Calling, texting and surfing abroad

When roaming services are available in a foreign country, the quality of service offered may differ from that offered in Belgium due to various local factors related to the technologies available in that country such as whether they use latest technology, local network coverage, available speed, latency but also other external local factors such as topography and more.

Would you like to know which technologies are available in the country you are visting? You can consult the list of technologies available in each country of the European Union (+ Iceland, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Norway and Ukraine) for each operator with which Proximus has concluded a roaming agreement. This indicative list(PDF, 274 KB) is subject to errors and changes. It is regularly updated based on the information provided to Proximus by foreign operators.

The name of the network selected for roaming may be displayed on your screen under a different trade name, chosen by the foreign operator, regardless of Proximus' wishes. In addition, for the reasons explained above (such as network coverage or topography), some technologies may not be available throughout the territory visited.

Roaming users may not be able to call or text local Value Added Service numbers and certain Belgian TV content via Pickx may not be available when roaming outside the EU. It is also possible that applications or content available to local users may not be available to roaming users for technical or legal reasons.

When roaming, you can monitor your internet usage at any time

• by sending the word DATA by SMS to 8888: information about the amount of your consumption outside the package while abroad will be sent to you by SMS (sending and receiving free of charge)
• by accessing the Proximus app (using the app consumes data that is deducted from any mobile internet plan or billed if the customer does not have a mobile internet plan or if their plan is exceeded).

Phone calls and data connections made in non-terrestrial areas (e.g. from a ship during a cruise or from a plane) use satellite networks corresponding to another geographical area and are considered to be outside the EU Zone. The national rate doesn’t apply to this usage and roaming charges will be billed for these communications.

A connection to non-terrestrial networks, sometimes inadvertently, can increase your bill. To avoid this, it is best to:

• completely block calls, texts and Internet connections via these non-terrestrial networks:
  • enable the aeroplane mode on your device via the settings
  • or ask for roaming outside the EU Zone to be disabled (opt-out) free of charge in order to block the connection to these networks while keeping the possibility of roaming within the EU Zone
• To block only the internet connection via non-terrestrial networks: request the deactivation (opt-out) of the internet connection in non-terrestrial zones. In this case, you will still be able to make calls and send SMS via these networks at the non-EU Zone rate and continue roaming within the EU Zone. Follow the steps to block only your internet connection on non-terrestrial networks.

You can avoid connecting to foreign networks via your device settings:

• either by deactivating the automatic selection of the network operator and manually selecting Proximus
• or by removing roaming

In order to avoid high bills, your mobile Internet connection abroad will be blocked if your data consumption abroad goes €50 (excl. VAT) above the bundle.

If you wish to continue surfing, you can request to remove this limit at your own responsibility. If so, your mobile Internet connection will be blocked again if the usage reaches €100 (excl. VAT), unless you decide to remove this second limit too. If so, you continue to surf without limit at your own responsibility.

You can change this setting at any time.

Value Added Service (VAS) numbers are e.g. premium-rate numbers, freephone numbers or shared cost numbers you can call and/or text to receive access to services like gaming, matchmaking, content editing, information such as the weather forecast , doctors on call, etc.

When you travel outside Belgium (roaming) and you call or text to any VAS number (local, Belgian, EU or non-EU):

• your national tariff is not applicable
• the tariff advertised for local users is not applicable
• higher charges could apply, also for services advertised in the visited country as freephone numbers (these are only free for local users and not for roamers).

VAS numbering ranges vary from country to country. To avoid bad surprise on the bill, you can verify which VAS numbering ranges are subject to increased costs by clicking on https://legalinfo.proximus.be/en/vas The info is available per EU country (including Iceland, Lichtenstein, Moldova, Norway and Ukraine) but is unfortunately not available for the other countries.

In the interests of transparency, when you enter a foreign country, you will receive a text with information on the applicable tariffs for mobile communications in that country, including mobile Internet use. If you do not wish to receive text messages about tariffs, you can request to deactivate this service by calling 6030. You can change this setting at any time.

If the country you are visiting is one of the other 26 EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Norway or Ukraine, you will also receive a text informing you of the ways to contact the emergency services in the country you are visiting. For security reasons, you cannot request to deactivate this service and we recommend you save this text message.

Access to the web pages (whether free or paid) is only possible if you or your fleet manager have not activated a barring on the use of the mobile internet connection ("data barring" or configuration by your company). Consult your company's internal policy. If such a barring has been implemented at your request or at the initiative of your fleet manager, you will have access to these pages but only in Wi-Fi.

In case of emergency, Proximus recommends to call free of charge the unique European emergency call number 112. This call number is available from any EU country including Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway for local users but also for roamers.

You can verify which local alternative means are available to contact the emergency services in each EU country (including Iceland, Lichtenstein, Moldova, Norway and Ukraine) by clicking on https://legalinfo.proximus.be/en/emergency.

Public warning mobile applications are mobile applications that can be downloaded by the user on his smartphone in some countries in order to receive public warnings in case of imminent or developing major emergencies and disasters in the visited country.

You can verify the availability of local public warning mobile applications per EU country (including Iceland, Lichtenstein, Moldova, Norway and Ukraine) by clicking on https://legalinfo.proximus.be/en/emergency.

This can happen when you are in the coverage area of an operator active in a neighbouring country. Detection of your SIM card on that operator’s network triggers the sending of a welcome message and the application of roaming rates according to that country’s tariff zone.

Connecting to another tariff zone, sometimes unintentionally, can increase your bill. To avoid this, you can:

• Either completely block calls, SMS and internet connections by activating airplane mode on your device via settings.
• Or, if the visited country in the EU Zone borders a country in another tariff zone:
  • Request free deactivation (opt-out) of roaming outside the EU Zone via the Proximus app or by calling 6060 to block connections to these networks while keeping roaming within the EU Zone.
  • Request only the deactivation (opt-out) of the internet connection outside the EU Zone. In this case, you will still be able to make calls and send SMS at the non-EU Zone rate and continue roaming within the EU Zone. Follow the steps to block only your internet connection on these networks outside the EU Zone.

• EU Zone (national rate applies for roaming in this zone for data, calls and SMS to the EU Zone and Belgium):
  Aland Islands (Finland), Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guyana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe (French Antilles), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Martinique (French Antilles), Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Réunion, Romania, Saint-Barthelemy (French Antilles), Saint-Martin (French Antilles), Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
• Top Destinations Zone (TOP) (tariff options can be subscribed for roaming in this zone):
  Albania, Algeria, Australia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, China, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Faroe Islands, Guernsey (Bailiwick of), Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Isle of Man, Israel, Japan, Jersey Island, Korea, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Montenegro, Myanmar, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey and United States.
• World Zone (ROW) (tariff options can be subscribed for roaming in this zone):
  All countries other than Belgium, EU Zone, Top Zone and Exception Zone. Includes networks of cruise ships, ferries, planes and satellites.
• Exception Zone (Exception) (standard roaming rate applies, no tariff option possible):
  Angola, Bhutan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Lebanon, Maldives, New Caledonia, São Tomé and Príncipe and Venezuela.