Special numbers while roaming: why a free number can cost money abroad

Which numbers count as special

• 800 and 900: freephone, the company pays and the caller pays nothing when calling from Spain.
• 901: shared cost, the caller pays part of the call.
• 902: the caller pays the whole call and the company receives nothing from it.
• 803, 806 and 807: additional-rate services for adults, leisure and professional services.
• 905: mass-calling services, such as televoting.

These are the categories in Spain's national numbering plan. Every EU country has its own version, with different prefixes, which is part of the problem: EU law calls all of them value-added services, and the roaming regulation names premium-rate, freephone and shared-cost numbers as examples of numbers that can cost more when you call them from another country.

What roam like at home does not cover

Regulation (EU) 2022/612, the roaming regulation, says in its recital 37 that it does not apply to the part of the tariff charged for the value-added service itself, only to the tariff for connecting to it. In other words, the minute you spend connected to a hotline in Lisbon or Madrid can be at home prices, while the special price that number carries is outside the rule.

The same recital admits the problem: travellers expect roam like at home to mean no extra cost, and yet they face increased costs even when they call numbers that are free domestically. BEREC, the body of EU telecom regulators, adds that when a provider does not split the charge between the connection and the service, the whole call is treated as a call to a value-added service, where extra roaming charges can occur.

Why a free number stops being free

The numbers used for these services are set in each country's numbering plan, not harmonised across the EU, and in many cases the price paid between operators to complete those calls is not regulated. The regulation explains that operators may not even recognise these ranges in advance in every country, and that the wholesale charges they face can be unexpectedly high.

To make this more visible, the regulation required BEREC to set up a single EU database of the number ranges used for value-added services in each country, fed by national regulators and open to operators. It does not cap the price: it helps your operator know which numbers can generate higher costs and tell you before you dial them. The European Commission's own advice is short: a number that you can call free of charge from home may not be free abroad.

Where your operator has to warn you

• In your contract: the types of services that may be subject to increased charges when roaming, under Article 8(4).
• In an automatic, free message when you enter another EU country, warning of the risk of higher charges for value-added services, under Article 13(1).
• On a dedicated webpage linked from that message, with the types of services affected and the charges for freephone numbers while roaming, if any.

You can ask your operator to stop that message and ask for it again later, free of charge. Outside the EU, roam like at home does not apply at all, so the price of any call, ordinary or special, is whatever your operator's tariff for that country says. Our guide to the roaming welcome SMS explains the rest of the message.

Reaching a company from abroad for less

Customer service lines in Spain often use 900 or 902 numbers, but the law gives you an alternative. Spain's general consumer law says that a phone line offered to contact a company about your contract cannot cost you more than a call to a standard geographic or mobile number. If the company uses a special-rate line that costs you money, it must also give you a geographic or mobile number on equal terms, with the cost of each.

So look for an ordinary landline or mobile number, one that does not start with 80 or 90, on the company's contact page or in your contract. Inside the EU, a call from your Spanish line to that number while roaming costs what it would at home. Companies providing basic services such as energy, water, banking, insurance, post or transport must also offer a free customer line. And many can be reached through a chat or an app, which only needs data.

Block what you will never call

If you do not use additional-rate services, you can ask your operator to block them. Spain's consumer ministry explains that the holder of a fixed or mobile line can ask the operator to disconnect or block additional-rate calls and premium SMS and MMS services, and advises doing it in a way that leaves a record and asking for confirmation that the block is active. The roaming regulation also points to the option to deactivate third-party billing, where operators offer it.

It does not catch every trap: one-ring scams usually lead to premium numbers in other countries, as we explain in missed calls from unknown international numbers, so do not call back numbers you do not know. A data eSIM such as Snoozim's has no number, so it cannot call special numbers at all: those calls always go through your usual line and its tariff.