Introducing Roam Like at Home

[#1]

Here at Plusnet we’re pleased to announce that from the 15th June we will be introducing Roam Like at Home to our mobile plans, just in time for the peak holiday season!

If you’re a Plusnet mobile customer, who has a Roam Like at Home enabled plan, you will be able use your monthly plan allowance like at home in any EU destination, plus a few extra!

Whether you want to call your loved ones, use Google maps to find the best attractions, or check out the reviews for the restaurants in the area you can, and it will all be included in your monthly plan allowance.

What’s more, you’ll be able to use this in more than 40 destinations, including France, Spain, Italy and Germany!

For all the information you need on Roam Like at Home check out our FAQs below:

What is Roam Like at Home?

Roam Like at Home allows you to use your mobile plan allowance to make and receive calls, send texts and use data when you’re roaming in any of our Roam Like at Home destinations, rather than paying roaming charges. Good right?

Which destinations are included?

We’ve got a handy list of our Roam Like at Home destinations below, so why not grab a cuppa, and have a look before starting to plan your next trip?

These are the included destinations

What are the prices if I go over my allowance?

Once you have used all of your plan allowance, you will be charged for any additional usage outside of your plan like you would be whilst in the UK, unless you take out a bolt-on. For more information on these charges, see our Mobile price guide.

Whilst in a Roam Like at Home destination, will I still be charged for calls/texts to non-Roam Like at Home destinations?

You will still be charged for calls & texts to rest of the world landlines and mobiles. If you want more information on this, please look at our Roaming and international calls. .
Calls and texts to UK and Roam Like at Home landlines and mobiles will be included in your plan, unless you have used up all of your monthly plan allowance.

Are calls and texts from the UK to the Roam Like at Home destinations included in my monthly plan allowance?

The Roam Like at Home rules apply to you whilst roaming outside of the UK in one of the specified destinations. If you are calling or texting a Roam Like at Home landline or mobile from the UK (e.g. a Spanish landline), then our normal prices for making international calls and sending texts apply. If you are calling or texting a UK mobile that is in a Roam Like at Home destination, then this will be included as part of your monthly plan. For more information on this, please see our Roaming and international calls..

Are calls and texts between Roam Like at Home destinations included in my monthly plan allowance?

Yes, any calls or texts sent between any fixed line and mobile numbers in Roam Like at Home destinations will come out of your plan allowance. This excludes premium, non-geographic and business rate numbers.

Can I still use my phone if I run out of minutes, texts or data whilst I am in a Roam Like at Home destination?

You can, but you will pay out-of-plan rates unless you choose to buy a bolt-on from us. We have a selection of bolt-ons available that provide additional allowances which can be used when you’re roaming in a Roam Like at Home destination. For more information, view our Bolt-ons.

Are there any services which are not included within my plan or eligible for Roam Like at Home?

Calls to UK non-geographic numbers and sending media messages (MMS) will not be included and will result in the same charges as when used in the UK. For more information on what’s not included please see our Mobile Price Guide.

How will I see the benefits when I Roam Like at Home?

Head on over to My Account for Plusnet Mobile to monitor your monthly plan allowance usage. Minutes, standard texts and data usage when used in one of these destinations will be visible here for you.

Are there any restrictions to using data when visiting a Roam Like at Home destination?

We have a fair usage policy in place which applies to any plans with a data allowance of 20GB or more each month. If you use more than 15GB of your monthly allowance in one billing cycle when visiting a Roam Like at Home destination, you might have to pay a surcharge for any extra data usage. We’ll let you know when you’re near your fair use policy limit and when you have reached your limit and explain what charges may be applied. The data surcharge can be found in our Mobile Price Guide.

Am I eligible for Roam Like at Home?

Roam Like at Home is available to all Plusnet mobile customers who live in the UK, who have a Roam Like at Home enabled plan.

Does the Smart Cap still apply when using Plusnet Mobile in a Roam Like at Home destination?

Benefits of the Smart Cap will still apply when you’re using your phone in a Roam Like at Home destination, so you’ll never pay more than you expect to. Your Smart Cap will be set at £5 or £10, unless you’ve changed it yourself. You can change this by contacting us. For more details, take a look at the information on our Smart Cap

Are there any other spend caps in place to help me control my spending when using my phone outside of the UK?

