It is very common to connect to a neighbouring country’s mobile network whilst roaming close to country borders. Refer to the country and the respective quoted rates being specified in your last received roaming welcome SMS sent by Epic to understand what are the applicable rates on the network you are roaming on.

Also note that roaming rates whilst travelling by air or sea are not covered by the EU regulation, however you shall still receive a roaming welcome SMS stating the applicable roaming rates and the bill shock preventor will still monitor your data roaming spend whilst in transit (data cut off limit at €59). To avoid unexpected roaming charges while on a flight or at sea, consider putting your phone in ‘flight mode’ whilst in transit on this methods of transportation.

‘Flight Mode’ will disable your voice, data, SMS services, as well as Wi-Fi, so don’t forget to take your phone off this mode once you have arrived at your destination. Also remember to check that ‘Mobile Data’ and ‘Data Roaming’ are switched ‘On’, so that you can use your data services.

If you are experiencing trouble to connect to a network whilst roaming, check out the below tips

Connecting on a Roaming Mobile Network

Your phone will automatically connect to the Epic preferred network to get  the best roaming experience. If this doesn’t happen, you can manually search for a network by following these instructions:

• Go to the Settings menu on your phone
• Go on Connections
• Choose More Networks
• Choose Mobile Networks
• Go to Network operators
• Select Search networks and Pick a Network

Using Data Roaming

Make sure your device is not on ‘Flight Mode’ and that both ‘Mobile Data’ and ‘Data Roaming’ are switched on.

Also, the APN (Access Point Name) in your device (excluding iPhone devices) must be configured to ‘internet’. To check that you have the correct APN or change APN settings on your device, please follow the guide here.

Premium rated services are provided by private companies for a higher price than ordinary calls or SMS when used from Malta or whilst roaming abroad. Such services typically include charity donations, voting activities, TV competitions and subscriptions services. Please be aware that voice calls or SMS to international numbers used for value-added services like premium-rated, freephone, or shared cost numbers of foreign countries are not part of your plan’s allocation and use of such services will result in excess charges both locally or whilst roaming anywhere in the world including in the EU & UK. Calling or sending an SMS to Maltese freephone numbers or Maltese premium rate numbers whilst roaming may also be more expensive.

If you are not sure whether a number is premium-rated or not, we advise avoiding calling or messaging such numbers.

Calling EU/UK Premium Numbers when in EU/UK

Such calls are charged on a per minute basis at the following rates:

To check under which Zone the prefix falls into click here.

Calling non-EU/UK International Premium Numbers when in EU/UK and the rest of the world.

Such calls are charged on a per minute basis at the following rates:

To check the ‘Calling Non-EU/UK’ base rate for the country you are roaming in, click here.

To check under which Zone the prefix falls into click here.

Epic provides roaming services in partnership with other network providers in the country you are visiting.

We do our utmost to ensure that the quality-of-service conditions whilst abroad are aligned to your experience on your home network so that you’ll get a genuine Roam Like At Home experience. Nonetheless, due to factors outside our control, this may not always be possible.

Whilst roaming, the service quality relies on the roaming partner’s network build, quality, coverage and technological factors, other third party influences and local policies. This might lead to a lower quality of service when compared to using the service locally: issues such as dropped calls, lost or undelivered SMS, slower internet speeds or other connectivity issues may occur.

Other factors include, but are not limited to: roaming network coverage limitations based on geographical, architectural limitations, number of users on the network and within the same area as well as other seasonal activities and circumstances, weather conditions, temporary and permanent service outages, roaming capacity and bandwidth limitations as well as other non-disclosed service quality preferences and priorities of the third party roaming service providers over which Epic has no control. These factors might result in significant differences on the upload and download speeds when roaming compared to the speed and service in Malta.

Roaming data quality of service can vary depending on the service provided by the network of the country you are visiting. You should receive the same data speeds as at home once that speed is available on this network.

Data speeds in destinations such as Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas may experience some latency due to the vast distance between these countries and Malta. Latency is a slight delay between sending a request over the internet and receiving the response. It will not be noticeable for normal usage, but may be noticed by those with higher bandwidth requirements, such as when it comes to gaming or high-volume downloads.

Content and application-specific access and service quality may be affected whilst roaming based on the content provider’s policies, technological limitations and how certain locations, countries and geographical regions are serviced by the service providers. All these imply that the service level might vary as it might be localised or more restricted during roaming. Certain content applications may also consume a larger amount of data whilst roaming, leading to data allowances being used up more quickly.

To ensure the best possible experience, Epic encourages customers to always keep their devices up to date, by installing the latest operating system plus checking device settings to enable, or control service access.