- World Cup ticket holders may need to resist the temptation to make friends envious by posting pictures online using their mobile phones, a customer group has warned
South Africa's McCarthy uses his phone; foreign visitors will pay much higher ratesConsumer Focus calculated that the cost of uploading just 10 photos to Facebook from South Africa could result in an eye-watering ?80 bill from a UK mobile operator.
It said costs to use mobile internet varies from ?1.25 to ?8 per MB, figures that will set alarm bells ringing among those who regularly use 3G-based applications on their smartphones.
The group advised UK visitors to South Africa to instead seek out internet cafes where they can browse websites and update social networks much more cheaply.
While mobile web use could entail extortionate bills, users should also be aware of the elevated costs of making phone calls and sending text messages, Consumer Focus said.
Charges to make calls range from 80p up to ?1.50 per minute and texts cost from 25p to 50p - rates much higher than those for UK travellers in the EU, where strict limits have been imposed to benefit consumers.
Tips to cut mobile costs abroad
- Check rates and ask about bundles and offers
- Turn off data roaming and voicemail on your handset
- Remember you pay just to receive calls
- Use wifi or an internet cafe to use social networks and Skype
- Report a lost or stolen phone immediately
A fan travelling to South Africa could easily run up a bill of over ?100 on match day simply by contacting friends with short phone calls, the consumer organisation warned.
Nick Hutton, telecommunications expert for Consumer Focus, said: "England fans need to be on the ball to make sure they don’t get caught out by hundreds of pounds of hidden mobile phone costs at the World Cup.
"We want to see mobile phone firms play fair by customers travelling abroad and cut these extremely high fees.
"In the meantime consumers should check their network rates before they fly and look into the add-ons or bundles on offer, which could save them much needed cash."
A colourful scene: but match-goers should think twice before sharing it onlineConsumer Focus found that Vodafone offers the best call rates to World Cup visitors, as UK customers could sign up to a "passport" scheme under which they pay a 75p connection fee to make or receive calls, then pay their normal UK rates.
Operator 3 UK offers the cheapest data roaming fees of ?1.25 per MB and Vodafone Passport offers the best value texts at 11p each.
The worst rates for making calls are offered by Virgin Mobile pre-pay at ?1.70 per minute while the highest data charges are from Orange and Tesco, with costs for customers on both networks of up to ?80 to upload 10 1MB photos.
World Cup Mobile Phone Rate Warning: Updating Social Networks Could Run Up Huge Bills | Business | Sky News
