Will My Radios Work Outside of The UK?

The good news for most travellers is that PMR446 is a harmonised European standard managed by CEPT (the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations). This means that across the vast majority of European countries, your UK licence-free radio can be used legally without any additional licence or paperwork.

Where PMR446 radios can be used without a licence:

Western Europe: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland

Southern Europe: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Vatican City

Northern Europe: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden

Eastern Europe: Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic

This covers the vast majority of popular European holiday and business destinations - including France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Portugal.

Important Exceptions and Caveats

Russia and Ukraine - only channels 1-8 (446.0-446.1MHz) are permitted. If your radio uses channels 9-16 (446.1-446.2 MHz) it cannot legally be used in these countries.

Outside Europe - uses different frequencies. PMR446 is only a European standard so if you travel outside CEPT member countries including the USA, Canada, Australia or further afield - your UK licence-free radio almost certainly cannot be legally used.

In the USA, the 446 MHz frequencies are actually allocated to amateur radio operators and military radar. Always check with the relevant authority before travelling outside Europe. Also you must remember to bring your radio's user manual as some countries may ask you to demonstrate compliance with the PMR446 standard at customs or border control.

This is where things get more complex. Professional licensed radios like the MOTOTRBO™ R5Motorola MOTOTRBO™ R5Licensed Two-Way RadioView product or R7 are programmed to specific frequencies allocated by Ofcom under your UK licence. Those frequencies are unique to the UK regulatory framework and are not harmonised across Europe the same way PMR446 is.

Your UK Ofcom licence does not give you any legal authority to transmit on those frequencies in another country. To legally use a licenced radio abroad, you would need to:

1. Contact the national telecommunications regulator in the country (countries) you are visiting
2. Apply for a temporary visitor's licence or equivalent permit
3. Have your radio reprogrammed to use frequencies permitted in that country

In practice, this process can be time-consuming and applications may take weeks to process. It can also be costly as fees vary significantly by country. It is not guaranteed as there is no obligation for a foreign regulator to grant a licence. For most short-term trips, this route is impractical which is why we always recommend POC radio as the better solution (more on this below).

If you need professional-grade communication outside of the UK, Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PTTOC, POC) radio is the most practical and legally straightforward option available. They work like traditional two-way radios in operation with a push button, but instead of transmitting over radio frequency they use 4G, 5G or Wi-Fi mobile networks. Because they use the cell towers rather than radio spectrum, they are not subject to radio frequency licensing regulations in any country.

Key advantages of travelling with POC radios:

• No licence required anywhere in the world
• Unlimited range across cities, countries or continents where there is mobile coverage (93% of the world)
• No reprogramming required, same device works everywhere
• Group communication regardless of location
• GPS tracking includes real-time location sharing
• Works on existing infrastructure so no need to set up repeaters or base stations