roaming is only available with 3G speeds.

The exact method for turning off 4G differs by phone. Here's how to do it on the most popular handsets:

iPhone
Go to Settings -> Mobile/Cellular. Then slide 'Enable LTE/4G' to the left.

HTC One
Go to Settings -> Mobile data -> Network mode. Then select 'GSM/WCDMA (2G/3G) auto'.

Nokia Lumia
Go to Settings -> Mobile network -> Highest connection speed. Then select '3G'.

Samsung Galaxy
Go to Settings-> More networks -> Mobile networks -> Network mode. Then select 'GSM/WCDMA (Auto connect)'.

Sony Xperia Z
Go to Settings -> More -> Mobile networks -> Preferred network type. Then select WCDMA (preferred) /GSM.

If you haven’t got one of the phones above, the method for turning off 4G should be fairly similar - so try going into your settings and looking for a mobile data or network option. If you're still stuck, try googling the name of your phone followed by the phrase "turning off 4G".

And that's all there is to it - just don't forget to switch back to 4G when you arrive back in the UK!

Back to top