Flash Eurobarometer 521 (Roaming)

Roaming in the EU. Topics: frequency of traveling to other EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, or Norway in the last two years for: leisure, work or education; duration of longest stay; possibility for EU residents to use their mobile phone while travelling occasionally to the aforementioned countries at the same rates as at home for: voice calls, text messages, mobile internet; full benefit from roaming without surcharges when travelling to the aforementioned countries; roaming without surcharges in these countries allows mobile phone use in the same way and as frequently as at home; needed extent of connection is covered when traveling for work or educational purposes to these countries; knowledge test on roaming: same extent of calls and SMS abroad as at home, mobile operators can set restrictions on how much mobile data can be used at domestic rate, after reaching personal data limit for roaming mobile operators can charge an amount of their choice; current mobile subscription includes roaming in the EU without surcharges; attempts to get a mobile subscription with roaming without surcharges in an EU country have been denied due to missing evidence of residence or ‘stable links’ in this country; use of more or less mobile data than in the own country with regard to last stay abroad; measures taken to avoid surcharges or unexpected charges: no use of mobile phone, use SIM card of the country of visit, switch off data roaming capabilities, limit amount of mobile data used, activate special data roaming plan offered by network operator; reasons for expecting surcharges or unexpected charges with regard to last stay abroad; experiences with regard to last stay abroad: reached roaming data limit due to operator limits, surcharged for using roaming services, notified by mobile operator that roaming usage abroad was higher than usage in own country, lower mobile internet speed than in own country, lower broadband network standard than in own country; usefulness of text messages from mobile operator with information on roaming and the conditions for it; measures considered when traveling outside the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, or Norway to avoid surcharges or unexpected charges: no use of mobile phone, use SIM card of the country of visit, switch off data roaming capabilities, limit amount of mobile data used, activate special data roaming plan offered by network operator, none of these. Demography: age; sex; nationality; travels to other EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, or Norway in the last two years; possibility to call, text and use mobile internet on personal mobile phone when traveling to another country in the European Union; age at end of education; occupation; professional position; type of community; region; use of more than one SIM card. Additionally coded was: respondent ID; country; type of phone line; nation group; weighting factor.