How can I avoid unexpected charges near borders or when travelling between countries?

Your phone automatically connects to the strongest available mobile network. When you're abroad or near a border, it may also connect to a network from a different country, where different roaming charges apply. By manually selecting a network, you can choose which operator your phone connects to and avoid unexpected charges.

What situations should I watch out for?

If your phone displays the name of a mobile operator from a country other than the one you're currently in, services may be charged according to a different roaming zone. The most common situations include:

Border regions – In areas close to national borders, your phone may connect to a network from a neighbouring country even if you have not physically crossed the border. If that country belongs to a different roaming zone, service charges may be higher. In Europe, this can happen, for example, near the Swiss border, as Switzerland belongs to Roaming Zone 2.
Islands – On islands, your phone may connect to a network from another country (for example, from the mainland), which may result in different charges. A special example is Cyprus: the southern part belongs to Roaming Zone 1, while in the northern part, your phone may receive a signal from Turkish mobile operators, which belong to Roaming Zone 2.
Cruise ships – Some larger ships operate their own onboard mobile network. In such cases, service charges are always billed according to the rates for Roaming Zone 3, regardless of which countries or waters the ship is travelling between. If you are on board or close to the ship, your phone may connect to the ship’s mobile transmitter.
Airports and aircraft – Some airlines offer mobile network services during flights. In these cases, service charges are always based on the rates for Roaming Zone 3. A similar situation may occur in some airport lounges.

How do I manually select a network on my phone?

By default, your phone is set to automatically select a mobile network. When travelling abroad, it searches for available networks and connects to one of them automatically. It may also switch to another network if it detects a stronger signal. If you want full control over which network your phone uses, you can enable manual network selection. The exact steps vary depending on your device, but the process is usually similar to the examples below.

Manual network selection on iPhone

Settings > Mobile Service > select the SIM (if you use multiple SIM cards) > Network Selection > Turn off Automatic.

Manual network selection on Android

Settings > Connections > Mobile Networks > Network Operators > Turn off Select Automatically.

Searching for available networks may take several seconds, so please be patient. To register on a different network, you may need to repeat the operator selection several times before the connection is successful. We recommend trying at least five times. You can find a list of Vodafone roaming partners and supported services for each network by searching for your destination country at Vodafone Roaming.

You may also find useful

You can control your spending on mobile data with the Data Cost Control in Roaming.
You can monitor your overall service spending with FlexiCeiling.

Last updated 16. 07. 2026