Receiving Text Messages outside Roam Free Zone

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
August 18, 2025
5 replies
262 views

Dear Sirs

I have got a question about iD mobile receiving SMS in a country outside the roam free zone like China. Is it free to receive SMS in China? More importantly, will it be considered as roaming and hence incur roaming surcharges?

The table below taken from iD official website says that “Texts to China” costs 60p per SMS, but it is not entirely clearly whether this “Texts to China” actually means “receiving texts in China” or “texting someone in China”.

Hope some expert can give an authoritative answer to my question.

Many thanks indeed.

RB

Roaming	Pay monthly	Pay-as-you-go****
Calls to UK*	£2.40	£2.40
Calls to China*	£2.40	£2.40
Calls received*	£2.40	£2.40
Texts to China**	£0.60	£0.60
Texts to UK**	£0.60	£0.60
Picture message (MMS) sent**	£0.60	£0.60
Internet and Data (per MB)***	£1.50	£1.50

Best answer by Tyler C

Hey there @ruijunbu, you would be charged to receive texts in China also, at the same costs as shown above for sending texts. So you will need to ensure roaming is on and your bill cap is high enough to allow the texts to come through.

Thanks,

Tyler

Tyler CAnswer

iD Mobile Employee

Hey there @ruijunbu, you would be charged to receive texts in China also, at the same costs as shown above for sending texts. So you will need to ensure roaming is on and your bill cap is high enough to allow the texts to come through.

Thanks,

Tyler

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R

ruijunbuAuthor

New Contributor

Hi Tyler, thank you so much. RB

Tyler C

iD Mobile Employee

Hey there @ruijunbu, no problem at all, glad I could help!

Thanks,

Tyler

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E

edwhow01

What about using Google messages to receive messages. Will they cost outside the free roaming area?

Secondly, if I turn off roaming, will I receive text messages at all?

Gemma M

iD Mobile Employee

Hi @edwhow01

Just to let you know, any services used outside of iD Mobile’s roaming destinations will be chargeable.

Regarding roaming, if it’s turned off in your app, you won’t be able to use any iD Mobile services. To avoid any extra charges over your normal monthly line rental, we recommend setting your bill cap to £0.00.

Regards,

Gemma M

The iD Mobile Social Media Team

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