Your BT Mobile SIM is usually ready to use abroad. Data speeds and coverage vary by country, so check your destination on this page. In most cases, you won’t need to do anything.
Get ready to roam
- make sure your phone is set to automatically select a network for best coverage
- to call home, just dial the UK number - no need to add +44
BT Mobile is restricted in some countries
You can make calls in most countries, but data roaming isn’t available everywhere. In these countries, you can’t use data roaming:
These are:
- Angola
- Bahamas
- Belize
- Bhutan
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Cook Islands
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Djibouti
- Equatorial Guinea
- Ethiopia
- Falkland Islands
- Gambia
- Guam
- Guatemala
- Guinea Bissau
- Iran
- Kyrgyzstan Republic
- Libya
- Malawi
- Mauritania
- Monaco
- Nepal
- Niger
- Papua New Guinea
- San Marino
- Sierra Leone
- St Pierre and Miquelon
- Suriname
- Sudan
- Swaziland
- Syria
- Togo
- Tonga
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
- Ascension Island
- Christmas Islands
- Cocos Islands
- Comoros
- Diego Garcia
- East Timor
- Eritrea
- French Polynesia
- Kiribati
- Marshall Islands
- Mayotte
- Micronesia
- Nauru
- New Caledonia
- Niue
- Norfolk Island
- North Korea
- Northern Marianas
- Palau
- Rodriguez Island
- Ross Island
- Samoa (US)
- Western Samoa
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- St Helena
- Tokelau
- Tuvalu
5G and Roaming
SIM Only plans bought since 1 September 2020 and Family SIM plans bought since 13 November 2020 are 5G ready. Use them in a 5G device and area to enjoy faster speeds.
If you bought a 5G handset plan before 1 September 2020, roaming may not support 5G. Your phone will still work, but you might not get 4G, 3G or 2G speeds.
Parental Controls for BT Mobile
Your Mobile Parental Controls may not work abroad. They only apply when connected to a mobile network, not WiFi.
Network Compatibility
Your phone should work like it does at home, but in some countries you may need to switch from 4G to 3G and manually select a network.
Before you Travel
Make sure you are travel ready, by:
- Use your SIM in a device that can recieve texts - we'll send update to help you manage costs.
- We cap data abroad at £35 to prevent unexpected bills. This cap can be manually increased to up to £200 in your BT My Mobile account.
- Consider a data add-on to save money.
- Or turn off data in your phone settings.
Roaming in the USA
We've enabled 4G Calling in the USA for better call quality and faster data, but it depends on your device and local network.
- works on iPhone 6 and above, and some Android phones.
- update your phone software and enable Voice over 4G in the UK before you travel
- if 4G isn't available, manually select T-Mobile in your settings
Data Roaming
We partner with networks worldwide to keep you connected. Some operator are upgrading to 4G and 5G, which may affect older technologies. We'll keep making 4G Calling available where possible.
Turning Roaming On or Off
You can turn Roaming on and off in your phone settings.
Having Problems Abroad?
Follow the setup instructions we texted you when you joined BT Mobile. Before you travel, check if roaming is allowed in your destination and manually set up your phone if needed.