Satellite Roaming Charges

[TW]Fox · 20 Jan 2013 at 17:02

This is an odd one. I am with Virgin mobile.

I was on a ferry travelling from the Republic of Ireland to Holyhead earlier this month. For the first part of the trip, my phone still had signal with Eirecomm (Who I had been using for roaming during my trip, being charged the standard roaming rates).

Once we got too far from the coast, my phone lost network coverage, as expected. Then, once we got near Holyhead, the signal came back.

Whilst I still had residual signal from Eirecomm, I sent a text message and received a 3 minute call. I have been charged almost £5 for this. It is listed on my bill as 'Roaming call received in Satellite'.

I called Virgin to query this and was spoken to like an idiot by a member of staff who told me it was because I had connected to a satellite because there was no cell tower available. Apparently, where there is no cell tower coverage, if I have roaming enabled they are 'obliged to provide me coverage' and they do this 'using satellite'.

She could not tell me how this worked or what the technical rationale was behind it, given obviously I don't have a Satphone. She also could not explain why my phone displayed 'Eircomm' as the connected network, nor, if I was connected to 'a satellite', why the signal vanished once we got far from the coast.

I don't doubt there is something in this - but she was unable to tell me how this worked, or how you are supposed to know if you are connected 'By Satellite'. The Virgin Mobile website does correctly list:

Calls to satellite phones or via satellite (e.g. on a cruise ship):

£6.13 per minute from any region

Texts: £1 a text

So... any ideas? How does this work and how was I supposed to tell I was no longer connected to a ground based Eirecomm cell tower?

[TW]Fox · 20 Jan 2013 at 17:13

http://www.irishferries.com/gb/faq-mobile-phones.asp

While in open sea, mobile communication is possible by using satellite technology to relay calls and messages to land based networks, by international roaming. The availability of this service is dependent on your mobile network and tariff plan.

This satellite service is expensive to install and operate, and as a result the cost of making a call or texting while at sea, will be more expensive than normal international mobile tariffs.

Charges may also apply to calls / texts received.

So there we go. Fantastic. I would never have expected this facility on a 1 hour 50 minute ferry crossing. Thinking about it, I was roaming onto a network called ' MCP'or similar, but thats sufficient vague for me to have assumed it was just another Irish mobile network.

Turns out that..

Ferry companies, including Irish Ferries and Stena Line, use the services of Maritime Communications Partners (MCP), a Norwegian company, which allows mobile phones to be used at sea.

So many people must be caught out by this, who here turns a phone OFF before boarding a ferry?! There were no signs or announcements or advertisements that this service was even available onboard, presumably because it relies on people not knowing and they'd all switch everything off if they knew..

I bet almost all of the significant revenue generated by this must come from people who have absolutely no idea this service even exists and simply receive a call...

ichabod crane · 20 Jan 2013 at 17:17

Was just about to post something similar to the above. It is same as what you have on cruise liners, you can get mobile network access through the ships on board satellite but at an over inflated price! Better to turn your phone off while on board and use it when landed.

[TW]Fox · 20 Jan 2013 at 17:24

Research seems to suggest you should receive a text message from your network provider, as you should every time you roam, informing you of the cost of using the roaming services.

I never received a text.

Gaijin · 20 Jan 2013 at 22:01

What a sham. Can't say i've ever had that though in my various similar trips. I take it you never looked at what network you were assigned to on your phone then? Or does it not tell you which network you are on on the status bar?

[TW]Fox · 20 Jan 2013 at 22:42

Gayjin said:
What a sham. Can't say i've ever had that though in my various similar trips. I take it you never looked at what network you were assigned to on your phone then? Or does it not tell you which network you are on on the status bar?

I looked at it but only in passing to see if I had signal. It said MCP. At the time I had no reason to assume this wasn't one of the ROI mobile operators. Now, with a purpose to google it, I discover it's the name of the firm who provides the satellite network for the ferry.

But unless you already knew this, or you knew the network codes of all the operators in Ireland, there was no way of telling this is what it was and that higher charges (MUCH higher charges) would apply.

I hadn't even considered that they'd bother to fit the sort of system thats obviously designed for cruise liners in the middle of the ocean to a ferry that takes just 2 hours to get from Ireland to Wales...

You say you've never had that - I bet you have. Just, like me, you've no reason to even think about it until one day a bill arrives. Next time you travel on Stena or Irish Ferries look out for it..

Myshra · 20 Jan 2013 at 22:45

[TW]Fox;23596898 said:
Research seems to suggest you should receive a text message from your network provider, as you should every time you roam, informing you of the cost of using the roaming services.

I never received a text.

You can contest these for non-obvious circumstances like this, they can see from logs if you received no message too. How far you get on the phone will be limited to the CSR but a written letter would probably be better.

Gaijin · 21 Jan 2013 at 09:23

[TW]Fox;23599150 said:
You say you've never had that - I bet you have. Just, like me, you've no reason to even think about it until one day a bill arrives. Next time you travel on Stena or Irish Ferries look out for it..

I'm afraid I never have.

I'm the sort of loser who is always on my phone when idle so on a ferry trip I'm always on it gaming or reading ebooks and waiting for coverage to come back. It's always been on 3 until a few miles out of port, then nothing at all, until 3 coverage again a few miles from Holyhead (or vice versa).

Maybe it's to do with my network or phone config or whatever, but I've never heard or seen of that network you mentioned.

[TW]Fox · 21 Jan 2013 at 12:52

Ah, you are with 3. My frantic googling told me that 3 is the only network without a roaming agreement with MCP

paradigm · 21 Jan 2013 at 13:08

I got caught out with this once and have turned my phone off on ferries ever since.