There is a data cap of 50 Euros (£40) for any data usage whilst outside the UK. This means if you’re using your phone abroad, you’ll never be charged more than the data cap for data usage during a billing month. As the data cap is dependent on exchange rates, this may slightly vary each year. For more information please see our Roaming and international calls. You can also choose to change this data cap by contacting us 

How does this data cap work alongside the Smart Cap?

If your Smart Cap is set at a lower amount than £40, then the Smart Cap will apply first, and will prevent any further charges for all services, including data services. If your Smart Cap is more than £40, you may reach the £40 data cap before reaching your Smart Cap. This will prevent any further charges and use of data services, but you should still be able to use your mobile for calls or texts until your reach your Smart Cap.

Can I Roam Like at Home if I live abroad?

Roam Like at Home is only available if you live or are usually based in the UK and you mainly use your mobile in the UK. If we think that over a period of at least four months, you’ve been living and mainly using your mobile in a Roam Like at Home destination, we may ask you to explain the reasons for this and you might need to pay a surcharge.

[#2]

1. no mention of VoiceMail (dial 555). By implication RLAH includes it at no extra charge, but would have been helpful if PN explicitly stated that and that this same code will work everywhere (e.g. different countries have different codes for emergency services, so no it's not a slam-dunk)

2. this "Introducing Roam Like at Home" states "If you’re a Plusnet mobile customer, who has a Roam Like at Home enabled plan" but this doesn't state whether this is automatically offered (free) to subscribers or if we have to take particular action (like enabling a Bolt-On). Lets hear it PN!

Dick

Hi Dick thank you for your comment. To answer your quesitons:

1) We will state in hte country banding the changes to band 1 and 9, this can be found here: https://www.plus.net/help/mobile/roaming-and-international-calls/. The banding charges calls out the voicemail charges depending on what band/country you are using/calling the voicemail from. Also, yes, calls to emergency services via 999 and 112 will always be free and accessible if the phone has radio service within the roaming territory. 

2) All Plusnet mobile plans purchased before the 15th June will include Roam Like at Home. The only exception to this is if you have specifically asked not to have roaming enabled.

[#3]

Hello,

Regarding the living abroad point, I am planning to spend some time studying abroad in Italy and I would love to just stay on plusnet and do nothing, so is the 4 month thing negotiable or would I have to cancel my Plusnet contract and buy a sim in Italy?

Thanks

Hello,

Thanks for your comment. A memeer of our team will be able to discuss this with you in more detail as our regulatoin allows us to consider individual circumstances. Please give them a call on 0800 079 1133.

Thank you!

[#4]

Hi this is great and as expected, however there's something not clear.

Firstly we all need to remember if you go on holiday towards the end of your billing period you may have only a small allowance left.

This where it's not clear:

If we run out of data in the uk we can buy an add on, e.g. £6 for 1gb which is the EU wide capped price for 1gb roughly.

However, if we run out of data while abroad you say we pay the rate on the tariff chart (4.4p per mg) unless we buy an add on.

So, do you alert us before running out? If we run out you'll start charging £44 per gb (4.4p per mg) which is above the legal rate?...

until we buy an add on at £6 for 1gb? Don't you think this is a trap many will fall into?

in my opinion it seems you should be charging 0.006p per mg or force the purchase of a bolt on at the legal rate, not let people run back into the 4.4 rate.

Please could you clarify this here for all to see.

Thank you

Hello, thank you for your comment!

The 4.4p per MB is no longer a regulatory/legal charge as of the 15th June 2017, this will be replaced by the RLAH rules of domestic (UK) OOB charges.  We will, as we do in the UK, alert you when they have used 80% or 100% of your data allowance via sms and be charged £1.50 per day for up to 250MB use should you  go outside of your bundle allowance.

You are able to add a bolt on however there is no self-service (we are working on this functionality). You will need to call the contact centre to add a bolt-on just as you would in the UK. 

