Disclaimer: The prices and information presented on this page reflect a snapshot at the time of research and may change at any time without prior notice.
Liam
27 March 2026
You have probably seen the term "data roaming" on your phone settings or buried in the fine print of your carrier’s plan. Maybe you noticed it when a toggle appeared after landing at a foreign airport. Or maybe you discovered it the hard way, through a phone bill that made your eyes water after a holiday abroad. Data roaming is one of those phone features that most people never think about until it costs them money. It is the mechanism that lets your phone access the internet through foreign cellular networks when you travel internationally. That convenience comes at a price, and the price is almost always higher than what you pay at home. This guide explains what data roaming actually is, how the charges work, what it costs on major carriers in 2026, and how to control or eliminate those costs with simple settings changes and travel eSIMs.
Data roaming is what happens when your phone connects to a mobile network that is not your home carrier’s network. At home, your phone connects to cell towers operated by your carrier (AT&T, Vodafone, Telstra, etc.) and uses data as part of your plan. When you travel to another country, your carrier does not have its own towers there. Instead, it has agreements with local carriers in that country to let you "borrow" their network.
Your phone connects to the local carrier’s towers, and data flows through their infrastructure back to your home carrier. Your home carrier then bills you for this usage. The cost includes the fee the foreign carrier charges your home carrier plus a markup. This is why data roaming is expensive: you are paying for the convenience of using someone else’s network, with your carrier adding their own margin on top.
When you see the "Data Roaming" toggle in your phone settings (Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data Options → Data Roaming on iPhone), this controls whether your phone is allowed to connect to foreign networks for data. Turning it off prevents your phone from using any mobile data on non-home networks. Turning it on allows the connection, and charges apply based on your plan.
Roaming charges are structured differently depending on your carrier and destination. Here are the most common models.
Daily pass / day rate: You pay a flat fee for each day you use data abroad. AT&T and Verizon charge $12/day for most international destinations. UK carriers charge £2–£7.86/day depending on the destination zone. The pass gives you access to your domestic data allowance (or a capped portion of it) for that 24-hour period. The charge is only triggered on days when you actually use data, make calls, or send texts.
Pay-per-use (PPU): Without a day pass or roaming add-on, your carrier charges per megabyte of data, per minute of calls, and per text message. AT&T and Verizon charge $2.05 per MB. At that rate, a single megabyte (roughly one web page load) costs $2. A five-minute YouTube video (about 25 MB) would cost over $50.
Included roaming: Some plans include roaming in certain countries at no extra cost. EU carriers include roaming across 30 European countries. T-Mobile includes 215+ countries with 5–15 GB of high-speed data on some plans. AT&T includes Canada and Mexico on unlimited plans.
Controlling data roaming starts with knowing where the toggle is on your phone. Here are the steps for both major platforms.
iPhone: Go to Settings → Cellular (or Mobile Data) → Cellular Data Options → Data Roaming. Toggle it off to prevent your phone from using foreign networks for data. You can still connect to Wi-Fi and receive calls/texts (though calls may incur charges).
Android: Go to Settings → Connections (or Network & Internet) → Mobile Networks → Data Roaming. Toggle it off. The exact path varies by manufacturer (Samsung, Google Pixel, OnePlus), but the setting is always under mobile network or cellular settings.
When to turn it off: Turn data roaming off before any international trip if you do not have a day pass or roaming plan active. This is the single most effective way to prevent unexpected charges. Your phone will not connect to foreign networks for data, so no charges can accumulate.
When to turn it on: Turn it on only after you have activated a day pass from your carrier, or if you are using a travel eSIM on a second SIM slot (in which case you turn roaming on for the eSIM line and off for your home SIM line).
The high cost of data roaming comes down to the business relationship between carriers. When your phone connects to a foreign network, the foreign carrier charges your home carrier a wholesale rate for the data, call minutes, and texts you use. Your home carrier then adds a retail markup before passing the cost to you. The wholesale rates are negotiated between carriers and vary by country, but the retail prices you see are consistently high.
