Local telco rates for international roaming

So what exactly roaming is? Does calling from local landline phone to mobile or mobile to mobile in the same region or does it mean to make or receive international call refer to roaming?

In wireless communication, roaming is a general term referring to the extension of connectivity service in a location that is different from the home location where the service was registered. Roaming ensures that the wireless device is kept connected to the network, without losing the connection (wiki)

A a lot of travellers find roaming either data roam (internet, 3G) or voice call roam give them burdens in terms of the expensive charges.


Local telco in Malaysia offers different rate for both data and voice roam for their customers.

Customers can subscribe to International Roaming by visiting any Maxis Center or MEP, or by calling our contact centers. A standard deposit payment of RM300 per line and proof of valid passport are required, effective from 22 Jan 2009. The deposit is refundable upon cancellation of your international roaming service.

The cost for making call to Malaysia from overseas:

CALL FROM	HONG KONG INDONESIA PHILIPPINES TAIWAN	AUSTRALIA CHINA THAILAND VIETNAM	NEW ZEALAND SWEDEN SWITZERLAND
ROAM *120* (Rate Rer minute)	RM 2.50	RM 3.00	RM 4.00
SAVINGS UP TO (Compared to auto roaming rate)	80%	81%	71%

more information here: http://www.maxis.com.my/personal/intl/roam120.asp

You also need to bring RM300 deposit. Effective from February 2011, the latest roaming charge to make and receive call from overseas by using Celcom is as below:

When roaming with Digi, call charges depend on the zone you are calling from and the zone you are calling to. Click the link to find out which zone a country belongs to when you roam.

Outgoing call charges/minute Incoming call charges/ minute zone 0 zone 1 zone 2 zone 3 zone 4 zone 5 zone 6 zone 7 zone 1 RM2.50 RM2.00 RM2.50 RM3.50 RM4.50 RM5.00 RM5.50 RM5.50 RM2.50 zone 2 RM2.50 RM2.50 RM3.50 RM3.50 RM4.50 RM5.50 RM5.50 RM5.50 RM2.50 zone 3 RM3.00 RM3.50 RM3.50 RM4.00 RM5.50 RM5.50 RM5.50 RM5.50 RM3.00 zone 4 RM4.00 RM4.50 RM4.50 RM4.50 RM5.00 RM5.50 RM5.50 RM5.50 RM4.00 zone 5 RM4.50 RM5.00 RM5.00 RM5.50 RM5.50 RM6.00 RM6.00 RM6.00 RM4.50 zone 6 RM6.00 RM7.00 RM7.00 RM8.00 RM8.00 RM8.00 RM8.00 RM8.00 RM6.00 zone 7 RM9.00 RM10.00 RM10.00 RM10.00 RM10.00 RM10.00 RM10.00 RM10.00 RM9.00 zone 8* RM15.00 RM17.00 RM17.00 RM17.00 RM17.00 RM17.00 RM17.00 RM17.00 RM17.00

Apparently the lowest rate to making call from overseas cost you arms and legs! I wonder how business travellers point of view regarding expensive roaming cost while abroad all this while. Not to forget, frequent travellers as well.


In the next blogpost, I'll blog about how we much we can save with Flexiroam , the insanely lowest roaming rates after all.








See you!