In the context of summer trips and other activities in the border areas of Romania, the National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) warns mobile phone service users about the risk of involuntary roaming in over 350 administrative-territorial units in the counties of border. Roaming involuntarily can result in significant additional costs for calls, texts and mobile data, even if users have not actually crossed the border.
In accordance with Law no. 255/2023, ANCOM 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 list at risk of involuntary roaming in order to take the appropriate administrative measures imposed by the legislation in force.
What is involuntary roaming?
Involuntary roaming occurs when the mobile phone automatically connects to mobile networks in neighboring countries while users are in the border areas of Romania. This situation may 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, or in cases of temporary unavailability of the signal in the end-user's network.
The main risk associated with involuntary roaming is that it generates additional costs, as users may be charged international roaming charges for calls, messages and mobile data, even if they have not actually crossed the border.
Risk areas
Careful! 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.
ANCOM has identified 356 administrative-territorial units at risk of involuntary roaming, located in the border counties: Mehedinți – 33 UATs, Timiș – 31 UATs, Botoșani – 29 UATs, Satu Mare – 28 UATs, Bihor – 26 UATs, Iasi – 22 UATs, Dolj – 21 UATs, Caraș-Severin – 19 UATs, Suceava – 19 UATs, Giurgiu – 15 UATs, Arad – 15 UATs , Constanța – 13 UATs, Călărași – 13 UATs, Vaslui – 13 UATs, Tulcea – 13 UATs, Galați – 11 UATs, Maramureș – 11 UATs, Teleorman – 14 UATs and Olt – 10 UATs.
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 preventative measures to avoid automatically connecting to foreign networks, which can incur additional charges.
Recommendations for users
To avoid additional costs associated with involuntary roaming, ANCOM recommends users:
- to manually select the mobile network to avoid automatically connecting 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.
What should users do if they are affected by additional 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 resolved, users can file a complaint with ANCOM, according to the steps described on the authority's website.