The European roaming regulations only apply when you are roaming, ie when connected to a foreign EU network. In The Netherlands you don't roam with your Simyo number therefore the European roaming charges don't apply.

---

Scotsman, sounds from your reaction that we would all be much cheaper using a foreign simcard (from within zone1 in Europe) to phone any foreign number from the Netherlands. The difference of 250% seems a lot to me!!!!!

---

Yep, phoning an EU number from the Netherlands if you are roaming in that country, and you have a simcard from an EU country other than the Netherlands, is usually much cheaper than using a Dutch simcard. The reason is that EU has no say on the pricing policy of network operators for international calls, so providers can charge whatever they want. And that's what they do.



But for phoning a number outside zone 1 from the Netherlands, it is worth comparing the charges of your home provider and Simyo. Simyo may actually be cheaper. Also roaming charges outside zone 1 can be cheaper with Simyo, as I discovered last year when I was in Canada.

---

I've a lot of friends in Belgium, so I've a Belgian simcard as well in my S7 dual-sim.

---

Thanks for the confirmation that we are being ripped off regarding calls from Netherlands to zone 1 ( europe). We can all save 250% on our costs by using a foreign simcard when we phone abroad from Netherlands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..Thanks to E.U roaming legislation.!!!!!!!

---

There has been nothing mentioned @Bob scotti about preventing abuse of the roaming costs. When you are roaming in zone 1country, for example Simyo sim in Germany, more than 4 months the provider may ask questions......

---

Friesian, You use the word "abuse" regarding use of roaming telephone services. Is it not the case that the legislation passed is there to protect the consumer from excessive charges by telephone providers; taking advantage of this consumer protection can hardly be described as abuse.It appears strange that phoning, for example, a telephone number in Belgium or Germany from Netherlands using a Dutch provider is much more expensive than making the same call using a zone 1 provider from a different country. I hardly can imagine that it was the intention of legislators that roaming charges would be so much cheaper than "normal" national services. I repeat that normal costs to phone abroad are 250% more than roaming costs!

---

I am just the messenger, if you have more questions regarding to what I wrote......



https://www.europa-nu.nl/id/vhj1ngguzrwe/goedkoper_mobiel_bellen_en_internetten#p1

*edit*

Terms.....



Vraagt u een abonnement aan waarmee u in het buitenland kunt bellen, sms’en of internetten? Dan kunnen we u vragen om gegevens die nodig zijn om te bepalen of u de ‘roam like home’-tarieven kunt gebruiken.

Hebt u al een abonnement waarbij u de ‘roam like home’-tarieven gebruikt? Dan kunnen we af en toe controleren of u nog steeds een duurzame band hebt met Nederland. Bijvoorbeeld door te kijken naar het bel-, sms- en/of internetgebruik in de EU. Twijfelen we of u nog aan de voorwaarden voldoet? Dan laten we dat aan u weten. U kunt dan binnen 2 weken uw gedragspatroon aanpassen. Of u kunt ons op een andere manier laten zien dat u aan de voorwaarden voldoet. Lukt dat niet, dan kunnen we maatregelen nemen. We kunnen dan bijvoorbeeld een toeslag rekenen voor dataroaming.

Meer informatie over 'roam like home', de voorwaarden die gelden en de tarieven vindt u op onze website.

---

Hi Bob scotti,



Welcome to the Simyo Forum! I can imagine you're wondering why you there is a difference in costs when using your Simyo Prepaid.



As Scotsman has explained already, there is a difference in roaming and using the KPN network within The Netherlands. Calling to and from a foreign network brings extra costs, as we are using hosting networks of another country. Following the new EU legislation regarding roaming, we have dropped the extra costs when using a network in a foreign country. Hence the 'roam like home' tariffs. When you are inside The Netherlands on the KPN network, you aren't roaming in which case the extra costs do still apply. In this case, it could be cheaper to phone to Germany when you are in Belgium instead of from The Netherlands.



If you need to phone abroad from within the Netherlands, you could follow the tip mentioned by Franswon. As he is in contact with Belgium friends often, he has purchased a sim card for this to avoid the extra costs. Do make sure that you follow the terms which Friesian has already shared previously. With Simyo, you have to have a continuous relationship with The Netherlands and you cannot use the sim card abroad for longer than four months without us asking you for proof of this continuous relationship with our country.



Do you have any additionial questions about this?



@ Scotsman, Franswon & Friesian, thanks for your input! :)



Kindest regards,

Els

---

Friesian, Many thanks for your very educative link. It is more than obvious that the current state of affairs regarding the huge difference in charges after the abolition of roaming costs compared to " normal " foreign calls, is completely unsustainable. It appears that politicians are aware of the anomolies and if providers do not act voluntarily then further legislation will be enacted to close the difference in charges. The consumer will be the winner as calls abroad from their home countries will be reduced....the current threat by providers to discourage use of roaming-cost-free simcards is unsustainable and would require a disproportionate amount of administration. Hopefully, we shall move quickly to a border free charging system for all telephone calls made within Europe. This requires a little bit of vision by providers who must not fear that their increased volume of data transmission will not compensate reduced unit telephone charges for the consumer. Having said the above my comments should not be regarded as a criticism particularly against Simyo; my personal experience of them regarding service and price is extremely favourable and they deserve their acreditation as Nr.1 provider in Nl..

---

@Bob scotti you're not the only person who's critical. Although Simyo is a nummer 1 by an organisation, there are Some points that in my opinion also needs to be different, for we as customer pay them. Our feedback, also on this forum has to be taken seriously.



But that are off topic points regarding to your matter of interest.



Have a nice day.

Kind regards.



Friesian (you can guess what my favorit kind of horse is)

---