To avoid bill shock to additional charges over the monthly plan cost, we have a £40 data cap when using your Plusnet mobile SIMO outside of the UK and also Smart Cap – details can be found here - https://www.plus.net/mobile/smart-cap

Hope that helps. Thank you!

[#5]

Below is a list of all the countries in plain text format that will be included in Roam Like At Home.

• Aland Islands
• Andorra
• Anguilla
• Austria
• Azores
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Canary Islands
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Faroe Islands
• Finland
• France
• French
• Guiana
• Germany
• Gibraltar
• Greece
• Guadeloupe
• Guernsey
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Republic of Ireland
• Italy
• Isle Of Man
• Jersey
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Madeira
• Malta
• Martinique
• Monaco
• Mayotte
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Reunion
• Romania
• San Marino
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• St. Barthélemy
• St. Martin
• Sweden
• Switzerland

- Rebeka 

[#6]

Great news...lokking forward to trying this out while on holiday in Malta in August.

[#7]

On this forum thread a user has been advised that roaming is currently disabled when the Smart Cap is reached :-

"... once you hit your Smart Cap all chargeable services like International and Roaming access were capped. This would be what caused you to lose signal, and prevent your from calling us on 500. I will be raising this to be looked into, so maybe in the future we could have something in place that only blocks you from using the chargeable services but still have access to calling us, or receiving calls."

Take note - if you are roaming, make sure you don't hit the cap, or you will be effectively cut off. My thanks to Emily McAuliffe for the above information.

Can someone confirm that this will NOT be the case once RLAH comes into force from the 15th June ?

[#8]

I wonder if PlusNet can confirm that, when we are in one of the Roam like at Home desitinations and there is 4G, we will also get 4G?  I ask as Three have had this sort of roaming in a lot of countries for some time now (including the USA) but they only give us access to 3G.

I assume that if, from 15 June 2017, we have access as if we were in the UK, we'd have 4G where available.  That said, I'd be happier if PlusNet would confirm that.  Thanks

[#9]

here I show my ignorance - as a non mobile customer at present

which are Roam Like at Home enabled plans or alternatively which aren't

[#10]

as far as I'm aware OJ , as from 15th June, all plans must be RLAH enabled unless you specifically request and agree to some other roaming package. I believe some of the other provides have packages which provide roaming at reduced rates outside the EU as well.

[#11]

Hi @Oldjim from the 15th June all plans will be roam like at home enabled. For new PLusnet Mobile customers there will be an option of a UK Only Plan, or Roam lIke at Home plans. 

Many thanks, 

Stacey

[#12]

@Stace1990 , Could you answer my question above please, regarding roaming when the Smart cap is reached ?

[#13]

Hello @MisterW, thank you for your commnet. I am in the processing of finding this out for you. 

Many thanks, 

Stacey

[#14]

Thanks , I'll await your response...

[#15]

@Glads thank you for your comment. This will all depend on the network that you are connected to whilst roaming, however, we're not restricting the acess of 4G (or 3G), so if the SIM can acess a 4G service whilst you are in one of the Roam Like at Home countries then it will work.

Many thanks, 

Stacey

[#16]

Stacey (Stace 1990), that's helpful.  Thanks!

[#17]

Hi @MisterW 

Once Roam Like at Home comes into play from the 15th June you'll always be able to utilise the rest of your inclusive allowance in the Roam Like at Home destination. Calls to our customer service team wil therefore always be available by dialling 500. Only services that will generate additional chares will be suspended. 

Many thanks, 

Stacey

[#18]

Thanks Stacey.

[#19]

When will more countries be added such as USA, like  3 Mobile.

[#20]

BE WARNED! Many people, including myself, have found that roaming abroad does not work. This is a long standing problem that Plusnet have not fixed (and they try to deny that there is a generic problem). See the following thread:-

https://community.plus.net/t5/forums/v3_1/forumtopicpage/board-id/Mobile/thread-id/1009/page/3 (started December 2016)

Also:-

https://community.plus.net/t5/Mobile/Roaming-not-working/td-p/1429633

[#21]

Is Majorca included in RLAH?

[#22]

Hi @stubill, yes Majorica is included.