The EU is the exception. Since June 2017, the European Union’s Roam Like at Home regulation caps roaming charges within the EU/EEA at domestic rates. If you have a German plan, you can use it in France, Spain, or Italy at no extra cost (subject to fair use limits). This regulation applies to all 30 EU/EEA countries and has effectively eliminated roaming charges for 450 million people travelling within Europe.
Outside the EU, no such regulation exists. US carriers, UK carriers (post-Brexit), Canadian carriers, and Australian carriers all set their own roaming rates for each destination. The result is the patchwork of daily passes, per-use rates, and zone-based pricing that makes international roaming so confusing and expensive.
There are several practical ways to keep your data roaming costs under control. The best approach depends on how long you are travelling and how much data you need.
Use a travel eSIM. This is the most effective solution for most travellers. A travel eSIM creates a separate data line on your phone that connects directly to local networks at your destination. Because it is a separate profile from your home SIM, your home carrier is never involved in the data transaction. No roaming charges apply to your home plan. Your home SIM stays active for calls, texts, and banking codes via dual SIM.
Turn off data roaming for your home SIM. This is the simplest free step. With roaming off, your phone cannot use foreign cellular data. You can still connect to Wi-Fi for internet access.
Rely on Wi-Fi only. Hotels, airports, cafes, and some public spaces offer free Wi-Fi in most countries. This works for light usage (messaging, email) but is unreliable for navigation, ride-hailing, or constant connectivity.
Buy a carrier day pass. If you prefer to keep using your home plan, a day pass caps your daily roaming cost. Good for short trips of 2–3 days but expensive for longer stays.
Disable background data. Even with roaming on, you can reduce data consumption dramatically by turning off background app refresh, automatic updates, and cloud photo sync. These background processes are the biggest hidden consumers of roaming data.
TurkSIM offers prepaid eSIM plans for over 200 destinations worldwide. Each eSIM connects directly to top local carriers: AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile in the USA. Turkcell and Türk Telekom in Turkey. AIS, DTAC, and TrueMove in Thailand. NTT Docomo and SoftBank in Japan. Sunrise and Swisscom in Switzerland.
The setup is simple. Browse the TurkSIM website, choose your destination and data package, purchase it, and scan the QR code to install the eSIM profile on your phone. Do this before you travel. When you land, switch the eSIM on and set it as your default data line. Your phone uses the local network for data while your home SIM stays active for calls, texts, and banking codes.
For multi-country trips, TurkSIM also offers regional plans. A Europe eSIM covers 36 countries. Individual country eSIMs are available from Canada to Morocco to Singapore. One eSIM per destination, one fixed cost, no daily fees, no per-megabyte charges, no bill surprises.
Data roaming is when your phone uses a foreign carrier’s network to access the internet while you are outside your home carrier’s coverage area. Your home carrier bills you for this usage, typically at higher rates than domestic data.
Keep it off unless you have activated a day pass, roaming plan, or travel eSIM. With roaming off, your phone cannot connect to foreign networks for data, preventing unexpected charges. You can still use Wi-Fi.
On iPhone: Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data Options → Data Roaming → Off. On Android: Settings → Connections → Mobile Networks → Data Roaming → Off. The exact path may vary by device manufacturer.
Your home carrier pays the foreign carrier for borrowing their network, then marks up the cost before billing you. Without regulation (like the EU’s Roam Like at Home), carriers set their own prices, which tend to be very high.
For EU/EEA residents travelling within the EU/EEA, yes. The Roam Like at Home regulation eliminates extra charges for roaming in 30 European countries. For visitors from outside the EU (US, UK, Canada, Australia), roaming charges still apply.
No. A travel eSIM creates a separate data line that connects directly to local networks. Data used through the eSIM does not appear as roaming on your home SIM. Your home carrier is not involved in the data transaction.
Mobile data is any cellular internet usage. Data roaming is specifically mobile data used on a foreign carrier’s network (not your home carrier). At home, your mobile data is not roaming. Abroad, it becomes roaming data unless you use a local SIM or eSIM.
Want to avoid data roaming charges on your next trip?
