roaming in Asia

[SonaliHo_116424]

Hi, I will be traveling to different countries in Asia & Australia from this month till next year. I do not want to lose my mobile number in the UK because it's connected to my bank. Please advise how I can do this and whether my mobile will still work while abroad, as I might occasionally need my UK number for my mobile banking and money transfers abroad.

[MSF]

@SonaliHo_116424  If you do not use Asim in any way, then you get an email alert after 180 days and the sim is deactivated after a further 40 days i.e. 220 days of inactivity in total.

Yes, your mobile will work while abroad in Asia & Australia, provided you change necessary APN setting and put sufficient credit on the account to pay for any use.

Why don't you check out the help articles on Smarty website and take a look at the Price Guide for costs of roaming?

May be worth you researching buying an Esim if your phone can accept one - many suppliers online for different countries/regions.

[SonaliHo_116424]

Hi thanks for your reply, I considered the Esim but for me, it's more important to keep the UK sim working(on roaming for my banking and other transactions ) rather than worrying about the sim card for abroad, which I can buy once I get there. any idea how I can achieve that? beyond 180+40days?

[MSF]

@SonaliHo_116424  Apologies if my response wasn't clear enough.

You need to use the sim before the 220 days is up. You could buy the cheapest plan every few months to keep the sim 'alive'. If you have a modern phone, you can use the Esim as well as the physical sim without problems.

To be clear, you cannot leave the sim totally inactive for more than 220 days without it being deactivated.

If you doubt what I'm saying, please feel free to check by way of a web chat with Smarty Support Team.

[RovingRaspberry]

In addition to the always helpful advice from @MSF if you have an eSIM compatible phone, buy an eSIM for Asia and Australia before you leave the UK, which you csn activate as soon as you land in your first destination, which would save you time looking for a physical bricks and mortar store.  Airalo, Holafly & Nomad are some well known travel eSIM providers, but there are others of course.