Mnay thanks, 

Stacey

[#23]

@mrchbo

Sorry to hear that this has not worked for your so far and that you have found 

In order for Roaming to work you will need to ensure that your Roaming and International services are active on the account to allow you to receive a connection abroad. However, we work hard to provide a continuous high standard service within the UK, but when using services outside of the UK we can't be held for the quality of coverage, as it will be provided by someone else. This isn't something we have control of and we can't determine the signal strength for each country. Prior to joining, it's something that's stated within our Terms and Conditions and this can be found here: https://www.plus.net/help/legal/mobile-terms/?scrollTo=serviceAbroad#serviceTerms under section 14. 

Thank you, 

Stacey

[#24]

Stacey read the thread, it's not about quality of coverage, it's about people with roaming turned on who can't even connect to any network at all.

some of these people have family members or friends who have phones on other uk networks who can connect straight away with a good signal, yet plusnet can't even connect.

This certainly suggests an issue with plusnet, not just coverage. Stop preaching your t&c's, be honest and help these people by fixing the problem.

Maybe now data and calls abroad are free you don't like paying?...

[#25]

If anyone has been able to get a roaming connection in Croatia, at any point, please could they post here. I suspect there won't be any, because it doesn't work.

[#26]

To Stace1990

This is exactly the denial that Plusnet hide behind. Can you please explain why, if it's a signal strength problem, fitting an EE SIM in the same phone then immediately worked on one of the same 3 networks that were picked up with the Plusnet SIM fitted?

Many people, like me, have found that roaming DOES NOT WORK IN CROATIA WITH PLUSNET.

[#27]

Hi all!

Thanks for getting in touch with us!

We're sorry you've been experiencing loss of service whilst abroad and we do work hard to provide a continuous high standard of service within the UK however, I'm afraid there's no guarantee of service availability overseas. When roaming abroad, we don't have full control of the signal strength, functionality with the masts and local network in that particular area.

We do advise that if you're struggling to connect to a network to try numerous troubleshooting steps. These are as follows:

Re-booting your handset

• Turn the handset off
• Remove the SIM card
• Leave it for a couple of minutes
• Replace the SIM card
• Turn the handset on

This will refresh the signal and attempt to re-establish a connection with the local network.

Manually connecting to a network

We do advise that you may need to manually search for a local network and attempt to connect this way. All handsets vary dependant on their make and model however, a general search on an Android handset would be:

• From the home screen, tap and drag the Notifications bar downwards.
• Tap the Settings icon.
• Scroll to and tap More networks.
• Tap Mobile networks.
• Tap Network operators.
• If prompted tap OK.
• Tap the required network.

Trying the SIM in another handset

If possible, try using a friend/family members handset that is unlocked to all networks to see if the SIM has any network connectivity in an entirely different device.

If anyone has any further questions regarding this, don't hesitate to get in touch via our mobile forum over at https://community.plus.net/t5/Mobile/bd-p/Mobile.

- Rebeka

[#28]

To RebekaPreston

While in Croatia I went through all the recommended procedures for re-booting and connecting manually; needless to say nothing made any difference. To re-iterate, an EE SIM fitted in the same 'phone worked immediately, so clearly a Plusnet problem which they totally refuse to acknowledge, as many others have found.

[#29]

Hi mrchbo!

I'm really sorry about this! We can't always guarantee full service capabilty when abroad however, we do try our best to assist, should any issues arise. 

I have taken on board your feed back and I'll certainly pass this along to the relevant department for this to be looked into. 

many thanks,

- Rebeka 

[#30]

I joined plusnet within the last month, the My account section doesn't tell me if I'm on a Roam like at home enabled tarrif, so how do I find out if I am. If I'm not can I change it? Is there a charge for change?

[#31]

Under EU laws all tariffs now have free roaming anyway, so "roam like home" is only a tariff name really

[#32]

Hi fozzy0114 , take a look at this forum thread https://community.plus.net/t5/Mobile/Roam-like-at-home-Automatically-enabled/m-p/1458924#M5280 It was confirmed there that all plans sold after the 15th June were 'Roam like at Home' enabled. It's still worth checking that roaming and international access are actually enabled on your account though, either via chat or dropping a PM to one of the PN staff on the mobile forums