What to Do If You Cannot Receive an SMS while Roaming

If you cannot receive text messages while roaming, try these troubleshooting tips:

Check your account

• Ensure that your account is active.
• Ensure you have activated roaming service, including voice, while still in the Philippines. Find out how to check this before traveling. If you are already abroad, you may contact us on our social media channels or call our toll-free roaming hotline at +63288488878 using another Smart number.
• For Prepaid, check if your load balance is sufficient. For Postpaid, check if your account is redirected. Charges for making and receiving calls vary depending on where you are roaming. Click here for the full list of Prepaid and Postpaid roaming rates.

Connect to Smart’s official network roaming partners

• If you have low signal reception, try shifting locations, preferably somewhere more open and with fewer surrounding obstacles, such as concrete walls.
• Make sure you are connected to Smart’s official network roaming partners. Set your Network Selection on your phone’s settings to AUTOMATIC, and Smart will do the rest. For your reference, click here to check the list of our roaming partners at various country destinations under “Do I need to manually select a roaming partner?” FAQ.

Optimize your device

• Refresh your device by turning it OFF and then back ON.
• Check if your inbox memory is full and delete some messages to free up space.
• Try to use another roaming partner by manually selecting it on the device.
• If you cannot receive text messages from a specific mobile number, check if your phone has a block list or block status feature. If the mobile number sending text messages to you is in that block list, remove them from the list or disable the feature.

Try another device

• Transfer SIM to another working device to check if you can receive text messages while roaming.

If the problem persists, contact us through our Smart Communications Facebook page or Twitter @SmartCares. You may also call our toll-free roaming hotline at +63288488878.