Able to receive data in EU but not make phone calls

[KerronHa_974523]

When I switched on Data roaming in Italy, I was able to send and receive emails and use the internet without any problems whilst out and about without wi-fi support. But I was unable to make any phone calls at all, wherever I was in Italy. Whenever I tried to make a phone call, I got a recorded message in English telling me I wasn’t allowed to make the call … I can’t remember the exact wording, but that was the gist of it. My partner tried calling me several times but wasn’t able to connect with me either.

During that period in Italy, curiously, I received two texts from Smarty, one saying “Welcome to Italy’ and providing rate advice, even though by that time I'd already been in Italy for a week and spent the preceding few days and the following few days in exactly the same place.

All of this came as a surprise because I experienced no problems at all using (the same) mobile phone in Copenhagen a year ago. My access point name was (and still is) set to mob.asm.net as advised. So what caused this failure of service and how can I avoid it happening again when I go to Malta in a couple of weeks?

[MSF]

@KerronHa_974523 It is interesting that you received a rate advice message after some time there. This would indicate that you were not on a standard EU network before that.

Any chance that you have a data Esim that was turned on and used as the primary sim? These don't usually include calls but only offer data.

Also, could it be that the local mast had some problems with calls?

It also seems strange that the recorded message waist English - were you dealing the numbers with full international code?

Like you, I have roamed in EU countries with no problems before, so it does seem odd.

[KerronHa_974523]

No, I don't have an e-SIM, just a regular physical SIM. Re. the possibility of a local mast experiencing problems, we spent two days in Milan, two days in Camogli on the Mediterranean coast, and then another week in Genoa, further west along the coast - and we took short train journeys from all those places, so my phone would have been in contact with dozens of different masts - but experienced the same problem throughout. Re. the message in English, most numbers I tried to call were local Italian numbers, so I only used the full international code when I was trying to call home to the UK ... so I'm not sure that provides a clue. Thanks for your suggestions, though. Appreciated!